The short story is that the 2017 Yamaha FZ-10 is the brand’s biggest street-screamer sport bike, the R1, with a more upright seating position and power delivery dialed toward the low end. The longer story, if I live to tell it, will be how it handles the Tail Of The Dragon. Get your questions in now!
My first impression is that the FZ-10 is very large. And physically imposing. Of course any 1000cc animal is going to feel fat to me, since my regular ride is a quarter of the size.
The FZ’s handlebars seem high, and the seat looks low. In theory that should make the machine easy to get a handle on without getting bent out of shape.
The pitch behind this bike is pretty much: fun to ride Sunday, easy to ride Monday. There should be plenty of power, but it’s heavily medicated with a huge host of rider-aid tech like traction control and an electronic throttle.
It starts at about $13,000, and I’ll save the big breakdown of specs for the full review.
For now, let me know what you’re wondering about this thing or the famous motorcycle roads of North Carolina and I’ll try to answer as I write the bike up!