FZ-07 vs. FZ-09 vs. FZ-10

A friend of mine has a FZ-07 and another friend has the FZ-09 and I have the FZ-10 so I've got to ride all 3.

I'm 6'1" and the FZ-07 feels a bit too small for me but it might be because I have very long arms and legs. At over 110km/h the wind just becomes insane and the ride just becomes uncomfortable. There is also some handle bar vibration at higher speeds. You can feel that it is a budget bike because the suspension is quite soft and doesn't give you too much confidence going fast into corners. Very easy to ride at lower speeds and excellent in the city though.

I found FZ-09 to be the very uncomfortable to sit on. The engine case on the right side is extremely annoying and gets in the way whenever I'm wearing my full height boots like my Supertech R's that have a beefy front section. I didn't find the suspension to be as terrible as people have made it out to be but it may be because I'm on the lighter side. The bike is an absolute beast though with that flat torque curve.

FZ-10 is by far the best bike of the three which is why I bought it  . Insane power, very comfortable riding position, full LED lighting that not even the Euros have (the only super nakeds that have LED lighting are FZ-10 and Z1000 as far as I'm aware), TCS, ABS, and all the other goodies. The LED headlight is absolutely amazing at night. Almost comparable to the BMW/Mercedes car headlights I would say. This is important because I ride a lot at night. Handle bar and foot pegs have zero vibration which is also really important to me because I go out for long rides very often. I had a 2013 Kawasaki ZX6R previously and the foot peg vibration was so bad that my feel would go numb after about 30 minutes of riding. The headlight was also terrible they might as well just not have put one on the bike. Admittedly the seat kind of sucks on the FZ-10. Its a typical hard, wide Yamaha seat and I'm kind of pissed that the R3 has a nicer feeling seat than my bike. Another thing is that I don't like how the tail light is just straight off the FZ-09. I think in the future if Yamaha does a update to the rear section, I might see if I can swap it over onto mine.

Overall I think you get what you pay for with the different tiers in the FZ line up. But I don't think you can really ever say the FZ-07 is better than the FZ-10 because the suspension and stability is just not there in the FZ-07 in comparison when you are riding hard. And you don't get the crossplane sound that is just pure eargasm 

I had an FZ1 from May 2011 to November 2016, good bike with nice fairing and wind protection, good hp but you had to rev it to pretty high rpm's to extract the power, always felt a bit porky when pushing it around the garage or in slow speed situations, but overall a pretty damn good sport bike for everyday use. Over the last year or so I was open to getting something else, if for no other reason to just rekindle a little excitement which became lacking in the FZ1. Everytime I visited my local Yamaha dealer and sat on an FZ-09 or FZ-07 it left me with a 'nah' feeling....too sparse, too bare. The FZ-09 had that bad fueling issue when it first came out, fixed in subsequent years. But for some reason never warmed to either bike, never cared for the color schemes for one thing. So I kept the FZ1.

Then last November when Yamaha released the specs and pics for the 2017 updated FZ-09 I figured THAT'S the bike for me and planned to get one about this time. I dropped into my dealer  to see what colors they had ordered for the FZ-09, I wanted a red one. It happened they had a 2016 FZ-09 in black and a 2017 FZ-10 in Armor Gray on the floor, and the sales girl said they were both prepped and I was welcome to give them a spin. As we know you almost can never test ride a new bike unless it is at one of those road shows that manufacturers sometimes put on, and even then the high spec sport bikes are usually not included in the selection.   I went home to get my gear while they rolled both bikes out, checked the air, fuel, etc, I started on the FZ-09 and she followed on the FZ-10. I was impressed at the lively feel of the FZ-09 triple's engine, it was eager to rev with good power delivery. I thought 'I could live with this engine and package, especially in the refreshed 2017 model'. We then swapped bikes at the local Lowe's parking lot and I followed her home. Holy smokes, the power delivery and acceleration compared to the FZ-09 was dramatic. A flick of the wrist sent you surging forward. And then you had the sound of the crossplane engine. Back at the shop she asked which one I liked, I said the FZ-09 would be a great bike and I could be very happy on it, but the FZ-10 was way more fun and engaging. The FZ-10 feels much smaller and lighter than my old FZ1 although the dimensions and weights actually aren't that much different, the FZ-10 just wears the weight much more efficiently.   The next day I traded my FZ1 in on the FZ-10, that has been a little over three months ago and couldn't be happier. I like the seating position, the instrument panel, options for TC and ride mode, ABS, and I like the overall looks. It has a purposeful look to it, an attitude. I've put a new tankbag on it, a tinted windscreen and a few other things and have a blast for a days outing of 200 miles or so on fast and sweeping Texas Hill Country roads. Am very happy with the FZ-10, I'm confident I made the right decision on it vs. an FZ-09, and although I've never ridden an FZ-07 I am sure I wouldn't pick it over an FZ-09 and certainly not over the FZ-10. Price is a consideration for many riders but I am lucky that it didn't affect me, I could afford any of the bikes without too much effort.  When I picked the bike up the next day the service lad (early 20's) said he really wanted the FZ-10 but just couldn't afford it so he got an FZ-07, fair enough, the price spread between the two is significant.

It would be nicer if heated grips were factory and integrated into the controls well like on the S1000R.

Yamaha didn't add what $17,000 dollar bikes have because they would have created a $17,000 bike. Then we'd be discussing the cost of the bike because we could just buy a BMW for the same money.

I much prefer a street price of $11,500 and add what I want for what for my climate and riding style.  I have put $2,800 into my $11,900 bike to get it too what I will use for me.  My bike now owes me $14,700 worth of riding fun.  Still less than a stock bike with MSRP discount and TT&L.  I'm giving up active suspension (not a use for me), color display (nice but really?), and additional climate related options that I don't have a use for.  

Now this is just me.

What makes this bike great is that for a well shopped deal you get a bike that you may or may not need to sink another $3000 into to make is customized to you.  Still well under the cost of similar European bikes with comparable rides and performance.

In all reality the bike is fine stock.  Any real complaints are brake and suspension related.  Both are relatively cheap and easy fixes to get them to levels that most will want.  The EUC flash is not necessary, but worth the less than $300.

Complaints that it needs better fuel milage or bigger tank is like saying I wish by Honda had given the Pilot the ability to tow 13,000 lbs rather than 5,000 lbs.  The FZ-10 was not designed as a touring bike.  It was not designed to be a super fuel efficient commuter.  It was not designed to be a specific track day bike.  It was not designed to have $17,000 bike special 'do dads' and still come in at $12,900.

It by no means in perfect, but if you want a naked sports bike with world competing performance it is one of the best values going right now.  It needs very little in the way of upgrades to make it world class and even those upgrades aren't necessary to enjoy what it has to offer stock.

-jm2c

I put 41k on my FZ-07. It is a superior city bike to the FZ-10. Very light, mobile, really short first gear to launch you extremely hard off of a red light. Tends to not build heat as quickly, so lots of stop and go is manageable.

The suspension is garbage though, and it can't cope with high speed bumps at all, while also diving horribly under braking/acceleration. It also has very little front tire feel, and feels extremely rear biased. Not very confidence inspiring on the front tire, and slightly nervous at high speeds. Also, while people talk crap about the FZ-10's brakes, the FZ-07's brakes are easily 2x as bad. Slightly buzzy on the freeway too.  Lots of engine braking, and no slipper clutch means you can back it into corners, and just generally be an ass when riding.  But it also means you have to be more cognizant in less than ideal weather.  Double edged sword.  

It just depends on what you want out of your bike. For me, the 7k FZ-07 is actually a 10k bike, after you fix the suspension and brakes.

The FZ-10 needs nothing. I would be perfectly satisfied riding it completely stock.

Came off a FZ-07. They are two different bikes for sure. The FZ-07 is far more fun for riding in cities, lower speed twisties and just fooling around on.

The 10 requires higher speeds to really get into its element, but longer distances, outside of cities and general performance riding is far supperior.

If youve ridden bicycles youll kind of get it, if i compare the 07 with a BMX and the 10 with a 10 speed.

I miss my 07 in traffic, it is a much more agile bike when filtering lanes and just doing whatever you want, but since i do other things than commute heavy traffic with my motorcycle (im a sailor, so i basically never have a schedule whatsoever when im off shift), the 10 is definitely for me.