Yamaha FZ-09 released in 2016

Yamaha FZ-09 released in 2016 - Yamaha released its 2016 models to carry that torch into a new year. Lean, aggressive & nimble are my immediate impressions based on the overall looks of the bike. In typical fashion, "naked" Yamaha shunned excessive body-paneling, leaving very little mystery as to what it has going on under the hood, as it were. So without further ado, let's take a look at what makes this particular model so likeable.

Yamaha FZ-09

Design

The large-diameter fork tubes, exposed engine & wasp-like waist that tapers down to nothing over the subframe leave the bike looking like a wedge of cheese – which is to say, "all up front." While the tank design has the sporty-looking side bumps typical of sportbikes, they seem to be a bit high, & not actually in a position where one can hook a knee under it while hanging the derriere off in tight corners.

Chassis

Yamaha started things off in the right the SE with an aluminum frame, and the left features such as ABS & traction control on the shelf to prevent the loss of the gains garnered by the frame construction. The 25-degree steering-head angle & 17-inch front wheel produces 4.1 inches of trail for decisive cornering & crisp reversals. Of course, you'll pay for that when you hit the long, straight stretches out on the highway, but it is a sportbike after all.

The inverted front forks are fairly beefy at 41 mm, and both the front forks & the rear monoshock with preload & rebound come damping adjustments so you can dial in your ride. Front brakes discs fall just a little on the small side at 300 mm, but there are two of them & they have four-pot calipers piston, an to bind them – plenty for a bike that weighs in at a mere 414 pounds deep soaking wet. There is no ABS or linked-brake system, but I personally count that as a bonus, not a detriment.

Yamaha FZ-09

Drivetrain

Yamaha's Crossplane Concept CP3 engine serves as the beating heart for the FZ-10. This is an 847 cc, liquid-cooled, in-line triple that cranks out 40.0 pound-feet at 8,500 rpm; due in part to the staggered, downdraft intakes meant to open up the powerband a bit & make it start to come on earlier.now in the rpm range than systems with equidistant intakes. which gives it the smooth power-pulse delivery, and a counter balancer cancels out the rocking couple to further smooth out the engine.

Though the factory saved weight everywhere it could, induction control was apparently too important to pass up. The Yamaha Chip Control Throttle (YCC-T) is a fully Ride-by-Wire (RbW) system that reads engine rpm & throttle opening to reconcile current changes in the throttle-grip position against the engine's needs.

According to me, the most interesting part of the engine would be the connecting rods. (I know, it's a rather mundane part, but bear with me.) The factory uses the "Fracture Split" method to actually break the big end bolt, then open the two halves around its throw on the crankshaft resulting in a perfectly-mated joint. I have to wonder how many conrods the engineers destroyed trying to perfect that method, but I digress.

The six-speed transmixer comes geared to make full use of the expanded torque curve while keeping the reasonable rpm at cruising speeds. Designed to work with the narrow three-banger engine, the gearbox helps keep the drivetrain & trim fit ahead of the rear running gear.

Yamaha FZ-09 released in 2016