Thread: Yamaha FZ16

Yamaha's previous attempts at offering motorcycles tailor made for India bombed while even Hondas and Suzukis didn't garner significantly warmer receptions. Finally, Yamaha India has gotten it right. A few years after Bajaj pulled off the Pulsar success. The baby R1 R15 exudes enough appeal to send bragging rights soaring for the masses. 'Truly international' seems to be the man¬tra taking Indian biking to a higher plane.

Last year, at Yamaha's production facility at Iwata, Japan, I witnessed the awesome FZ1 attaining final form on the assembly line. A senior Yamaha India official wondered if a similar motorcycle would work for India. I said, suggesting the inclusion of the faired version as well. Now, a year later, Yamaha's comeback onslaught has hit prime time, its presence evident in almost every segment. Starting with the launch of the YZF-Rl and MTOI in the domestic market it has been one happening year for Yamaha. After settling scores in the 125cc segment with the tweaked Gladiator and going the extra mile to give India its first supersport bike, the R15, Yamaha's latest FZ16 is set to trigger the big bang in the booming 150cc segment.

Modelled on the lines of the popular FZ1 naked, the FZ16 is characterised by streetfighter styling. Naked streetfighters are a rage across Europe. Stripped to the core, these meanies are often referred to as hoots for their wheelie-anytime-low-end grunt, making hooligans out of anybody in the saddle, instantly. From there evolved current sport-nakeds like the FZ1. Powerful engines borrowed from sports bikes, in a user-friendly state of tune; low and mid range poke with smooth and uniform power delivery against the peaky nature of superbike engines.

They are hence weferred by the majority for their tractable manners. Indian bikers too are naturally inclined towards nakeds, perhaps because of our rich heritage of unfaired bikes with their exposed puny 100cc mills. Then came the Bajaj Pulsar which changed perceptions forever. In the current 150cc context, bike design has come a long way from there, with the current Pulsars, TVS Apache RTR and Hero Honda Hunk representing the pick of the 150cc bunch. The Yamaha FZ16, however, turns up the volume to ultra loud in terms of styling. It glowers over design ground that the others haven't even spotted yet, let alone play around on.

Styled by G K Dynamics, creators of the R15 and every other Yamaha, the FZ16 revels in its FZ-Series origins. In line with what Yamaha calls the 'triple macho concept', the designers worked hard at mass centralisation from both aesthetic and functional aspects and it shows in the overall stance of the bike. The no-nonsense, aggressive triangular head lamp is held in place by nicely crafted stays while the fat front forks and a 100-section (front!) tyre look imposing. The tiny instrument cluster perches above the head lamp and is fully digital, housing the tacho, speedo and fuel gauge. The layout, however, has turned out too garish with the use of excessive graphics and makes deciphering the figures difficult.

The real show stealer is the fuel tank. The first of its kind in the country, it is actually a plastic resin cover that conceals a 12-litre metal tank and gives designers the opportunity to realise the complex lines of the final design rendering. Chiselled to perfection, the tank with its sharp muscular bulges forms the focal point of the bike. In true naked tradition, the black, powder-coated engine has been packaged really tight, with almost no visible gaps in the area and is beautifully encased in the bodywork. Keeping the overall weight down was top priority throughout and in spite of the muscular appeal, the dry weight is just 126kg, significantly lower than the competition.



In course of its development, the FZ16 made trips to the wind tunnel as well as consumed hours and hours of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) systems time to analyse the air flow to maxi mise engine cooling efficiency. The tank shrouds are more than pretty plastic. They direct air-flow to efficiently cool down the engine and also feature a separate channel to force air towards the spark plug. The engine itself features larger fins, which also make it look bigger.

A win-win for form and function, then. The taut tail is kept short and slim for the front heavy look. What adds muscle to the rear is the stubby end can, akin to the FZl's and the massive 140-section rear tyre. The 140/60-R17 MRF Zappers are first ever radials on any Indian production bike and are said to be lighter by about 30 per cent compared to the normal cross ply tyre.

The engine is a completely new unit developed specially for the streetfighter. Displacing 153cc, the almost square engine produces peak power of 14PS at 7500rpm while torque figure tops at 13.6Nm coming in at 6000rpm. So what's with having two different engines of nearly the same capacity. Well, Yamaha has taken the sport-naked and supersport divergence almost too seriously, so while the R15's fuel injected, liquid-cooled mill is aimed at high revving performance with all the power concentrated towards the top, this carb-fed air-cooled mill has been tuned for a punchy low- and mid-range and concentrates on outright acceleration. Employing a carb, of course, helps keep costs down also.

According to Yamaha, the key tech behind the engine's bottom-end thrust is the exhaust system, which is a new innovation for our market. Unlike a conventional system where the exhaust pipe directly connects to the muffler/silencer on the side, this system employs a longer pipe length (105m approximately) that passes through the muffler placed under the engine in a loop configuration and finally exiting through the shorty can. The arrangement also helps mass centralisation and optimises the centre of gravity. The engine is fed through a negative pressure carburettor and the CD! system features 3D maps for better performance,. A single axis balancer shaft counters engine vibes.

If Yamaha's claims are anything to go by, the FZ16 is faster to 60kmph from a stand still by half a second, has an edge of about 20m over the quarter mile dash and yet manages a top speed of around 115kmph on the clock, compared to its nearest competition. Though I couldn't strap on the VBOX to assess the former two, the latter seems pretty close as I managed to reach 112kmph on short straights, with the bike still raring to go. The engine is refined with a smooth and linear flow of power as the revs rise to the redline at 9500rpm and is similar in feel to the current breed of 150cc bikes, a bit smoother but not an extraordinary step forward. The 5-speed gearbox is slick and slots perfectly but the gear ratios are a bit of a letdown. Devised more to extract the best acceleration times compared to the competition, the ratios are short in the lower gears. Great for kicks on a straight but sometimes, you will run into corners where no gear seems to fit! You find that you have to slow down to take in a lower gear, or raise corner speeds to be able to go round in a higher one.

Once you do get used to the gearing, the FZ16 is fun around the corners. The frame is an all-new diamond type with the engine as stressed member, similar to the Gladiator's format. The chassis employs beefier tubes and owes a lot to FEM analysis for real world riding conditions to achieve the best balance of rigidity. The swingarm too is a light weight, high rigidity number. The suspension is top notch; telescopic forks with beefy 41mm inner tubes at the front and a single shock bolted to the swingarm at the rear.

All these cycle parts work in tandem to make the FZ16 a great bike to carve up apexes with. Yamaha also has kept the riding position front-biased to make the ride more involving and I could sense it working not only while cutting through the Goa city traffic but also while scraping my knee on long sweeping corners in the ghats. The fat rear hoop doesn't affect the flickability of the bike on a series of bends and the advantage of getting the COG right can be gauged at every move you make to find the faster way around. The wide, almost flat handlebars are great and offer great front-end communication.

At the start of the ride, I found the rear suspension a bit too stiff with the rear almost losing touch with the ground through bumpy corners. Maybe it was my light frame but switching to the softest preload possible from the intermediate stock setting turned out to be party trick for the rest of the day. The ride is great over broken patches and the set-up swallows indulations effectively while leaned over. The brakes are outstand ing too. The front 267mm disc not only enhances the looks but offers outstanding feedback through the lever for near perfect braking. Sharp and progressive, the feel is enhanced by the fat rear tyre's grip.

After the premium pricing of the R15, the FZ's price tag left us awestruck. Yamaha has priced the bike ex-showroom, uniformly across every Indian city. At this killer pricing and the impressive standard equipment list, the FZ16 looks quite capable of feasting on its competitors for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The ogle-worthy FZ is easily the best looker of the current 150 naked breed. How good it is under the skin can only be told when it meets its competitors eye to eye. "The real Yamaha is finally here. It took us some time but better late than never," were Yamaha India MD, Tsutomu Mabuchi's first words while presenting the FZ16 to the media. Very true, Yamaha is surely on a roll again.