Yamaha
FZR600 Gallery
There are two
types of FZR600's, pre and post Dec '93. They're
completely different animals. Launched in Feb
89', the Genesis had the slanted engine of the
FZ750 and thou Genesis, but with four valves,
not five. It had a Deltabox frame, 38mm forks,
monoshock, 2-pot calipers, naff-all weight and
killer steering.
For five years FZR's were unchanged. By 93'
it was underpowered, under-suspended, under-braked
and under tired. The '94 FZR (called the YZF600
in the USA) got new frame, wheels (tires), bodywork,
engine & suspension. The only similarities
to the old FZR were the name and the motor's
angle. The new FZR lacked the old bike's sparkling
naughtiness and though it put Yamaha back at
the top, it was only temporary. The ZX-6 and
re-vamped CBR6 saw to that.
Two years later the FZR finally bowed out,
superceded by the YZF600 Thundercat. The FZR
was considered by many to be the best 600 available
when it was introduced in 1989. There have been
no major revisions to the FZR's design with
the exception of substituting a single headlight
in the '91 and '92 years and adding 4 pot brake
calipers, a spin on type oil filter and a bit
wider rear tire after '89.
The key features of the FZR600 is the Deltabox
frame. Although made of heavy steel, it is a
frame design that evenly distributes the weight
of the bike giving it incredible handling characteristics,
now heavily copied by every other sportbike
manufacturer. Some FZR600's, and all those sold
in California, USA, have an EXUP valve. The
EXUP maintains high back pressure at low RPM's
and opens fully at high RPM's yielding excellent
midrange and no loss of top end, most exhaust
tuners find the Yamaha EXUP valve design "hard
to beat." Therefor it is recommended to
only add a full exhaust system on a 49 state
FZR600 as it requires you to lose the EXUP valve
(just get a good slip-on).
The only problem with the stock FZR for performance
riding is the under dampened rear shock and
soft fork springs. Ohlins and FOX both make
replacements for the rear that make a world
of difference and Race Tech springs for the
front are the preferred choice.
The FZR is an excellent machine that will
run circles around inexpensive Ninja's, Katana's,
and the like. The popularity of this bike makes
it easy to find parts and used ones between
$2000-$4000. Reliablity is excellent under normal
riding, but the weak Yamaha clutch and tranny
does not take kindly to abuse, repair work should
you destroy yours is aprox. $1000.
| Bike |
Image |
Description |
| 1989 Yamaha FZR600 |
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| 1989 Yamaha FZR600 |
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| 1991 Yamaha FZR600 |
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| 1993 Yamaha FZR600 |
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| 1993 Yamaha FZR600 |
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| 1994 Yamaha FZR600R |
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It looks like the YZF750 - BIKE's Sports
Bike of the Year and every boy racer's dreamboat.
In fact, much of the bodywork is YZF750. |
| 1995 Yamaha FZR600R |
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