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Scene one: On NH8, crouched over the FZ’s tank, tailing the RTR, 110 on the digital display in fourth gear at the redline, slotting fifth, pulling out and shooting past. Scene two: On Bordi beach, trying to pull wheelies on the sea shore, not enough traction, less revs, sudden grip, big wheelie, rider chasing bike across sand in slow motion, bike goes down, no damage done, phew.
Lesson number one: Power-to-weight is an important concept, especially when the other guy, who’s riding the faster bike, weighs 20 kilos more than you. Lesson number two: Less revs do give you more grip on the loose stuff and you can’t afford to get surprised when it happens. Pablo’s idea of going to Bordi near Dahanu for the shoot surely turned out to be an enlightening experience, not to mention that it was brilliant fun as well.
As soon as Yamaha’s new FZ16 arrived at the BSM office, we could tell that it was looking for trouble. It went sniffing around and came upon our long term TVS Apache RTR160, the current 150cc wolverine, and blew a foghorn in its ear. Hackles raised, they circled each other, two predators of the urban jungle. In the interests of making more fur fly, we tried to make it a triple threat match, but the Bajaj Pulsar 200 shied away from the fight, tail firmly between its legs. Last we heard, it was at the gym, doubling its workout routine trying to match the FZ’s muscular body. And what a body it is! Very much in the streetfighter mould, the FZ16 is a bonsai FZ1 from head to tail. Minimally clad and voluptuous, it grabs eyeballs like nobody’s business. The sapling-sized front forks are held by substantial triple clamps. Might look like overkill for a 150, but we’re not complaining. They look like they can take a beating and then some, which should be ideal for pulling stunts. The XXL theme continues with the tyres and that huge rear monoshock. Towards the rear, the shape tapers off, leaving the rear tyre and that chunky ‘midship’ exhaust to hog all the attention. One smart feature is the plastic dummy tank with two halves on either side. Looks good and makes for easy replacement without changing the entire tank. All in all, Yamaha have got the FZ’s proportions absolutely spot-on, which gives it loads of attitude and phenomenal head-turning ability. From the watchman to the girl in the Merc, everyone gives you... er, the bike The Second Look. Boy racers want to race you and hawkers forget their job midway through a transaction; that’s how effective the FZ’s visual treatment is, but that’s also partly the novelty factor at work. Let’s see how well it does in a few months’ time, when there are FZs at every traffic signal in the city. Wonder how it’ll look with the tank, front fender and wheels painted white with a blue stripe running down the middle. Chris Pfeiffer’s BMW replica, anyone? Fantasising aside, one particularly sweet looking detail is the Yamaha symbol on the tailpiece, where the tail lamp should’ve been. It reflects the tail lamp’s light and looks like it’s alight. Looks really cool at night (hey, that rhymes!). Also, as expected, the Yamaha is solidly built with good levels of finish. But still, there are little niggles like the tank cap, which doesn’t fit flush with the tank and the finish of the top triple clamp, which seems like it’ll get scratched in no time.
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