YAMAHA FZ 600
I bought this bike in May 1987, after my RD350 was stolen.
It had just been released into the UK market with another model which would become, arguably, one of the best motorcycles ever produced. The FZR1000 Genesis.
The FZ 600 was released to fill a gap in the market, which Honda had found and was exploiting with the release of the CBR600 and Kawasaki with the GPz 600R, between the FZ 750 and the new FZR1000. This bikes dimensions were tiny, and because of that, it made it one of the fastest steering bikes of it's time. You could flick through chicanes as if they weren't even there, corners could tighten up on you without warning and she would just drop further into them without a problem and even over bumpy ground, she never lost her cool by shaking her head too much. This was the type of frame the the RD350 needed! The only down side was that the suspension gave the rider no options for set-up, and the engine wasn't new. (it was the same as the old XJ 600 which had already been around for a while) Never the less, this bike was to take over the title as being the 4 stroke equivalent of the RD. Through the tight twisty back lanes, the FZ6 was untouchable. Many a happy Sunday afternoon would be spent blowing away GPz 900r's, VFR 750's and other like super bikes of the time. It was a short-lived model, as the FZR 600 was released soon after, to try and take the market share away from the big "H" and Kawasaki. Suzuki's "Teapot" GSX600F never really got a look in during this time.
For a bigger image size, just click the thumbnail you want.
Special thanks to Alma Kettles for the 3 upper pictures. Sorry about ending up in a field that day.
