Adil's Observations Of The FZ16

  • Sep 14, 2008
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Was I waxing lyrical, without having ridden the bike? Not a bit. In fact I might be the most relaxed man in the business because for long I had lamented Yamaha's inability to see what was their core character and how much they were deviating away from it. This was the bike that Yamaha should have built many years ago. It is exactly the Pulsar as we know it to be but totally contemporary and highly up-to-date in all departments of the game, totally shading the Baja

The advent of the FZ16 throws up two distinct scenarios which are positively manna from the heavens for us diehard bikers. The first is that Bajaj Auto is not going to sit still and let Yamaha come and usurp its hard won position. In fact I distinctly remember the Yamaha product planners moaning some years ago that "Bajaj had taken over the turf which rightfully belonged to Yamaha." So even though Yamaha may have re-entered the performance fray, do not expect Bajaj Auto's Pulsar to roll over and fade away. Expect a top line response from Akurdi soon.

The second and just as important observation I want to make is that Yamaha's arch rival Honda will not want to be caught giving away too much of a lead to its compatriot. The Honda Unicorn is a good reliable polished motorcycle but it doesn't spark a fire in the biker's belly. Well not as much as the Pulsar or the Apache and definitely will not flame a candle in the company of the FZ16. This naked Yamaha streetfighter, more than the YZF-R15 would be the bike that finally wakes up the sleeping giant and make it do what it knows best: the art of small capacity sporty motorcycles for the masses. Till right now Honda via HMSI and Hero Honda only did refined commuters but the FZ16 could suddenly spawn a whole frenetic wave of action from the Big H.

And to conclude with another footnote and that is all credit to Yamaha. This year it has made all the right moves to date. It signaled its intention to get back to its performance creed and it did that with gusto and commitment. First it launched its range of CBUs with the 1000cc, four-cylinder YZF R1 superbike and the 1670cc, vee-twin MT-01X streetfighter. At about the same time it refurbished its Gladiator with two distinct variants, in the Type RS and SS respectively before ushering in the YZF-R15 and now the FZ16. It has to be the most momentous year in Yamaha's history to date in India but what is even more satisfying is that once they had zeroed in on their core competency and character they have delivered and delivered on the timelines they set for themselves in the public domain. Such a thing had never happened before at Yamaha in India. It surely is a new dawn and Yamaha will have to make light of this great beginning. It cannot relax nor can it sit on its laurels. Constant development, refurbishment, excitement will have to be conjured and judging by the way the Yamaha folk have a spring in their steps, I can foresee the sultans of Surajpur swinging the biking tune in their favour.

A complete and exclusive ride story of the FZ16 will be up and ready on the site this Friday. Stay tuned.

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