[quote=“Mordeth”]I think I’ll get the Ninja 650R…even though there is a new one with a broken frame reported in America 
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When Skylark bought his CBR what did he do? He put in a smaller front sprocket lowering the top speed but giving it more low end “grunt”. And if I bought a FZ6 I’d probably be doing the same thing. But with the Ninja 650R, it’s made for low end power right out of the box. And in a way the FZ6 is just a weaker version of the CBR’s engine (inline-4) put in a cheaper package. But the Ninja’s engine (inline-2) is something all together different…with a totally different feel.
Although I’ve read quite a few reviews on the FZ6 and I’ve never heard anything bad said about it other than it’s “buzzy”. The engine puts out the most power and has the highest top speed…in it’s class (budget sport). But it does still seem to lose out in some comparisons…not in this one though: snowmobilereviewnetwork.com/ … sp?code=68
Here is a paraphrase from a FZ6, 650R and Suzuki 650 comparison, "Long story short, the 650R was the favored machine. The 650S is a dated machine and should have been retired a few years ago. The FZ6 is a fine high power carver, but you have to work at it; better top speed, handling and brakes, but short of the brakes advantage, not as much fun or ease as the 650R. "
But that review almost makes me want the FZ6 more…better power, handling and brakes?!? And it still loses the comparison??? Because the Ninja is easy??? Is easy a good thing??? Should I start using one question mark instead of three??? With eleven years of riding experience under my belt, do I really want to buy the easiest bike to ride? So many questions…so few brain cells…[/quote]
hahaha…use as many question marks as you want, but I’ll back up plasmatron on this one. My landlord has an FZ6n and he’s put close to 20,000kms on it in 2 years. He performed regular maintenance on it and rides it normally. Last weekend, he called me to tell me that he had ridden a friend’s Hornet 600 and that the Hornet’s engine was just amazingly useful and responsive compared to his FZ-6…Notice the key words “useful” and “responsive”…and that is what the FZ-6 is missing in the engine dept. It just has nothing down low and in the mid-range, it’s all up there at the very top, and there isn’t much of it. The interesting part is that the Hornet 600 uses the old variant of the 599cc engine from the CBR 600F3.
I am also not too impressed with the fit and finish of the FZ-6. The underseat exhaust cooks the passenger’s ass and on the “n” version, the instrument cluster is offset to the right, which the view is partly blocked by the brake’s master cylinder. Of course, I’ve ridden it before and found the same thing about the engine. It was always a heavy throttle until it got way up in the revs, then it sang for about 2,000rpms and just keeled over. If having to put the revs high for such a short kick was the order of the day, I would much rather go for a CB400 with VTEC where the thrills last longer compared to the FZ-6.
The best thing to do is to try an FZ-6. Then you can make an accurate judgment.
Cheers
This one looks nice…not sure how it sounds: 