Personal experience Yamaha FZ400 Fazer 1997

RU-MOTO rating

Reliability
Chassis
Appearance
Comfort
Price

Verdict

The history of the Yamaha FZ 400 began in 1985. The model turned out to be successful and in demand due to its reliability and simplicity of design, and existed until 2000 without changes. Over the 15 years of the model’s existence, there was only one new generation of motorcycle, produced from 1997 to 2000 - the Yamaha FZ 400 Fazer. The FZ 440 features a classic inline four-cylinder engine, a 399cc four-stroke engine. cm, liquid-cooled, producing 53 hp. and 37 Hm of torque at 9500 – 11500 rpm.

External views of the Yamaha FZ 400 motorcycle

The Yamaha FZ 400 Fazer is a classic motorcycle with a body kit that was relatively modern in those years. A characteristic feature that distinguished the FZ 400 from its “classmates” was a pseudo-sporty look and a front fairing with a double headlight.

Read other motorcycle reviews Full review of the Honda Africa Twin motorcycle

Technical characteristics of Yamaha FZ 400

Steel frame, four carburetors, chain drive - this is the secret of the simplicity and longevity of the design. The FZ 400 engine “loves” high speeds; the engine reaches peak power at 11,000 revolutions. At the same time, after 140 km/h the motorcycle frankly runs out of steam, and only the flexibility of the six-speed gearbox allows it to continue acceleration.

The valves require adjustment every 20,000 kilometers.

The electrical circuit is also not overly complicated; finding a circuit on the Internet is not difficult.

The FZ 400's weight of around 190 kg, the location of the center of gravity and a good seat height make the motorcycle universal and suitable for most riders.

In front there is a telescopic fork, in the rear there is a mono shock absorber with “progression” - a more than standard set, giving 12 cm of travel. Because of this, the sharpness of control is lost on bad asphalt and with a passenger.

Technical features of the Yamaha FZ 400

The brakes are no problem. The front has two brake discs, the rear, traditionally, one. The braking system is similar to the Yamaha XJR 400, and its excellent braking system is still talked about.

Maximum speed 185 km/h;
Acceleration to 100 km/h - 4.5 seconds;
Fuel consumption - 5\100 km on the highway, 6.5\100 km in city mode;
The weight of the motorcycle is 177 kg dry, 195 kg equipped.

Engine

The bike will not please you with its enormous speed and traction. Even for their time, these figures were very mediocre. Torque of 37 Nm and power of 53 hp. It’s unlikely that anyone was impressed at the beginning of the new century, because much more impressive models already existed then. The top speed is 180 km/h, but after 140 km/h the FZ 400 begins to seriously slow down.

Yamaha FZ 400 price

The price of the motorcycle, discontinued in 2000, remains unchanged for many years. On average, it ranges from 70,000 to 150,000 rubles, depending on the technical condition and availability of documents.

Read other motorcycle reviews Detailed review of the Ducati Monster 696 motorcycle

Screenshot No. 1. Review of prices for used Yamaha FZ 400 on Avito

Bike features

Here are the main features of the model:

front fairing with double headlight;
extremely simple design, which ensures reliability;
The bike is suitable for people of average height.

The car was produced for only three years. It was produced for the Japanese market. It is difficult to say why the motorcycle ended its career so quickly; perhaps it was all due to too much competition and the “boringness” of the bike. Indeed, there is nothing so characteristic in the Yamaha FZ 400 to consider it unique. But this is precisely what often ensures popularity.

Tuning Yamaha FZ 400

Like any other long-lived motorcycle, the Yamaha FZ 400 provides its owners with quite a lot of “upgrade” options. Popular are the installation of a rear case, “advanced” forward flow, repainting and airbrushing. Of the little things - xenon in the headlights and LEDs in the turn signals. The Yamaha FZ 400 does not need additional light; the dual headlight works well. Among the “specific” tunings is the installation of factory front and rear bars from Japanese training Yamaha FZ 400.

Yamaha FZ 400 motorcycle tuning options

Typical faults

One of the age-related “sores” is that the rubber caps of the spark plug caps become dull with time and temperature, as a result – after washing or rain, water gets into the wells, the caps “pierce” and the motorcycle stalls at idle.

According to reviews from many owners, there is an unpleasant softness of the fork, but the Yamaha FZ 400 is not prone to nose-nodding.

A traditional problem with the Yamaha FZ 400 is cracking carburetor pipes.

Noisy operation of the gearbox, especially in second speed.

Reviews from Yamaha FZ 400 owners

Screenshot No. 2. Reviews from owners of the Yamaha FZ 400 motorcycle

Screenshot No. 3. Reviews from owners of the Yamaha FZ 400 motorcycle

Ghost Rider

I took a Yamaha FZ 400 for my motorcycle school. During operation, the bike showed its best side. It was easy to install the protective bars on the front and rear; beginners often drop the motorcycle. Despite its age, the motorcycle is easy to repair, finding spare parts is not a problem, and the Internet is full of not only manuals for this motorcycle, but also detailed photo reports on the repair and replacement of components and assemblies.

Read other motorcycle reviews of the BMW S1000 RR: detailed review

Hi all!

My name is Igor and the summer of 2012 was my first motorcycle season. A little unsuccessful, but still full of positive emotions and different situations. Many letters.

A little digression...

Acquaintance with 2-wheeled vehicles, like many, began with a bicycle. In Soviet times, my whole family traveled on them, and it was in the regional town of Petushki, Vladimir region. I got my first “high” sensations from a motorcycle in the village. My uncle took me with him and rode me on the old, dead sunrise 3m. It was simply wonderful for a 7 year old child. Sitting on the tank, feeling the smell of gasoline, the wind in your eyes, burning your bare feet on the box and block... all together created an indescribable feeling of euphoria and happiness. Having grown up, I was constantly “burning” to buy my own motorcycle, but somehow everything didn’t work out, the end of the 90s, lack of money, and the whole family was against it, as it is now.

The first piece of history.

(a pain in the butt - money down the drain)
In 2002, I received a license for category “B”, but with category “A” I passed due to the lack of a motorcycle in a driving school, and then it was mandatory to study for category 3 months. Having saved up some money, I bought IZ Planet 5. An acquaintance drove it to my garage, and the fuss began with fine-tuning the motorcycle. I fiddled with it for 2 days, and on the third I was shot down).

The situation was banal: a young boy took his dad’s car to take the girls for a ride. And he managed to turn around on the road at night without headlights or markers. The car was black with dull tint. He caught me with the bumper on the left side near the front wheel. Somersaulting over the handlebars, I flew five meters and lay down on my back. Everything turned out very well for me (a cut leg and a bruised back), since at that time I only had a cross on my chest.

The Gays imposed fines, and since there were no documents for the motorcycle at all, the motorcycle was taken to a parking lot. Then, purely financially, I couldn’t handle the situation with returning the motorcycle, so I had to give up motorcycle equipment for a long 10 years. Apparently, he hit the asphalt hard then)).

Second piece...

(technical)
In 2011, I met Anna, a girl from Dmitrov, an avid biker, and after talking about motorcycle topics, I became inspired to ride again. I just got a new job and at the beginning of the 2012 motorcycle season, I decided to take out a loan to buy a motorcycle.

I had no experience in Japanese technology, so I went and looked at motorcycles at random from advertisements. The criteria were “itch”, a comfortable fit with a height of 180 cm and more, and some kind of fairing. Of course, I wanted sports, but then I was afraid of them, just like all the more powerful Izha). I first looked at the SV400SF, but for some reason I didn’t like the design, and somehow I came across a review on the Internet about the FZ400 Fazer. I immediately liked the motorcycle’s appearance, having ridden several copies, and its ergonomics.

Having wandered around the Moscow regions on adventures, I took the red one. With easy tuning and all sorts of nice things.

another retreat.

(emotions)
The first 20 minutes on a Japanese bike were scary and exciting: rain, a foreign city, fear of the front brake, poor clutch feeling (stalled a couple of times). But we need to go. Goal: to do maintenance and insurance and deregister if I have time (the traffic police, like all officials in our country, takes a long and tedious time to register). Acceleration to 50 mph seemed like crazy speed), I didn’t touch the front brake at all. Arriving at the maintenance, I met there an “old biker” on an R6, he helped me deal with starting and blocking the internal combustion engine, there is such a topic on Yamahas (foolproofing). The MOT passed without a hitch, as soon as the inspector found out that I had been driving for the first 20 minutes, everyone laughed together, and I went to the insurance office. The insurance company had the same problem, because... I don’t have rights to the category, but the spendthrift needs to be driven to Moscow. I had to call my friend Sasha, register him, and he passed me on (for which I thank him very much!). At the entrance to Moscow I had to abandon the car I used to pick up the motorcycle. And move already in second number because was late for work.

There was another set-up in the area; we couldn’t immediately find paid parking, although I filled up 2 spaces. An hour later, having found a place, we ran to the subway right in our gear. In the subway we said goodbye, he went home, and I went to work.

The second piece... continued.

The lack of experience and a friend with a “cool head” who would pull me back played a cruel joke.
The motorcycle was floating idle, they threw everything into cracked pipes, it turned out that the problem was deeper and more expensive... I rode for a total of about 2 months, and I already met August as a pedestrian, due to loss of compression in all cylinders. The motorcycle did not want to start when cold. During operation, I changed the chain with sprockets, and it suddenly stretched and cut off almost all the teeth from the rear sprocket. It all happened within 250 km. After the replacement, I realized what real traction from an internal combustion engine is to a wheel and chain without slipping).

Third piece...

(legal, valiant traffic police)
During the period of obtaining my category “A” license, I actively rode from home to a motorcycle school and so on around Moscow. The first thing I asked the instructor Alexey from Beard Bike was, teach me how to ride, and we’ll master the site later, closer to delivery.

I also went to “Gai” on a motorcycle. It was interesting to look at the candidates for motorists when a person in full gear stood in line with them and also submitted documents for a license... Because. this was the time before the official opening of the motorcycle season, the traffic cops were not afraid, and the motorcycle battalion members had not yet started serving in the special operations areas.

I was the first in the group to pass the theory and answered all the questions without errors in 2 minutes. (android traffic rules rule :). The traffic cop was even surprised that he had prepared so quickly and self-preparedly, congratulated him and wished him good luck in the practical exam.

Practice, I think like everyone else, was boring and long. In total, we spent 5 hours on the site in the wind and cold. For 1t.r. They gave me a ride on the ebrik and passed it on (the traffic policeman was an ancient owl), this at least distracted me from the excitement and cold. By the second hour of riding the ubr, the “fun” had already started and they began to openly fool around on it because I'm already tired of the exercises on the court. The inspector arrived, set up the cones, and the area somehow “narrowed” and the jitters returned. Several people took the "owl" test; almost all of them "failed" the test. The first person who managed to defeat the Nashprom technology was greeted with exclamations and applause). The match itself was somewhat similar to a show, with judges, fans and participants.

When my turn came, a stupor immediately began, my hands became numb, in my head “I won’t give up, I won’t give up.” But as soon as I started the wind and started singing a melody to myself, I let go a little. I cut the chip at 8k, on the second attempt everything went well. Traffic cop: - Congratulations, you passed. Exhale and immediately feel such relief in your soul). I said goodbye to the remaining “students” and walked to the car. There were only one thoughts: hot tea home and a warm shower to warm up...

The "ultimate" piece...

(action:)
During these two months there were many emergency situations, mostly due to bravado and incorrect assessment of the situation. I will describe the 3 most memorable ones:

First.

I was returning from Zhukovsky to Moscow, counting the first long distance, the first 150+ mph. And then a guy in sports passes me, although I was doing my 120. The guy was wearing only a helmet and gloves, and sweatpants). He flew to the point. “Hmm, well, I should try it,” I thought. I assumed the “fetal position” on the road bike, and the scabies immediately began to accelerate more dynamically (the lack of a sail in the shape of my body had an effect). “It’s interesting,” I thought, and began to experiment with the landing, unloading my hands, putting it into turns, and somehow, while playing around, I didn’t notice a traffic jam ahead. I began to slow down, but still with fear of the front brake and not understanding the 07 tires, not as progressive as I would like. In general, I understand that I don’t have time to stop before the 9k bumper. There's a truck to the right of the vase, a bump stop on the left, head down, there's more space on the left, jump there. Oops, there is sand under the wheels, I let go of the front one, clamp the rear one - skid. In short, I flew four car lengths deep into the traffic jam and stopped. I put my feet on the ground, exhale, inhale, exhale... and then I start “shitting with bricks” and an “adrenaline attack” hits - wow! - I thought... I might have made an impression. After standing for about 5 minutes, I pulled into the aisle and drove on.

The second incident occurred on a Lublin street. As always during the day, there was a fair amount of traffic there, I got to the traffic light between the rows and started off first. On the next one I approach the green, there is a van on the left lane, waiting for the arrow and some strange feeling: “something is not clean here” I mechanically closed the trigger. And then a fool on a black gelding turns around on a red light from the oncoming lane. I press the brakes smoothly, again I don’t press the front brakes and press the rear ones. The squeal of the rear tire skids and I miraculously drive away from the trunk of his car. I almost stopped and looked at this smiling, unshaven face of southern nationality. Everyone at the intersection stared at us. Cursing into his helmet, he restrained himself so as not to show the fact... I drove on, adrenaline sweetly flowing through my body).

The third "situyovina". I’m going from the Moscow shopping center along Kashirka to the center. Repair work is constantly underway at Kashirka in connection with the construction of interchanges. So, I'm on the far right, by . The road closure narrows into 2 lanes and goes to the right, resulting in something like a bunch of quick turns. In , I shift the bike to the right side and slow down a little with the rear brake (I was scared of the trajectory), then the rear wheel breaks off (maybe there was sand). According to my feelings, the tail begins to overtake the front at an angle of 30-40 degrees relative to the movement. I see that I am starting to lie between the wheels of the truck. Due to inexplicable circumstances, there was no panic in my head, but only: oh - oh! (as in isq). I just relaxed, eased off the gas and straightened the bike (feels like it). I immediately hit it with my foot, tearing off some kind of belt from the tank of the truck and with the second contact I crashed my helmet into the rear view mirror, dodged a little and the blow hit the helmet, not the visor. After stopping about 10 meters on the side of the road, everything was shaking, I put the step on and turned off the engine. I started to take off my helmet, forgot the clasp, second attempt - glasses, on the third I took it off and ran to the driver. I say that everything is fine with me and that he would clear the passage, Kashirka after all (this worried me most at that moment :). According to the driver of the lawn, he thought that I lay under his truck, and I still don’t understand how I managed to steer out.

At the moment, I'm a pedestrian. The motorcycle's cylinder block has been removed and is in the service center waiting for spare parts.

Conclusions for the 1st season (accordion):

1. When buying a bike, take a knowledgeable person with you and consult.
It is better to take the most common motorcycle in the off-season, so that there are no problems with spare parts. 2. Be sure to go to a motorcycle instructor and learn how to brake and control a motorcycle correctly. 3. Always wear equipment, in some cases you will avoid injury, and in others you will remain alive. 4. If you get into a “rage”, then immediately “restrain” yourself, the likelihood of an accident increases sharply. I felt it myself. 5. Think for other drivers and never be distracted from the road; as your speed increases, your concentration on traffic should also increase. 6. If you have a premonition that someone will do something dirty, then it is better to slow down and take measures to prevent it. If you ignore it, they will definitely do it. 7. On the road, all of us are blind with the desire to kill you, act on these considerations. PS: I apologize in advance for the awkwardness of the text and punctuation... ... and in general for this whole accordion (: Peace to everyone!

General conclusion

Yamaha FZ 400 is a timeless motorcycle. Despite its age and discontinuation, this model continues to be popular among novice riders. Ease of operation, maintainability and successful design give confidence when using this motorcycle both in city mode and on trips over short distances (500-1000 km). Even beginners will have no questions about how to tighten the chain or get to the carburetors to clean or synchronize them. However, any repair of this motorcycle has already been discussed in detail many times on specialized forums.

Chassis and brakes

The free play of both suspensions reaches 120 mm. At the front there are telescopic forks and at the rear the FZ 400 gets a progressive monoshock. It is worth noting that the motorcycle is not suitable for roads of poor quality, because handling suffers significantly.

The motorcycle has three brake discs in total. Of course, there is only one at the rear and two at the front, as is customary, and if a two-piston caliper is used at the rear, four-piston options are used at the front. This is a good braking system, especially considering the insignificant performance of the local engine.