New member here from NY

[sqc049]

Hey guys, wanted to drop in here and introduce myself and say hello.  I recently sold my first bike which was a 2015 Yamaha R3 and I just finished my first season out there in the wild.  I'm 34, so I came to the motorcycle party a bit late, but I'm happy to be a part of it.  Anyway, I'm currently looking for my next bike and the FZ8 caught my eye.  To me it is something I can grow with and continue to develop my skills, has the right mix of performance, looks and price and it fits nicely in my budget.  I'm also considering a later model Monster 696/796, Street Triple, FZ09 among others.  Would love to hear everyone's thoughts.  

Here was my R3:





-Andrew

[nightttime]

Welcome man! That's a super nice R3 you have, I hope you can keep it and the new steed you end up buying. The forum is slower in winter, not all members live in 365 riding States, and since the FZ8 hasn't been produced for three years now our foot traffic has been lighter. This forum is literally chock full of gems of invaluable intel on the FZ8 and many other bikes, it's also chock full of BS burps and bad jokes! Enjoy your stay, I log in every day or two and I know some of the other guys do too. By now the price on an FZ8 should be very appitising, but they are selling for the same as some FZ09s and FZ07s which is crazy. I love my 8, had it for three years and am still not looking to trade. It's more bike than I need on anything but straight highways where any dude can wot and feel bad ass 0-150 in 4,5,6,,7... seconds. Curves this bike rips for what it is, super ass comfortable for any riding. I hit my limit at 600 miles per day. Any FZ series Yamaha is premium product, and I'd honestly pick up an FZ1 if I could do it over just for the extra cc's and bike prices. There are still plenty of FZ1 parts out there too, I feel like FZ8 parts are fewer. FZ1 and FZ8 are very similar in mods, and some guys even put an FZ8 headlight on the 1's and they look like 8's almost go figure. Mods are usually a must no matter the man once you get it, suspension, ECU tune with full exhaust (gutted cat stock pipes and slip on are great too), and mirrors are what I'd do first too! I'm living in some glorious advice giving world right now, don't mind me. We'd all be happy to answer any questions!

[Keach]

I have a 2011 I bought with 300 miles a few years ago. Have about 9k trouble free miles on it now. still absolutely love it. They are pretty rock bikes in terms of reliability. i recently talked a coworker into one as he had been looking at an fz10 as a first bike...yeah not smart. The fz8 isn't even really a good first bike, but it can be pretty tame if you respect it. He got it and hasn't regretted it. They are a great value now. I honestly don't have a desire to "upgrade" to anything else. I anticipate I'll have mine for a long time.

And I think they look great with some simple modifications 😁

[umyaya]

Welcome!

What type of riding are you doing in New York? Commuting? Sport riding? In my opinion the FZ8 is very easy to ride and tame. It was a good beginner bike for me. It does weight a lot compared to some rivals and for the price I think there are nicer bikes out there. Going from your R3 with around 30 hp to anything in the 600 to 800cc naked range will have around 2.5 times the hp. So anything will feel like a step up. If you are commuting in downtown.. something smaller may be ideal. The FZ07 is sick..test ride some bikes and find out what fits you the best... The street triple is a better bike out of the box.. for me.. I ended up test riding some super sports and afer riding them I realized these new bikes stock have better suspension and engine components than my modified FZ8. I have not looked back since.

Good luck!

[fz8kansas]

Welcome to the party. Yes it can be kind of slow here. There is tons of great stuff on the 8 here. We have another site you might be interested in, it is more general and just getting started. Check it out.
riderscentral.proboards.com/