Barricade - Yamaha FZ-16 (2009) - Midnight Black


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deville_56

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Barricade - Yamaha FZ-16
DOB: 26 November 2009
Color: Black

Why/How FZ?

Background Story: Idea for buying a two wheeler came after fed up with office bus commute and loss of time. I had only a year's saving of 10k in hand. Home-worked options available for such a low down payment. Zeroed to Honda Dio and Yamaha Gladiator. Glady was ruled out after its felt too uncle-ish, so the Dio. Main intention was customizing a bit and had a good neighborhood Honda mechanic. Booked Dio paying 10k and applied for HDFC two wheeler loan. Procedure went smooth and some customization parts (R15 mirrors, believe me) bought. Promised 14-day delivery, but kept delaying, Two months went past and HDFC cancelled loan because of the delay. Decided to wait a month more, but everything shattered when the same dealer delivered a Dio to my neighbor for ready cash payment and a few tip here and there. Sitting hopeless, came by my brother-like friend, who offered to fund the rest for something better than a Dio. Cancelled the Dio. Refund took some running behind the dealer.

Available options:

1. HH Hunk - Waiting period was almost 2.5 months. (Later cousin bought one and regretted for the inferior quality, poor mileage and the worst dealership/service experience).

2. RTR 160/180 - Called up the dealership and lady over phone was clueless on even terms like waiting period as nothing like existed there. Pay in the morning, take home the evening. Available ready stock. Went gaga over the newly launched 180 version, that white color and the bikini tail end. Exhaust note was sweet. Queried with a friend who had RTR160 and he only made rethink. First think was his service and dealer experience and then every RTR owners faced some sort of problem.

3. Unicorn - Always recommended to friends and the waiting period was whopping 6-9 months and again bribe the dealer and get delivery earlier. They were asking in the range of 10k for Unicorn and Activa and 5k for low selling Dio. Already betrayed by another Honda dealer, didn't want to take risk. Moreover, most of the friends were facing issues with their bikes and started yelling at me, most common of them was valve issues.

4. FZ - Being a huge fan of Unicorn then and using uncle's Gladiator for sometime, felt it was just a plastic bike. It want not even in the picture. My younger brother had a casual visit at the dealer (yes we collected brochures) and he fell in love with it and wanted nothing else. Actually, I wasn't interested at it at all and wanted a Crux or Gladiator. At last, half-heartedly agreed with him.

Buying Experience:

Yamaha had only two dealers in Trivandrum - Muthoot and Hilton. With Muthoot being the bigger dealer, queried with them. No stock. FZ-S was available, but out of out already outstretched budget. Sales team unsure of the next stock, again unknown waiting period. Approached Hilton. They had stock, indeed plenty of them, but sadly no black. Promised delivery in a week. Paid 23k and booked and initiated loan again with HDFC. Loan took two more days. Some price difference for new stock. Paid some more extra.

The D-Day.

Bike was ready for delivery after registration. They would be closing by 6 PM and asked me to take delivery before then. It was already 5 PM. Took new helmet, called a friend along, took a bus despite him offering to go in his bike because of the fear of riding back alone. Longest hour of life. No direct bus. Bus was dead slow. Got out at changing point for the next bus. No bus, no auto, still 5 km more. We started walking was and then running. Got an auto after a km, again he dropped halfway, ran again. Reached by 7 PM. Sales executive was there and there were more bikes to be delivered and no one showed up and he was not in good mood as he was stuck there. I was so impatient. Completed final paper works, collected the key and rode off even before the guy briefed on the bike. Unfortunately, didn't even bother to take a snap.

Extras: Ladies step - 175 bucks.

First Experience

My concept about FZ changed all of a sudden. (Indeed didn't test drive any of the bikes or even the Dio before booking). It was light and peppy. Zipped through heavy traffic with ease, one of the reasons why I preferred a gearless aka Dio. Till then I had experienced only top-heavy bikes like Unicorn and Gladiator. Filled it for the first time. Went home. Everyone impressed and wondered how I am gonna tame it.

Went for work with no mood, very late, by 12 PM. It was hard to spend the night at work with bike outside. Got out at 2 AM without informing anyone. First time riding at the spooky hours. Lonely and creepy. Dogs and cats everywhere. Reached home. Woke up bro. He was sad for not letting him take bike home.

Pros and cons

No major issues so far.
Steering column gets loose frequently, had an small spill.
Chain noise. Chain needs frequent cleaning and oiling.
Tyre makes rumbling noise, which is characteristic for wider tyre.
Handling is awesome.
Great low-mid torque.
Vibration creeps in between 4k and 5k rpm. Throttle response after that range is great.
Rear seat is absolute no for long journey. Did a 450 km trip as pillion. Got down 3 times in first part and at least 10 times in return leg.
Good for solo long journeys and short rides with pillion.
Braking is great.

Mileage is constantly varying. Worst is 38 and best is 61 kmpl with 43-45 kmpl most of the time.

Mods

Installed Bosch Symphony, which is hidden neatly inside my petrol tank.
Changed spark plug to NGK G-Power recently. Cold start improved a lot. Refinement is notable. Didn't check mileage difference.
Switched from Yamalube to Motul 3000 as Yamalube turned black quickly and engine was heating up fast.
Had plans to install Green Cotton (later Cosworth), but never materialized.
Apache handle weights on CBZ rods.
60/55 bulb upgrade.
Full LED coversion.

Milestones:

First minor cosmetic mods>>Red scoops + Some Matt black + Saree guard out
15k Update >>Barricade - Yamaha FZ-16
One-year ownership summary + LED tail lamp coversion + Black Forks>> One year + LED brake lights + Black forks
20k Update + Even more black >> 20k km + Blacker
25k Update >> 25k km
New Rear Tyre + 15T Sprockets >> Pirelli Sports Demon 140/70R17 + 15T sprocket
Front Tyre Upsize >> ContiGO 110/70-17>>Barricade - Yamaha FZ-16
New Battery>>TAFE Speed Maintenance Free
Second-year ownership summary >> Barricade - Yamaha FZ-16
Custom LED Indicators>> SMD LED Indicators
Completes 3rd year + Summary + Crosses 50k + New mods + New tyres + Then 60k + Carb Slide + Piston Rings + Chain Kit + full Black Theme >>Barricade - Yamaha FZ-16
Longest trip + New LED tail lamp + crosses 70 k + Daytona Dagrex Free-flow Exhaust >> Barricade - Yamaha FZ-16
75K + New tyres + Steel-Braid Brake Hose >> Barricade - Yamaha FZ-16
New rear tyre>> Barricade - Yamaha FZ-16
80k and 5 year >>Barricade - Yamaha FZ-16
More trip + New mirror + 85k km + Swingarm overhaul + Rim custom paint>>Barricade - Yamaha FZ-16
Even more tripping + New speedo sensor + some tips + new spark plug + new bulbs + steering overhaul + hits 90k km + Turns 6>>Barricade - Yamaha FZ-16
More rides + more parts + hits 95k km + more DIY + Back to stock exhaust >> Barricade - Yamaha FZ-16
Hits 1 Lakh + New Speedometer + RTR Mirrors>> Barricade - Yamaha FZ-16
Xenos Stingray Charging Socket + Timing Chain + Valves + Brake Shoe + Battery + Embossed Number Plate >> Barricade - Yamaha FZ-16
 
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deville_56

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So far

Did almost 9k km in 3 months with 38 km highway use once or twice daily.

2 service over. Due for 3rd service. Changed oil myself, cleaned air filter and changed to G-Power recently. So what they gotta do is wash and lubricate the bike [;)]

Service center experience

There are two Yamaha seller/service centers - Muthoot Yamaha and Hilton Yamaha.

Muthoot is supposed to be the largest Yamaha dealer in India. Had some sore experience with them before and customer satisfaction was more with Hilton. So took bike from Hilton [When we went to inquire about FZ at Muthoot, they gave a R-15 brochure and FZ brochure and said this is what you came in for [anger] and they sold me broken R-15 mirror before when I was planning to mod Dio and the fight for that was still going on with them].

First service: After discussing with other Yamaha owner and as we took the bike from Hilton, we decided to give it to Hilton. After calling up the service center for directions, I started off. Took a turn from main road into the lane where Hilton ASC is and was shocked to see that there was no road, dug up road, though filled back, it was almost impossible to traverse through. Stopped for a minute and decided to face all the obstacles. Had to travel almost a km to reach the ASC through a real dirt road [I don't wanna do it again.] Reached the Hiton ASC, but I was surpised to see it was Hilton Hyundai ASC and many Yamaha were lined up before it, 50% for delivery, 40% accident repair and rest being dried up after water servicing.

Inquired watchman where is Yamaha ASC. He showed a steep quarter-lane incline to the second storey of the Hyundai SC and I was supposed to ride up that. Really shocked and confused how to ride up 1.5 storey on that 45 degree incline. Only way for single bike. What if someone come down when I go up?? Parked the bike down and went up and saw the service advisor. The guy was an middleaged-old man, very experienced guy, helpful and understanding. He came down. took a test drive and gave me slip.

Bike was ready before promised time. Paid for oil and oil filter. Took home. Next day was washing the bike [bloody dogs pissed]. Saw no oil on chain and chain was overtightened against company recomended 30-40 mm play. Checked battery and saw water leveled to the top of the battery brim, reason for of the most premature battery death.

Called him up and took it back. He checked the bike and he said everything is fine chain and battery are supposed to be like that. Down again.

The place was actually messed up. Unpaved floor. Looks like a godown from 80s. Billing place was fully broken. Customer lounge was dirty. We can't see our bikes being serviced.

Went home and parked the bike. Took another guys bike and went to city center and bought box spanners for loosening chain. Came home loosened the chain. cleaned it with diesel and oiled with 4T oil. Drained the excess water from battery. Everything back to normal.

Second Service: Decided to go for Muthoot after thinking about the slope and road and the quality of service [still more people are satisfied with Hilton than Muthoot and my issues with Muthoot was over as Customer care interfered on the 43rd day of abusing them and replaced the mirror.]

It was neat and tidy place. There was even a customer satisfaction and followup manager. and at least twice the number of service advisors than Muthoot. From customer lounge we can see what is happening in the workshop and there were car mags, drinking water and mobile charging point and a decent spare parts counter. Was very happy to see that and was in love with them [:P].

One of the service advisors accepted bike and noted down the issue and I left the place. The quality of job was very good and the bike was thoroughly cleaned and lubed. Even they showed lube has been changed. Paid bill and took the bike and it was butter smooth.

Now it's time for third service. I changed the oil myself after the 450 km trip when the Yamalube was tarry black, even before 2.5k km of running. Changed to Motul 3000 20W40.

First accident

First accident was in the first week of January.

I was following a bloody Auto doing 20-30kmph and after getting mad decided to overtake. It was a narrow road and I just moved a bit right to see whether I have enough room and suddenly from nowhere a Bajaj Discover came. Didn't hit directly. His handle end hit my mirror and he was throwned away. He was actually speeding and didn't wear a helmet [mandatory for riding bikes in Kerala, and for insurance claims]. He fell on his right side and bounced and fell on the left side just missing the drainage and a telephone post. Lots of bruising in his chest, hand and leg. I applied brake and stopped almost stable, but had to drop by bike because of the shock. My damage misaligned front end, bent handle, scratched silencer cover.

His damage Broke visor, shield, mirror, indicators, side panel, silenced cover, bent fork. He pleaded to repair his bike for him. took it to a local mech. Total arnd 2.8k for repairing that. Mine was not in a ridable condition. tyre was pointing to right when handle is straight.

Called up Yamaha and explained the condition. Estimate 4.5k. My dad's distant cousin was running a Honda workshop. Called him. He asked to bring the bike somehow. We rode it to his shop with extreme difficulty. He took a ride. 10 minutes of manual labor, my back is back to normal. Recommended to change handle and the cone set its causing any trouble. Changed handle next day and cone set not changed which is giving trouble when the service date gets near :D.

From yesterday the check engine light is on when I start the bike, may be indicating my battery is low.

Done.

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Congrats on excellent purchase.

Put some pictures please.
Done man..
 
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Awesome writeup Deville!

Great pictures too. 1st pic is really good.

Nice to hear the saga between you & your brother. Finally you are happy with the plasticky crap Uh!! Barricade [;)]
 
Thread Starter #6

deville_56

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Awesome writeup Deville!

Great pictures too. 1st pic is really good.

Nice to hear the saga between you & your brother. Finally you are happy with the plasticky crap Uh!! Barricade [;)]
thanku thanku

nw I regret calling it plastic crap. Enjoying every moment with it.[evil]
 
Thread Starter #8

deville_56

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Ilango only inspired for the come back [thumbswink]

Asked for a write up about upsized tyre in Estilo. I'm preparing for 3 year ownership report on Estilo. [:D]
 
Thread Starter #11

deville_56

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Barricade back after service. Looks and feel brand new. They overtightened the brake. Skids even on slightest use.

I asked them not to change the oil. I changed it few days back as the Yamalube was black. They are saying I can't claim warranty if I don't change it from them at every free service. What if I was using synthetic????? Dumbos [:D]
 
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Barricade back after service. Looks and feel brand new. They overtightened the brake. Skids even on slightest use.

I asked them not to change the oil. I changed it few days back as the Yamalube was black. They are saying I can't claim warranty if I don't change it from them at every free service. What if I was using synthetic????? Dumbos [:D]
This only they said when servicing my Unicorn. Have to change the engine oil if I want to get the Warranty.
And does it skid even with soft compund tyres??
 
Thread Starter #13

deville_56

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I don't care about warranty and only thing I give there is to get it washed and lubed for free [:D]

Rest all done by me.


Even soft compund skids on dry dusty road.
 
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Hey deville great report buddy! I too din like this bike when it was first launched and called it too plasticky me too!!

But hey my friend who bought a HH Hunk a few months back had to wait only for a week to get his bike!!
 
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Thread Starter #15

deville_56

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Gurgoan strike was going on the time I was about to take my bike. Dio got delayed because that and that made me rethink the decision. Honda and Hero Honda had big delays. Other brands were available freely. Crap Pulsar even had home delivery [:D]
 

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