Back in 2001 Yamaha were riding high on the success of their YZF-R range which included the now iconic R1 and R6, and were also following the trend of making naked versions of their sports machines.
These were bikes with more practicality, less pose and a bit less speed. The blueprint came first for Yamaha with 1998’s FZS600 Fazer – not powered by the R6 motor, I’ll grant you. Instead it used the punchy and beautifully-carburated four-cylinder motor from the previous 600 sports machine, the YZF600 Thundercat. It made sense then that at some point, either a 1002cc Thunderace motor or perhaps the 998cc YZF-R1 motor could be a good starting point for a big naked Yamaha.
Eventually, the news broke in 2000 that (for the 2001 model year) a FZS1000 Fazer would be produced, using the R1 motor in a street bike chassis, using a Fazer 600-esque tubular frame, complete with a comfy riding position and handlebars instead of clip-ons.
When the first pictures emerged, it was obvious that the Fazer 1000 was styled a lot sharper than its smaller sibling – but soon the 600 would also ape it’s bigger brother’s cooler aesthetics. What would be almost identical though, was the whole ‘ethos’ of both bikes. They would be used for everything from touring to track-days, commuting and everything in between. Fazers really did become the Swiss Army Knife of the motorcycle world… Today, they’re both now in the realm of the modern classic, being more than 20 years old. Which means that these little (and not so little) gems can also be covered with classic insurance – and all for a brilliant bike that can cost just a couple of grand these days.
Let’s look at the FZS Fazer 1000 then. The powerplant is the five-valves per pot unit takenwould cause issues with having a decent size fuel tank so were dropped in favour of side-draught carbs which, at 37mm, were 3mm smaller than the 40mm items on the original R1 motor.
