Yamaha FZ-S long term review: After 12 months and 18,100km

The Yamaha FZ has always been fun to ride despite it having been through a lot of rough patches, much like life in Mumbai - bad roads, heavy rains and some nasty potholes. But it has always risen above all of that. The wide rear tyre doesn’t get affected by potholes and offers good grip even on wet roads. Last week, the bike completed 18,000km and the engine still feels fresh and refined.

The motorcycle’s last service at 16,500km was billed at Rs 609. This was for a regular service which includes an oil change, a new spark plug, brake clean-up and adjust, air filter cleaning, chain and other minor lubrication for all moving parts. This was inclusive of Rs 100 for labour and I think that is very reasonable for a 150cc fuel injected motorcycle that costs nearly
Rs 1 lakh. As I recall, I used to pay around Rs 350 to get my Hero Honda Passion serviced about six years ago. A regular service like this at every 3,000km keeps the bike minty fresh both in terms of performance and efficiency. The only thing I found I had to do in between was lubricate the chain every 800 kilometres as it gets dry quite fast in Mumbai. At the 18,000km mark, I had to change the front brake pad which cost Rs 202 - again with labour charges included.

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After nearly a year on the FZ, I have really come to appreciate its dual nature of being an enjoyable ride while still being practical and affordable to run. I can only hope my next longtermer offers the same.

Total mileage: 18,100km Date acquired Aug’14 THIS MONTH: Mileage 4,830km Fuel 112.3 litres Efficiency 43kmpl

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