2010 Yamaha FZ8 teased with headlight shot

By

2010_Yamaha_FZ8.jpgThis is the headlight of the 2010 Yamaha FZ8, an FZ6-replacing rival to the Kawasaki Z750 and Aprilia Shiver 750. 800 is better than 750, right? The FZ8 means the torque-free FZ6 will be dropped from Yamaha’s European range, again giving the company a bike with an engine capable of competing with other middleweight nakeds, something Yamaha hasn’t had since the Fazer’s Thundercat-derived powertrain was killed by tightening emissions regulations. Nothing else is officially known about the FZ8, including its likelihood of reaching US shores. 

  • Isaac

    So, does this mean we will get an R8 in 2011? I hope so!!!

  • Dave

    I sure hope this comes to the USA :) I’ll buy one next spring to park next to my ZX14… I need something just a little smaller for those short errands and running around town!

  • http://www.peterlombardi.com Peter Lombardi

    the US get a cool naked?! we’ll have none of that crazy talk! ;) haha can’t wait to see the rest of it.
    -peter

  • HW Pfabe

    I’m really excited about this. First of all, I love Yamaha, and here we finally have something new from Yamaha. What happened at the Tokyo Motor Show? Seems pretty dull from what I’ve been able to see.

    Ideally, I’d love this to be something to compete with the KTM Duke or Super Duke, but that’s unlikely.

    Of course, what I’m REALLY still waiting for is a Yamaha YZF-R250…

  • CBontheMV

    Good luck bringing anything cool to the US. Yamaha already has two nakeds that should be here, the MT-01 and the MT-03. If they brought the MT-01 to this side of the pond, I’d seriously consider it over my MV Agusta Brutale.

  • CBontheMV

    Should have included the link in my earlier post.

    http://www.yamaha-motor-europe.com/products/motorcycles/mt-series/

  • HW Pfabe

    cBontheMV, they did. The MT-01 is in Canada, they just won’t bring it in the USA.
    Never heard an explanation why (though heard some theory about the Harley v-twin sound copyright, but don’t believe it).
    Ticks me off too.
    The MT-01 and MT-03 are two of my dreambikes.

    • chuluun

      I doubt the ‘Harley v-twin sound copyright’ story has any substance, especially as the MT-01 basically has the Star Warrior’s engine. Neither it nor the MT-03 have been very successful in Europe — they’re in a long, not-so-proud tradition of great Yamaha bikes priced wrong. The MT-01 is still the coolest Japanese bike on the planet.

      The FZ6′s days were obviously numbered as soon as the new XJ6 turned out to be a full range rather than a single model. An FZ8 could pretty easily clean up in a sector that isn’t exactly bursting with competition, especially if it looks right, which being a Yam it probably will.

  • PJ

    I don’t suppose there’s a good looking motorcycle attached to that collection of scrap plastic they’re calling a headlight.

  • Bryan

    It isn’t like an FZ8 is a new idea for Yamaha. The baby V-Max of the ’80s, the FZX750 Fazer was one hell of a machine.

  • HW Pfabe

    Yeah, I lust after an MT-01, especially with the kit that makes it look like the MT-OS (though at that point it’s only about as much of a naked as the US version of the FZ6).

    I’ve read reviews of the FZX750 and it sounds like a fun bike, just not a lot of them out there.

    I just don’t get why nakeds don’t sell better than in the US.

    • Mitch

      “I just don’t get why nakeds don’t sell better than in the US.”

      While street riders would have a 100% better time riding, with the upright view, torque down low, wide control bars for leverage, etc., too many riders still see supersports and superbikes as the only expression of motorcycle they want to deal with.

      I never thought I’d be a total track day convert, but after unleashing a 600cc on the race course, there’s no where else I’d rather ride it. I’d love the MT-03.

  • VTrider14

    I am really upset that the U.S. doesn’t receive the awesome naked street fighters that Europe and the rest of the world get. I love Yamaha’s and have been waiting for them to bring a great looking naked street fighter to the U.S. that will compete against the Aprilia Shiver, Ducati Monster, and Suzuki SV 650. This Yamaha FZ8 would be a victory for all us street fighter riders. Also, why doesn’t Honda bring over the CB1000R? I’d buy that over the Yamaha FZ1 and the Kawasaki Z1000

    • 2ndclasscitizen

      It’s not a streetfighter. If you were a streetfighter rider you would know that.

      Built, not bought.

    • Syke

      Unfortunately, naked sport bikes do not appeal to the majority of the customer in the US. This was driven home to me earlier this decade when I tried to sell the ZX-6R custom streetfighter I built. The first twenty (no, I’m not kidding) customers to look at it all had the same question, “What’ll it cost to put the fairing back on, man?”

      Upon being told that I’d cut away all the mounting points to make the bike look cleaner, they all lost interest immediately.

      Will someone please explain to me this jackass American attitude of, “It’s gotta have a fairing!”? Intelligence-wise, I’ve always felt this puts a lot of sport bikers into the same category as the genuine-Harley-leathers-and-underwear crowd.

      At the shop where I work, the Honda 599 was a big failure, the 919 went nowhere, and the FZ-6 has only gotten a lot of interest since they’ve put the full fairing on it.

      • Mitch

        Same with the SV650S – they just recently added a lower fairing to mate with the upper, making it look like a full fairing bike.

        I think, partially, is that the full fairing sport bike is as far away from a completely naked cruiser as you can get. The H-D image is sort of like a black hole, even having a naked bike with handlebars may be too close for some.

        It’s pretty silly, but to Americans bikes are still mostly toys. Once we see 6 dollar a gallon gas, then we’ll see street bikes proliferate.

  • http://www.tanshanomi.com Tanshanomi

    Already hate it. Why does every bike today have to looks like an origami Transformer?

  • John "birther" Samford

    OK, I’ll explain why nakeds don’t work in the USA (disclosure; I ride a 919).
    Highways.
    There, you’re happy. Getting around a major urban area means getting on some sort of 4+ lane road that doesn’t have cross roads, using on and off ramps instead.
    You can call them anything you want, nakeds, streetfighters, rat bikes ( a blast from the past), what ever. What they really are is commuter bikes. Designed and built to do the daily grind.
    Most Americans DON’T use motorcycles as transportation. They use it as a hobby, an aid to sexual activity, or something to boost their ego.
    “Regular” bikes are good if you ride because you have to (the little voices in my head make me) but if you want to impress you buds down at the malt shoppe or turn the head of that raven haired babe’, then you need something that turns heads. That means either a ‘sport’ bike or a cruiser. Touring is a different thing, although still a hobby. I do a lot of day runs, where I will go 3 to 4 hundred miles out on the back roads then take a highway back. So I sometimes miss a fairing.
    So the sales numbers just aren’t there to get a bike certified in the USA.
    The solution is for the manufacturers to get a single emissions rating from the UN that is applicable in ALL countries. Right now, they have to apply in Each (all 194 of them) country for a permit to import. That is expensive. If you know the bike won’t sell, why spend money on it?
    If their was one permit for ALL countries, then if an American wanted a Euro bike or an Indo bike, then they could trot down to the dealer, plonk down their money and wait for it to get there.
    Since they would get full price with no extra cost, then the cash flow to the manufacturer would be positive.

  • K-Morgan

    Hi Guys,

    I’m a Londoner who found this site looking for stuff on the new Yamaha FZ8. Just thought it may be interesting for you to have a perspective on a Brit rider who lives in Europe. Fact is that, like someone pointed out earlier, we have really different roads here. Most biking fun is to be had on twisty out-of-town roads and not motorways that go on forever in the sun.

    Also, until you’ve had to get from one end of a European city to the other on two wheels you’ll never understand how important it is to have big bars and a high riding position! Being able to manoeuvre a bike around/through/over other vehicles is a real bonus and a fairing isn’t as much use as it would be on long runs.

    I’ve had the joy and privilege of riding a Harley for a day in Southern California and it’s a very different way to how I ride in the UK. Relaxed, easy, fun. Riding a bike in urban European places means that you need a whole different type of bike.

    Having said that I am surprised that more people haven’t caught on to how much fun you can have on twisty roads on a naked bike like a Triumph Street Triple, I mean, some of the roads you have over there are enough to make a bike fan cry with joy, especially around Santa Rosa – wow!

    Anyway, stay shiny side up folks.

    Kim
    London

  • http://best-streaming-movies.blogspot.com/ william

    2010 Yamaha FZ8 Best Headlight