manuel Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 Nice article, and good to hear that even the mighty Duke 690 couldn't beat the FZ. I was not worried about the others in the test, just the Duke. Glad that's out of the way now http://www.motorcycle.com/shoot-outs/2014-middleweight-mash-six-way-shootout-video Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Global Moderator mjh937 Posted October 7, 2014 Global Moderator Share Posted October 7, 2014 Interesting that the Duke had $2,000 in suspension upgrades and still could not beat a stock FZ-07 (okay, they had upgrades on the -07, but they were all cosmetic). I knew I made the right choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 I had a 990 super duke for 5 years great bike put a ton of miles on it . traded it on a 690 duke fun bike but not a very good all around machine. only did 3000 miles sold it. I am happy with my fz07 I feel its the best of both of the dukes in one bike . I do miss the dukes abs even if the back came on a little early. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fromthecage Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 Interesting that the Duke had $2,000 in suspension upgrades and still could not beat a stock FZ-07 (okay, they had upgrades on the -07, but they were all cosmetic). I knew I made the right choice. They did say that the Duke couldn't be touched in the corners although the FZ did nip at it's heels here and there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aeisan Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 Interesting that the Duke had $2,000 in suspension upgrades and still could not beat a stock FZ-07 (okay, they had upgrades on the -07, but they were all cosmetic). I knew I made the right choice. They did say that the Duke couldn't be touched in the corners although the FZ did nip at it's heels here and there. True. I think Yamaha's pricing is all that put the FZ-07 over top of the KTM in this battle. Life is good on 2 wheels! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Global Moderator mjh937 Posted October 8, 2014 Global Moderator Share Posted October 8, 2014 Of course if you put $2,000 of suspension upgrades on the FZ-07 it might be a different story. It would still be cheaper than the Duke too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MXRider Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Yamaha really hit it out of the park with this bike. I've seriously considered buying a KTM 690 in the past but the high price and the shortcomings of the single cylinder engine are what put me off. Well that and the cost of replacement parts for KTM's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manuel Posted October 8, 2014 Author Share Posted October 8, 2014 True. I think Yamaha's pricing is all that put the FZ-07 over top of the KTM in this battle. Yes, price is one of the categories where it bested the Duke (true, by the biggest margin). But it also had more points on the engine, transmission/clutch, instruments and ergonomics. It lost on weight, handling, brakes, suspension, quality and grin factor (subjective, but likely warranted). One of the minus sides of the Duke was - "nobody's home below 3k rpm" . And it looks like the Duke's torque curve is very bumpy... The suspension, handling and quality features are connected to the price (can't have your cake and eat it too), but I'd say not bad overall ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yamabob Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 The mighty FZ-09 may get BOTY but the little FZ-07 is much easier to live with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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