About to pull the trigger on a FZ or MT...

[tsmay51]

Well, I am 53 and have made a mistake. I spent many years dirt biking and racing cross country. I have had only one street bike and that was a Honda Superhawk 996. I wanted a naked bike then but the market was very thin on naked bike options. Fast forward to today. It has been 13 years since owning any bike. I have been looking and debating for 6 months at naked bikes and Harleys. Finally pulled the trigger. Old men are supposed to want Harleys. Bought a used Softail Deuce. I could not be more miserable. They are heavy and handle horrible. Fortunately I bought used can get out from under pretty easily. My use of the bike is just messing around town with maybe an occasional ride for a couple or 3 hours. I went and looked at a 2018 leftover at a dealership. Ergonomics are great and very stable feeling on the MT/FZ. The cost of new considering the use of the bike for me is ridiculous. A dealer near me has a 2015 FZ with under 3k miles for sale at a reasonable . Am I going to notice any major differences in the 2015? Was there any issues with the earlier versions? It is stock and I prefer that anyway.

[stickshift]

Good choice. There are no major issues with the first model, most of the updates are cosmetic. The riders seat has also been changed, to apparently make it more comfortable on longer rides, though I've never had issues with the earlier seat.

You won't go much wrong with either model.

[sorkyah]

 

1 hour ago, tsmay51 said:

Well, I am 53 and have made a mistake. I spent many years dirt biking and racing cross country. I have had only one street bike and that was a Honda Superhawk 996. I wanted a naked bike then but the market was very thin on naked bike options. Fast forward to today. It has been 13 years since owning any bike. I have been looking and debating for 6 months at naked bikes and Harleys. Finally pulled the trigger. Old men are supposed to want Harleys. Bought a used Softail Deuce. I could not be more miserable. They are heavy and handle horrible. Fortunately I bought used can get out from under pretty easily. My use of the bike is just messing around town with maybe an occasional ride for a couple or 3 hours. I went and looked at a 2018 leftover at a dealership. Ergonomics are great and very stable feeling on the MT/FZ. The cost of new considering the use of the bike for me is ridiculous. A dealer near me has a 2015 FZ with under 3k miles for sale at a reasonable . Am I going to notice any major differences in the 2015? Was there any issues with the earlier versions? It is stock and I prefer that anyway.

There were a couple small things updated for the 2018 model

Front spring rate, and seat being the major changes. 

As for issues, a few of us have had an issue with the clutch case leaking oil or coolant. But those seem to be few and far between. 

There was a recall on the battery wire, but if it's at a dealer it's likely been done

 

Other than that, I can't think of any other issues people've had with em. 

I've had mine for nearly 5 years now and can't think of anything I'd change.... Except the seat cover since it's torn

[intensity_white]

ABS is standard on the 18+.  Not available on the 2015, IIRC.

[DewMan]

22 hours ago, intensity_white said:

ABS is standard on the 18+.  Not available on the 2015, IIRC.

Correct. FZ-07 (US Model) didn't have ABS even as an option until 2017 and then only available in Rapid Red color.  It became standard equipment on all colors when it was rebadged as MT-07 in 2018.

[WankyMcTugger]

This isn't constructive to the conversation, but a friend who's owned every type of bike decided to get a Harley at one point. Our group of moto friends tried to talk him out of it, but he said he wanted to test it for himself. He lasted 3 months on it, and then sold it. His report at the end, and I quote, was:

Harleys do two things well:

1. Be loud

2. Say "Harley Davidson" on the side

[FZ07R WaNaB]

On 6/23/2019 at 6:33 PM, stickshift said:

The riders seat has also been changed, to apparently make it more comfortable on longer rides, though I've never had issues with the earlier seat.

If you are a short person and/or have an inseam less than 30", the older models are better. The new seat is wider and in turn forces your legs out further, effectively adding to the seat height - yeah, I'm vertically challenged!

I'm also one of the few who has no problem with the old seat. I did 535 miles in a day, and my butt felt fine

[DewMan]

1 hour ago, FZ07R WaNaB said:

I'm also one of the few who has no problem with the old seat. I did 535 miles in a day, and my butt felt fine

Don't take this the wrong way but, there must be something wrong with your butt to be able to get that much seat time without discomfort. 
Most of us are complaining after less than a couple hours on the factory vinyl covered plank.

[intensity_white]

On 6/25/2019 at 7:16 AM, FZ07R WaNaB said:

If you are a short person and/or have an inseam less than 30", the older models are better. The new seat is wider and in turn forces your legs out further, effectively adding to the seat height - yeah, I'm vertically challenged!

I'm also one of the few who has no problem with the old seat. I did 535 miles in a day, and my butt felt fine

My inseam is right at 30", and I have zero issues with the 18+ seat.  Flat footed on both sides.  One thing I never see mentioned:  I have big feet!  So even with a 30" pant inseam, I have at least a 32" cycling inseam.  I think that makes a difference.

[Beemer]

On ‎6‎/‎25‎/‎2019 at 10:16 AM, FZ07R WaNaB said:

If you are a short person and/or have an inseam less than 30", the older models are better. The new seat is wider and in turn forces your legs out further, effectively adding to the seat height - yeah, I'm vertically challenged!

I'm also one of the few who has no problem with the old seat. I did 535 miles in a day, and my butt felt fine

Have to agree with DewMan, you are the exception to the rule it would seem. Did you have surgery? Do you have a titanium arse? I kid but man, you should feel lucky to be so resilient. 

[Beemer]

Like most bikes they all have their little quirks and differences. Depending on your preferences and what you expect out of your bike the differences in the bikes might either seem major or minor. For most people with a '15 (what I have) it seems the biggest gripes or the things 'most complained about' I should say are the suspension, the turn signals, the bars and the seat. There were other gripes but they weren't as frequent so I won't mention them. All the things mentioned can be easily and cheaply remedied, depending once again on your preferences.

One thing worth mentioning also is many people didn't like the fuel cut-off which caused a couple of undesirable traits such as above average engine braking and the bike suddenly dying on occasion when taking off from a stand still. Many people send their ECU into 2WheelDynoWorks (a vendor on this site) to have those things remedied or deal with the ECU in other ways. 

If you can overlook and live with it's shortcomings you've got a great bike from the go because the engine and lightness of the bike will most likely put a smile on your face. If that's not enough the extra work and $$$ for mods is worth it if you don't go overboard spending too much. For a '15 with only 3k on it @ a good price I would snatch that bike up like right now. You could do a lot worse. 

[FZ07R WaNaB]

11 hours ago, Beemer said:

Have to agree with DewMan, you are the exception to the rule it would seem. Did you have surgery? Do you have a titanium arse? I kid but man, you should feel lucky to be so resilient. 

I believe that it would be called natural cushioning

Truth be known, I have a huge reputation for tweaking all of my toys in a heartbeat. Nothing more fun than customizing my toys. Having said that, I have never felt the need to change my seat. My longest ride was 702 miles in 1.5 days, and the tush was A-OK. That also includes 12,000 miles of overall riding on my FZ.

[DewMan]

1 hour ago, FZ07R WaNaB said:

I believe that it would be called natural cushioning

Truth be known, I have a huge reputation for tweaking all of my toys in a heartbeat. Nothing more fun than customizing my toys. Having said that, I have never felt the need to change my seat. My longest ride was 702 miles in 1.5 days, and the tush was A-OK. That also includes 12,000 miles of overall riding on my FZ. 

I think he's a Skrull, cause he ain't human. 

[phyciocc]

I have PLENTY of natural cushioning, but the problem (for me, anyway) in the seat is not in the butt, but further up afield.  After about 1.5 hours, my perineum says "NO MORE".   And I tried a few things: I am now using the "comfort seat" from Yamaha, which is slightly better than the original but still...

Lucky you.

Marco