Highway riding with the fz-07

[vroomvroom]

Sure, but did you do the mods in part because of it?

I did the mods because I was hit by a lane changer. My bikes handle bar and rear sets needed to be replaced.

 
 
Damn, that's an awful reason. Glad you kept at it.

[jeffkisthename]

I did the mods because I was hit by a lane changer. My bikes handle bar and rear sets needed to be replaced.

Damn, that's an awful reason. Glad you kept at it.

Couldn't stop. Riding is too addicting. To get back on topic. OP, you just need to ride more and learn to deal with the characteristics of this bike (or upgrade components). The way I see it:
 
This bike after a certain amount of mileage would have lost so much value that it would be hard to sell to get any kind of value back. If you have low miles, you should sell it if it isn't the bike for you.
 
I personally have decided to keep this bike for as long as I can, upgrade as I go and master this bike to the best of my ability, whether that be in the twisties and eventually at the track. If and when I get another bike, it will serve as a back up or continue to be my commuter.
 
The issues you have so far are with how the bike "feels" at 80+MPH and the crap suspension. How it feels can be changed through position and windscreen. Like @vroomvroom has mentioned before, I have clip-ons and rear sets, and yes they change my body positioning which is better for higher speeds as you are able to get into the tucked position much easier to hide behind my next suggestion, a windscreen. It works, may look ugly, but it works nonetheless. Mine looks good though, but I have custom brackets to raise it and move it forward to fit with my clip-ons.
 
Suspension: tons of options. The world is your oyster in terms of cartridge retrofits "ahem" @pattonme. And the shock market has been growing as the popularity of this bike also seems to be growing.
 
How much have you ridden this bike to get to your conclusion? When I first started riding this bike I felt the same as you, but I just got used to it and now anything more comfortable to ride is like icing on this riding cake, but in lots of circumstances I would take this bike over many others.
 
Come on...26k valve adjustment intervals...
 

[Guest 2wheeler]

I'm planning on doing a 4000+ mile ride this May on my FZ-07, and am completely confident that the bike will ride great. This is based on a 702 mile ride I did in 1.5 day where the vast majority of the ride was in the 70-90MPH range. I currently have a Givi windscreen and a new set of fork springs and heavier fork oil, and other than that the bike is stock as far as the ride goes. No issues whatsoever on the bikes stability at speed.
 
The Givi does not make a ton of difference as previously I did a 530 mile day without the Givi, and the stability was no different.
 
As far as the fork spring and fork oil change goes, yeah that makes a difference in the bike's stability. It is well worth the investment which is about $90 excluding your labor time.
 
Having said that, the 530 mile day was before the fork upgrade and it was still very doable, plus that day too the speed was regularly in the 70-90 range.
 
As others have said, it takes very little to make the FZ into a great cruising bike well within it's realistic speed range as I see between 0-100.
 

[Beemer]

You also modified your ride to be better for high speeds with the clip ons and rearsets.

I had the same commute before the mods. Also, those mods are more beneficial for maneuvering the bike. They don't impact how suitable the bike is for 80 MPHish characteristics unless you like to hangout in the tucked position for whatever reason.

Agreed, those mods don't make up for any lack of performance in suspension.