Yamaha FZ6 600 FAZER S2 2007 — Specifications

What do you do when you own a golden goose and want to keep it productive? You change its feathers, not its skeleton. Yamaha knows the recipe by heart with its FZ6 Fazer, and this 2007 vintage stamped S2 is the perfect illustration. Three years after the model's complete overhaul, the engineers in Iwata reached for the scalpel rather than the sledgehammer. The inline four-cylinder 600 cc engine, inherited from the R6, retains its 98 hp at 12,000 rpm and 63.2 Nm of torque at 10,000 rpm. The die-cast aluminum perimeter frame remains identical. All the work focused on the bodywork, ergonomics, and a few chassis details that, taken together, noticeably change the daily riding experience.

The first glance reveals a redesigned front fairing. The sides of the headlight cowl rise higher, exposing the upper part of the radiator, and the windscreen adopts a new profile. The overall look gives the S2 a sharper face than its predecessor, without falling into the aggressiveness of a pure naked bike. Behind the windscreen, the dashboard takes a leap forward: Yamaha had the good sense to borrow the instrumentation from the FZ1, far more legible than the old round gauge whose tachometer practically required a decoder. On the braking front, the four-piston monoblock calipers biting 298 mm discs are reminiscent of those fitted to the R1 before its switch to radial mounting. A choice that flatters the eye and should deliver sharper bite, even though the FZ6 has never claimed to be a pure sportbike.

Further down, the swingarm is the real novelty on the chassis side. Its hexagonal-section design in cast and extruded aluminum aims for a better compromise between rigidity and agility. On a machine weighing 207 kg wet, suspended by a 43 mm telehydraulic fork and a mono-shock each offering 130 mm of travel, this gain in structural stiffness is felt most in fast transitions and hard braking. The seat, meanwhile, has been completely rethought with different foam and covering. A point often overlooked on sportbikes disguised as tourers, yet one that changes everything on a 300-kilometer ride. Yamaha also corrected a well-known irritation among first-generation owners: the passenger footpegs, previously welded to the rear subframe, are now bolt-on. A detail that seems trivial until the day you need to replace them after a drop. They are also mounted lower and fitted with rubber pads, a sign that the manufacturer thinks about the person riding on the back seat too.

Under the fairing, the four-stroke sixteen-valve engine retains its 65.5 x 44.5 mm bore and stroke and its 12.2:1 compression ratio. Yamaha simply revised the fuel injection mapping and modified the exhaust system with new internal components. Nothing spectacular on paper, but a refinement that can alter the character in the midrange, where the FZ6 spends most of its time. The six-speed gearbox still sends power to the rear wheel via chain, and the 19.4-liter tank promises decent range for a 600 of this caliber. Priced at 6,990 euros, the tag remains competitive against a Honda CBF 600 or a Suzuki GSF 650 Bandit, even if those two lean more heavily toward pure comfort.

An interesting strategic point: the 2006 Fazer doesn't disappear from the lineup. It continues alongside the S2, restricted to 78 hp, offering a gentler entry point for A2 license holders or riders who favor flexibility over outright power. With the S2 at the top of the range and the older version as an accessible option, Yamaha covers two customer bases without developing two motorcycles. The 795 mm seat height, the 120/70-17 and 180/55-17 tires, the versatility of the inline four: all of this makes the FZ6 Fazer S2 a machine built for the rider who wants a single vehicle capable of crossing the city on Monday, eating up the highway on Friday, and having fun on a back road on Sunday. Not the most exciting in its class, but probably one of the most sensible.