Yamaha FZ V4 Review: Not a "Sleeper" Bike

The Yamaha FZ16 was Yamaha India's most popular series, which debuted in 2008. In a few years, it had outperformed all its competitors by a big margin. 

Yamaha later introduced the Fazer, which was the improved edition of the FZ, but people struggled to retain this motorbike due to poor mileage. However, the performance was excellent. The Japanese automobile manufacturer reduced the total power of the FZ-Fi from 153cc to 149cc in 2014. 

With the introduction of the Yamaha FZ V3, the company effectively turned this high-performance bike into a commuter bike. This made it less powerful but more economical, as far as fuel consumption is concerned.

So, is the Yamaha FZ V4 a product that can be considered? Well, let's read on.  

Noteworthy Offerings

Every other person will give you a normal security lock, but Yamaha has put a pattern lock for engine power cuts even if you turn it on. In other words, you can remotely lock or unlock the engine, even if someone tries to manually switch on the engine with the key.

You can take advantage of the FZ V4 by setting a pattern lock and they won’t be able to start the engine even when they put keys into it. Most of the parts of this bike are made from carbon fibre, which attracts a lot of scratches over a period of time. 

The seat height is around 790mm with a 1330mm wheelbase, making the bike comfortable for average Indian-height riders.

Road Performance

The Yamaha FZ V4 comes with a 149cc motor capable of producing 12.2bhp. The bike weighs just 135kg, making it fun to ride and mileage-friendly. I had driven for about 800 km before calculating the mileage which gave me an average of about 43 kmpl.

Can you ride it on slippery roads? The answer is, yes! Because now it has safety features and traction control.

When I crossed all the good highways and entered the village, my back started appreciating the mono-shock suspension. It moves approximately 120mm and is the best at getting rid of the bumps from uneven roads. 

The wide rear wheel of this bike is sized at 140/60-17. You can control this bike in very difficult situations; however, one should be careful as silencer covers are made of low-quality material- prone to get damaged easily.

Connectivity

Instrument cluster: Unlike the Yamaha FZ V3 (have ridden this, too), where I always wished to connect the bike to my phone via Bluetooth to check recent calls and SMS, but thankfully, that's not the case with the FZ V4 iteration.

Yamaha has finally loaded the FZ V4 with the telematics feature. Now you can check call and SMS notifications on your instrument cluster while displaying your phone's battery level.

Y-Connect: Yamaha's Y-Connect app is the most advanced feature of this bike. This app can show engine RPM, degree of throttle opening, last-parked location, etc. Additionally, if you are someone who forgets about bike servicing intervals, the Y-Connect app will track and remind you of the upcoming service. 

Should you buy this bike?

Well, given the engine's displacement capacity, you may have second thoughts, while purchasing it because in its price range, you can get other bikes that have a bigger engine. But if that's not a concern, while you only care about design, durability, maintenance, and affordability, the Yamaha FZ V4 can tick all of those boxes.