The Yamaha FZ has been around since 2008 and instead of upgrading the bike, Yamaha has been providing the motorcycle with upgrades in the form of new colors and graphics schemes. This technique certainly did boost sales, but not for a very long period of time as the competitors had better mechanical features than the FZ. In the face of recent competition, the sales figures of the motorcycle had started dropping, and Yamaha realised that they just could not shy away from upgrading the FZ, and this time they had to upgrade the mechanicals too.
New 2014 Yamaha FZ Version 2.0 spied in Chennai – FrontView
In an earlier article, we had reported about the changes Yamaha intends to implement in the upcoming upgrade for the FZ, and at the 2014 Auto Expo held in Delhi earlier this year, Yamaha revealed the Yamaha FZ V2, but little did we expect it to be out on the roads so soon.
The FZ V2 test mule has been spotted at a logistics yard in Chennai, and by the looks of it, it must have been shipped there to begin the road-testing procedures, as the motorcycle bore the registration number plates of Uttar Pradesh, which is home to Yamaha motorcycles in India. The motorcycle had no camouflage whatsoever on it, and at the time when it was earlier spotted testing in Delhi, last month too, it had barely any camouflage on it. And going by these things, we can now be sure that the Yamaha FZ V2 will be launched shortly.
The close-up pictures of the motorcycle reveal that the FZ V2 will look very similar to the FZ-S concept displayed at the auto expo. The motorcycle gets new air-scoops and redesigned fins under the tank, a redesigned exhaust system in which the end-can is now circular. It also gets new sporty split seats, redesigned, thinner grab rails, clear lens turn indicators, a shorter rear mudguard and a huge rear tire hugger. The front of the bike too looks really close to the concept. It now gets full-digital instrumentation and a refreshed headlamp design with a redesigned headlight mask.
New 2014 Yamaha FZ Version 2.0 spied in Chennai – RearView
There were rumours that, the FZ V2 will have a completely new engine in the range of 150-200cc with liquid cooling and the like, but according to the spy pictures, it does not look like it will be getting a liquid cooled engine, but the engine capacity is still a mystery. The latest rumour is that the FZ V2 will sport an air-cooled, 170cc engine with a 17+ PS power output. But we cannot comment on this until we get official confirmation from Yamaha themselves. Another rumour was that the FZ V2 would have a rear disc brake, but one look at the spy pictures and that rumour too was negated. A major change in the aesthetics department is the use of the unnecessarily huge rear tire hugger spotted on the test mule.
Since the spy shots of the motorcycle show that it is near ready for production, including a PROPER registration number plate, this has led us to believe that the final production version will not really go very far from the bike spied here.
We expect the FZ V2 to hit the showroom floors later this year, probably in August, with a very competitive price tag.
Check out more spy pictures, after a jump.
Also see – Yamaha’s FZ-S Concept is Very Cool
2014 Yamaha FZ-Series pops-up on Yamaha India’s Website
Source – Motoroids, IndianAutosBlog & Overdive
