2014 Yamaha FZ-09 | DOIN' TIME

WRIST: Ari Henning
MSRP (2014): $7,990
MILES: 3,885
MPG: 36
MODS: Renthal handlebar and bar ends, FP Racing levers

The fork is back from Stoltec Moto (stoltecmoto.com), on the bike, and it feels better than ever, but I’m still riding around with a ZX-6R shock in place, so I’ll wait until the Penske unit I’ve ordered arrives before I report on this latest phase of suspension mods.

In the meantime, I’ve turned my attention to the Yamaha’s cockpit. From the start I felt the handlebar was too tall, so I replaced it with a Renthal Fatbar Street Low (renthal.com; $90) in black. The bar has the same bend as stock but less rise, so grip height has been lowered by 0.75 inch. The way I see it, a little forward lean will be beneficial on back roads, and a less erect riding position will help offset the windblast on the freeway. The stock bar ends weren’t compatible with the Fatbar, so I went with a set of Renthal’s $40 bar ends as well.

During the past 1,000 miles of commuting I’ve also found the clutch lever (non-adjustable for reach) and brake lever (five-position adjustable) are too far from the grips for my size-large hands to comfortably keep covered in traffic. I remedied the lever reach issue—and added a healthy dose of style—with a set of six-position Sport levers from FP Racing (motomummy.com; $179 for the set).

The FP levers are machined from aluminum and are available in a variety of color combinations and lengths. MotoMummy even offers free engraving (on the front or back of the lever blades) and complimentary shipping. I couldn’t come up with anything clever to have engraved on the levers, but I did select colors that complement the rest of the bike and took advantage of the alternative lever lengths. I opted for medium-length levers, which are a little shorter than stock. Both levers are adjustable for reach and come closer to the bar, so I can easily keep them covered during my daily commute.

The handlebar and levers allowed me to tailor the FZ’s cockpit to my liking, and they’ve also improved the bike’s looks. All told, revising the controls took a little more than $300. Incidentally, that’s about what it cost to upgrade the fork. More on that next month.