damm i lost the front again today, but picked it up, the trick which didn't work last time, did today...
gosh it was soo close, i would have hit a cement mixer or else, and maybe wouldn't have been here to write about it too.

tell me gixxer, does the FZ handlebar cost just 200 bucks ??

I've ridden a splendor with a bullet's handlebar , i have felt how different it is, but is FZ one the BEST for fiero ??
i don't want any more front wheel locks...

i think more or less my front tyre is the culprit..
damm i hate those scales.
bike's drinking a lot of fuel lately, i am worried.
its smooth though, no more leaks anywhere of petrol, still is very smooth on high rpm's.
revs amazingly, idle's smoothly, brakes are a disappointment.
chains making noise, in 2 days it has loosened up, damm even the sprockets are crying to be changed..

tell me vishal, what about next saturday??
its gandhi jayanti, will the mech and the boring guy be there??

besides more and more wait is killing my excitement and willingness....

Yeah buddy, fiero/f2/fx and to an extent the apache 150 are all designed like dirt track bikes ,the weight distribution that is.For street use ,the best ergonomic as well as road grip is concerned ,it has to be either like r15 or RTR.The foot pegs have to be further back and higher than that of our bikes with low handles.
When i had bought my bike i lost the front end twice within the first service and luckily it was at low speeds and the local mechanic suggested that me and my friend who had bought our fieros together to go for the std bullet's handle.Boy did it make a difference!!
Just take a look at any classic bike like jawa ,bullet,BSA,triumph bonniville,bmw's and a whole lot of other bikes which were there before the Japs came out with sit-up-and-beg riding position for street bikes!! The street bikes till then had rear ward set foot pegs with low handle bars.The reason was simple to make the weight distribution to be in favor of the front end,like 60 : 40 etc. So that the bike will have better road grip in corners.
Lot of guys are loosing their front end with the suzuki gs150r too! it looks like some things never change with the Japs.
The thing is the auto magazines are equally at blame as well !! They are the ones who are saying low handles=back pain!! If that was the case then how come our fathers and uncles were riding the classic bikes without any back problems??!!!! In fact its the other way round the sit-up-and-beg riding position makes the lower back get no support from our arms and shoulders ,so the back tends to sag and put lot of stress on the lower back.Were as a riding position like that of RTR makes the rider put some weight on his arms and shoulders when his legs are further back ,which helps in keeping the back straight and puts less stress on the lower back!!!!
Even the vespa's ,lambys and bajaj chetaks had better riding position than the current lot of scooters.Which made them safer both ergonomically as well as in riding dynamics.
Coming to the best handles.The std bullet's handle is different in comparison to that of the FZ .I had put the bullet's handle and now its even more radical It's up side down AKA drag-bike style and i have gone on long journeys too without any problems.
The FZ handle costs 220 bucks at the yamaha showroom.I don't know the std bullet handle's price. When me and my friend had bought the bullet's handle they had cost 120 bucks.But i am sure it costs more now.
My advise would be ,if you are comfortable with the width of the FZ's handle ,then go for it!! If on the other hand you want a narrower handle with similar height ,then go for the FURY handle ,which is similar to the FZ handle.

He he totally agree with you. I happened to ride a Honda Stunner for a week and simply loved the way it handled, the way it soaked up all the bumps. But at the end of the day, I would pick my Fiero. Nothing excites me more.

wow gixxer, that's helpful information..
thanks buddy..

i am comfortable with FZ handle, as my bike has a headlight dome so wider handlebar won't look ugly..
besides i am more of a supermoto kind of a guy, wider handlebars, great lean angles..

fiero is a dual sport bike, which makes it a supermoto.

STD's handlebar is chrome right ?
yamaha FZ's handlebar is silver painted...
i am more willing to go for FZ's handlebar..
besides the splendor that i rode once with a bullet's handlebar, was like yours upside-down drag style..
man i was soo much wanting to scrape footpegs on the corners as you feel the bike wants you to do so, massive difference..

i will do this thing too when i get my 180cc stuff done, or before..

tell me one more thing, i love the position of the current rear view mirrors.
if i change to a handlebar, will the RVMs be as good as they are now?
i understand it will turn wider, which is good, but will there be some positioning problem as i have noticed in some bajaj bikes ??

last and the final question, i ask again FZ or STD ??
i am happy with everything, all i want is better handling and no more back ache in long rides, pick up 1 and let me know..


he he.
yaa mash, everything else is soo soo easy to ride, damm everything that i ride today, controlling it has become a piece of cake.
me and my friends go for some rides and they have better equipment, i am mostly leading the pack or somewhere in the front, we almost race (i know its a bad thing) but as soon as we swap the bikes, the guy who rides my fiero gets lost in the RVM of the pack and i loose the pack in my RVM..

even i love my fiero soo much, it feels as if the bike is made for me, the mid-range this bike offers is still missing in other latest bikes.
i hope it lives long, till then i want to grab enough experience and enough juice from this bike..

Handle bar, ok now thats new, but a good one. Yup the Fiero front is pretty light and lacks the feel. Planning to change the rear shocks to either Victor or RTR gas ones. Current ones are Star City on a Apache swing arm. Awesome for single riding till 100kmph, starts bouncing after that. Pillion is a NO NO, bottoms out and has inconsistent damping. Will add the FZ handle bar. Bullet std handle bar is flattish, doesn't that foul with tank on full lock?

Regarding rear view mirrors, I feel it would be a good idea to pick up OE RVMs along with handle bracket while picking up the handle, no fitting issues.

Yeah dude!! the handling in my bike is like that of a group B race bike Now imagine ,my bike has rear-set foot pegsSo you can imagine what it's like at corners,with ultra low handle.As no other std bike in india comes with such low handle position! The friends who try my bike ,give the bike back to me after a short ride ,because its too radical for them and they feel scared of the sport bike kinda riding position.The comment i hear the most is that the riding position is like doing a push-up
The thing is my bike needs getting used to ,so it scares the guys who ride it for the first time in traffic.On the other hand if you are used to riding the r15 then my bike's riding position won't seem too radical
I came to this set up gradually so when this handle was like in a bullet ,it felt like a RTR then i switched over to ACE handle bar,it made the riding position much more sportier putting more weight on the front end.Then i got the rear-sets made and put the bullet's handle up side down after taking it to a hydraulic press to get it widened so that it wont slap the tank in lock to lock positions as the handle was up side down.So it's been a gradual radicalization of the riding position and it didn't scare me.But most people refuse to even try my bike in traffic
Regarding the choice of handle for your bike.Go for the FZ handle !! Don't worry about the RVM position it won't change much on FZ handle and the view will be better.
Yeah you will love the change if you love super-moto kinda riding position.The thing is fiero has a narrow tank which wont make the handle slap it in lock to lock positions.
Another thing about fiero i loved was the foot peg is just right. I mean if you compare it to unicorn or Apache 150 the foot pegs are relatively rear ward .So with a lower handle it makes the bike become a great handler.I am not kidding or exaggerating.

Hey mash, You can put the std bullet's handle easily on a fiero.No sweat!!.I have used the std bullet's handle for 8 years on my fiero dudePut it and see how the bike transforms into a sporty looking bike with handling to match!!
You might remember when the fiero came out ,the usual complaint with the bike was that it lacked road grip and people used to say it was like RX100 ,great performer but a poor handler !! The reason was ,the fiero has a short wheel base with a high handle bar making the bike feel light at the front end and it was scary when there was a pillion.
All the bike asks for is a lower handle bar with a stiff rear suspension.The suspension of the fiero is very soft .So when a pillion sits it goes down making the front end become even more lighter !! combine that with short wheel base and a high handle bar!! .What will you get? scary moments on sandy corners?

okay,
I'll go for FZ's handlebar..
I'll keep my current RVMs
lets see what else needs to be changed !!

if i get it done at the time of 180cc itself, its well and good.
a MASSIVE difference from all the sides is what i am expecting..

thanks again...

Why wait till the engine job? changing the handle is a 10 minute job which i do it myself.You can get it changed at any mech and the handle is easily available.

Hmmm it sure is light in front and with a pillion she is always in the Take off position, even more if you have it in 180cc+ mode. Changed my rear swing arm to slightly longer Apache 150 one just for this. Did make a lot of difference without affecting the flickability much. Will give the Std/FZ handle bars a shot, I need to change mine as the current one has been slightly bent right from the start, got so used to it now, that all other bikes feel weird to me.


Ahan 180 is it. Did read some of your posts about this. I am already on a 187cc setup. It is mind boggling. A new avatar of Fiero. All the best.

PS: I would not be able to tell you much in detail as it was done by Joel. But yes, can give you a slight overview of it non technically. BTW I also got a P220's projector inside the Fiero Dome.

How loud is the free flow exhaust? and which carb is your bike running with?

Hmmm pretty loud. Loudness is pretty subjective, you can hear it all the time in any situation any speed(loud when at 40, louder when at 80 and so on).

However, I need to stuff in glasswool, there is practically no wool left inside, issues sourcing it in Hyderabad.

Carb is the bigger one i think, the same one as on the RTR.

I have already paid for a bigger carb 32mm one , its been a month now and it hasn't yet arrived.I will be getting the free flow exhaust in this week hopefully.
Do you mean RTR 180's 29 mm carb ?When did you get this engine work done and how much has the bike run after the increase in cc?

Nope, its the RTR 160 one. Engine work was done last year Aug - Nov 09. Bike has run about 5000 kms after the work. Office is just 1.7 kms from home . Have done numerous straight highway rides, ghats, etc. Never did a official speed test as I am not the racer type, but do have a confirmed 122kmph on an Avenger's speedo +- say 10kmph. I had a 70kg pillion with me holding my 5kg camera bag (I am around 80kg). This was when i was not even trying, trust me on that, I really thought I was not doing more than 80kmph. Distance covered before i slowed down was maybe less than 1km. My eyes were wide open when he told me that.

PS: My bike does not have a speedo so I have no clue of what speeds I do. For me a speedo is a distraction. It becomes a race against the needle.

waiting till the engine job, because
the day i do it, i want to change handle so that i have an improvement in power as well as in handling in a single day..
if i improve handling now, and power later on, I'll get part by part gains, so all i want is 1 shot so that i can really FEEL the difference.


ya buddy I've seen the pic..
looks very neat.
but tell me, its single beam... what do you do about high beam ?
and are you using standard halogen or HID??

any thing else you guys recommend apart from handlebar, engine bore and chain sprocket replacement???