Form over function

With its bulging muscles and design lines that might please the purist aficionados of contemporary art, the Yamaha FZ 16 does have street presence to draw the young and enthusiastic.

Judging from the way Shah Rukh Khan and Akshay Kumar are developing six pack torsos, you’d think it was the perfect recipe to pull people into cinemas today.

How they manage it—steroids, protein foods, exercise or even special effects— is of little consequence. It’s equally irrelevant that they might possess less vigour and stamina than someone flabbier. Strength, you see, is secondary; a good looking physique, on the other hand, is paramount.

Motorcycles use a similar approach to lure in buyers. First, the 125s got sportier and bulkier without much gain in performance (strength), and now the 150s are joining this puffed-up club as well.

Yamaha’s new FZ 16 is a sparkling case in point. It uses a 153cc engine with just over 14bhp on tap.

It manages the 0-60 kmph dash in over five seconds, and then runs out of breath close to 110 kmph; figures, that won’t make you sit up to don your full riding suit to head to the race track. Or even to your neighbourhood traffic light for a drag race, for that matter.

But, it looks stunning, like those big bore, high-powered monsters from Europe, albeit a little scaled down. In fact, you’d find excuses aplenty to ride it down to your favourite coffee shop and simply loiter around to get noticed on one.

With its bulging muscles and design lines that might please the purist aficionados of contemporary art, it does have street presence to draw the young and enthusiastic, and the delicate and beautiful, with equal potency. It’s what you’d call a fashion accessory, wherein form triumphs over function. Function, in this, case plainly refers to performance, mind you, because otherwise, the FZ is a good bike to ride.

The ergonomics—relationship between the handlebar, seats and the footpegs— offer a comfortable riding position. And, even though the ride is on the firm side, it doesn’t leave you with an aching behind. It’s equally at home around snaked roads. Throw it into a corner, and it obliges.

However, not with the utmost ease exhibited by some of the FZ’s competition; it needs a firm push of the handlebar to drop it into corners. But, once tipped in, it’s an effortless ride.

The FZ is a wholesome product. No wonder, it is being lapped up like gifts in a conference. But, with its average performance, it’s still more about form.

And with my conventional motorcycle enthusiast bent of mind, I am not the biggest fan. I’d prefer a well-conceived Om Puristarrer to a lavish tourist film full of these half-clad Bollywood men with plastic bodies.

Specifications
Engine 153cc
Gearbox 5-speed manual
Max power 14bhp@7500rpm
Max torque 13.6Nm@6000rpm 0-60 KMPH 5.6 seconds
Top speed 110 kmph
Price Rs 65,000 (Ex showroom, Delhi)

Vikrant Singh is Road Test Editor, Auto Bild India