I don’t know about having lots of riding experience. I’ve done about 8,000 miles since I passed my test, and I think I have a good grasp on what’s what now.

Don’t feel nervous about riding. It’s an excellent form of transport and very liberating. Just make sure you do as much training as you can afford. A high-vis vest, whilst rather untrendy, is cheap and does wonders for your road safety, particularly in winter!

The 2005 Fazer is a great bike that is well rated by all the mags and has a reputation for reliability. It has a slightly less powerful engine than the current model, but that’s no bad thing on a first bike. Yamaha build quality is excellent, and it’s fairly unlikely anyone would have managed to mess up the gearbox on such a young machine. Bike transmissions are different to cars. You don’t actually need the clutch on fast up-changes, and the majority of riders out there will be doing clutchless changes. Yamaha gearboxes can be quite clunky (although they get better with age), so expect a clunk as you go into first - that’s normal. Test ride the machine, or put it on the centre stand and test the change action. It should be easy to change up and down - minimal effort on the gear lever. The clutch should be smooth. If it judders as you pull away, then it’s worn. Again though, wearing out a clutch on a 600 in such a short space of time is pretty unlikely, unless the rider was particularly ham-fisted.

If you’re buying from a dealer, you should get a small warranty, which gives added piece of mind. Most dealers test ride bikes before putting them on sale and wouldn’t sell a bike with a knackered transmission.

After a few rides, you’ll be feeling much more positive…!

Regards,

David

Does it really mess up the bike if the previous owner got lazy with shifting and didnt hold in the clutch all the way or something of the sort? just curious because i dont want to run into any transmission problems down the road.

sincerely,
Kyle