My son recently upgraded his stable.
After riding his new/used WR250 for a few months this winter, the old SV650S started feeling really cramped. He decided on the new FZ-07 that Yamaha brought out this year. It's a pretty cool bike, super light, and pretty sporty. I kinda wondered if it was too close to the WR tho- great for a day ride but not so nice to tour on. I mentioned the FZ8 and Kellen came over to get some research materials. After reading up on the bike he started looking and found a great deal on a new left-over 2013. I finally got a chance to ride it last week.
My V had been in the shop with a Stator problem, I was jonesin for a ride. Kellen made the offer as he was working, so I tossed my gear in the van and went to his place. I had my tank bag, but decided not to use it on the matte finish paint. Put a few items in his Kriega tail-pack. Took off down the freeway for about 20 miles, then hit a nice route of back roads I've ridden a bunch on my V. The FZ8 handles pretty nice and has a lot more power and brakes, but the ride wasn't as fun somehow. I had the choice of three gears at all times, so shifting was really optional. The brakes were so effective and the fork firm enough that I couldn't really dive it in on the brakes. I could do the whole ride by moving my right wrist a few mils. In order to have any fun with it, I had to push the bike a whole lot faster than seemed socially responsible.
I went up and took care of a few meetings, then headed out for some more twisties to stay out of rush hour traffic. The route included some beat-up mountain roads with potholes and gravel. Definitely not as confidence inspiring as the V in these situations. The seat started feeling pretty hard and the pegs pretty high before the low-fuel warning came on at about 150 miles. Old man complaints! I was headed back to town anyway.
Happy to get the V back the next day.

Yami killed the FZ8 by putting the 9 on showroom floors with it. It was a bloated bike compared to the triple.

There's a new leftover FZ8 on the floor at the local dealership. Spent some time chatting with one of the salesmen last week, and told him they were basically stuck with the bike.

Yammie killed the FZ8 by announcing the FZ-09! All that power, so little weight. Cheap sticker- Everybody wanted one. Then we found out they could sell em so cheap because they built em so cheap. In person they looked like toys, kinda like a pocket bike for the street. The 2014's were terribly unsorted bikes; suspension damping and fuel injection were abysmal. They've made improvements for 2015, but it's still a work in progress. Now they're all getting recalled for gear box failure.
http://blog.motorcycle.com/2015/04/0...per-tenere-r6/

The 2013 FZ8 on the other hand is the result of generations of refinement. It is a much better built motorcycle and had the price tag to prove it. The journos loved the bike, and the value score was the only knock. But good reviews don't move a lot of bikes. Flash forward 2 years and Yamaha knows they gotta sell these bikes at a discount to get em off the floor. Kellen got his for 6k plus DMV, brand new bike with a 1 year warranty. That's almost 3k off list. Better than I did on my new leftover '09 Versys- 2k off list. Both discounted because they weren't selling, not because they are bad bikes. The folks that get the short end of the stick are the people that payed at or near list for the same bike.

I agree. There are dealers over here trying to sell 2012 Gen 1 V1000 for almost the same price as the Gen 2. Crazy. I test rode a Gen 2 demo model that was for sale. $13500 ride away, with not much road tax. This is the same price they are trying to push out the last of the Gen 1's. But there's another dealer selling Gen 2 for $13,990 ride away. Almost $2k off the list price. The dealers seem to think they are doing you the greatest deal in the world. Let them sit on the stock for ever, or until some mug gets sucked in with all the sales banter.