Yamaha started all the budget middleweight shenanigans way back in 1992.
It noticed a gap in the market, filled it with its utilitarian XJ600 Diversion and created the first budget middleweight. The 'Divvie', as it was soon nicknamed, was nothing to shout about. And though it became popular with despatchers, its slow, crude and basic nature kept most of us away.
Then Suzuki stepped in with its Bandit 600 and the budget class began in earnest. Back in 1995, the Bandit - essentially a parts-bin special - offered impressive enough performance and pretty cool looks to go with it. Not only was it a whole lot better than the Diversion, it was a bit cheaper too.
But its main virtue was that it showed budget biking didn't have to be boring. The Bandit proved massively popular and Suzuki couldn't build them fast enough.
After being one of the UK's best selling bikes for three years, Yamaha responded to the Bandit with its Fazer 600. It followed Suzuki's lead by using many key components from other bikes in its range to keep costs down, and produced an affordable winner. The virtually unchanged Suzuki simply couldn't compete with the new and superior Yamaha. And to add insult to injury, the Bandit cost a few quid more than the Fazer.
Suzuki responded by dropping its prices the following year, but it wasn't enough to stem the tide of Fazer sales. And even when the Bandit was significantly improved in 2000, it still wasn't able to top the Yamaha's all-round ability and popularity.
We've tried a couple of used examples to see which one offers the best second-hand value in this all-important budget class.
Continue for the 2001 Yamaha Fazer 600 Review - 2/3
