i've got thousands of miles logged with a passenger on the back, switching to the r1 rear shock made it far more stable though and as far as powers concerned, it desperately needs a tune or flash, once that's done, it's tons of fun.
also to answer the original question, it does lack torque, those who say it is torquey, haven't ridden proper liter bikes. fz1's are down 20-30ft lbs tq from a real 1000. however, it still has 20-30 more than a 600, so, its way better than a 600's tq in comparison to that. these aren't amazing super sport bikes, fz's are bikes that are pretty good at a bit of everything but aren't great at a bit of everything if that makes sense. yeah, it can do everything, but meh, there's bikes better than it in every category. what it does do, is its a solid bike to do anything on thats comfy and isn't that boring to ride compared to a 600