VOL. 55 ISSUE 28 JULY 17, 2018 P67
Since the early 1970s, the Japanese motorcycle manufac-
tures have been pushing the progression of motocross bikes
at an incredible rate. Yamaha has often been at the top of
the list for new bike development. They were the pioneers of
the Monoshock rear-suspension system back in 1975 (when
all the other brands still had two shocks). In 1997, they were
the first brand to come out with a competitive four-stroke
motocross bike, released for the 1998 model year. This bike
basically revolutionized the sport of MX and caused all other
brands to follow suit in the following years.
In 2010, they added fuel injection, and flipped the cylinder
around and tilted it rearward to help handling and power deliv-
ery, but had some mixed reviews from riders. Some loved the
bike, while others felt the bike handled worse than its previ-
ous design. Since then, Yamaha has been working out the
kinks to prove that new design was a step forward
BY RICKY YORKS
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KIT PALMER
