Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

By Ron Schneiders Photos by Ron Schneiders and Gary Satterlee (Continued from Page 1) test of shock absOlbers is hard to imagine and few pass it. On the Yamaha, you could ride the ripples, but with moderate discomfort. A few bikes I've tested would almost go out of control, but even the best aren't very comfortable. The brakes on the Yamaha are absolutely superb. They stop the bike very quickly and in a straight line. The feel of those brakes is something that has to be experienced. Time after time I was able to hit the front brake hard, and bring the front wheel right to the point of locking - to where you could hear a little "chirp" of tire squeal - and back off without sliding. They are without· doub t some of th e nicest brakes I've ever used. Traveling around town is one 0 f the Frrst places where you learn to love the Yamaha. The bike is narrow and instantly responsive. Most any bike will move through traffic pretty well, but' the Yamaha turns beating traffic in to an art form. It is so light and agile that I found .myself not wanting to take a car anywhere. There is a danger however; the cops take a dim view of bikes in general and anyone who seems to be having fun particularly irritates them. The Yamaha is fun and fast and you stand a good chance of losing your license in a month if you really exploit its poten tial. Motorcycling used to be a hassle from end to end. You could never be quite sure if the bike was going to start and you were forever tigh tening th ings, if you caught them before they fell off. The Yamaha is really in a different bag. Nothing - and I mean nothing - came loose. In the whole time that I rode the bike, I didn't carry a single tool. Not even a spark plug wrench. The bike inspires that kind of confidence. And apart from changing the plugs to a different heat range at the beginning of the test, it didn't need a plug change in over 1000 miles of riding. To wind up the test I took my traditional tour, about 360 miles, . surtin~ up through the Angeles forest on the Crest Highway. Lots of nice sweeping 60 mph curves with more than a sprinkling of tigh t ones that put a strain on all the suspension components. 'The bike handles extremely well. There is just a trace of oversteer; it wants to pick itself up in a turn and you have to exert some effort to make it turn. This is one of the compromises that every designer must make. Ligh t slow-speed handling requires a bit of oversteer. It's not at all objectionable. In turns the bike can be leaned about as far as you want unless your name is Hailwood. In the whole test, which included at least 250 miles of tight twisty two-lane mountain roads, I was able to ground the cen ter stand exactly once. And then I was over farther than I ever want to be again. The bike tracks almost as well as This twin leading shoe front brake has fine feel, excellent stopping power. any I've ridden. You can put it on the center line of the road and keep it there all the way through a. curve at near maximum speed. (ff you ever try this, make sure you can see all the way around the curve or you'll be a hood ornament on a Mack Truck.) The tires Oapanese Dunlops) are not the best I've used. Their traction is adequate but not great. They get better as they warm up. I had only a very limited opportunity to try them on wet pavement but I don't think they're up to the rest of the machine there, either. They're not poor enough that I'd replace them when I bough t the machine but I'd 'sure get something different when they wore out. An Avon rib would work very well on th e front. Turning from Crest Highway near Wrillhtwood, I dropped down to the YAMAHA'S OUTSTANDING 1-5 . desert on a highway that twists like a snake, dropping severa) thousand feet in a very short time. It's a super brake test. The brakes are worked continuously and mercilessly for 40 minutes. If they fail or fade you're in trouble. The Yamaha brakes worked as well at the end as in the beginning. Going across the desert at more than a rapid rate with the temperature ,in the neighborhood of 115 degrees on the near-melted highway, 1 suffered from heat failure but the Yamaha didn't. And as quickly as possible we were back in the mountains, heading by backroads for Ojai. About this time 1 was starting to be annoyed by the one thing on the Yamaha that I really didn't like (apart from the gingerbread styling which doesn't really count). The gas tank is too small. In 360 miles I had to make 5 gas stops and once I almost ran out. The mileage isn't bad (38.5 miles per gallon on the trip) but the tank only holds 3.2 gallons. As soon as you've gone 60 miles you start feeling anxious and by 80 you're near panic because by 100 you just might be walking. (Remember that 38 m/gal. is an average, not a guarantee). When 1 reached the coast, not far from San ta Barbara, I reluctan t1y turned toward home, riding the Pacific Coast highway for awhile, then turning up Topanga Canyon to Mulholland Drive. At the west end it's a dirt road for 5 or 10 miles. Surprisingly, the Yamaha wasn't all that bad on the dirt which is nice to know, because there are still many dirt roads in the country and once in a while it's nice to take one of them and see where it goes, even if you're riding a road machine. There was something else to be learned here, too. How many of you would tackle five miles of dirt road after 350 miles in the saddle of your favorite scoot? Frankly, there aren't many bikes that 1 would care to ride 350 miles in one day without the dirt road th rown in! The R-5'is an easy bike to ride. It doesn't tire you in the least. Had I some reason, I could easily have gone another 150 or 200 miles. There's no vibration, the controls are well placed and the seat is comfortable. The performance of the R-5 is outstanding. In production ro'!-d racing the R-5 just about owns the class, which is a more valid statement about its performance tnan any I (or most any other road tester) could make about its performance. If you're a bit-better-than·av'erage rider, you can pick a road with a few curves in it and inflict some severe ego damage on the proud owners of various multi-cylinder machines. Top speed is right in the neighborhood of 100 mph, if the bike is tuned to the teeth. More normal is 85 to 90 which is what our test bike would do. . Ease of maintenance is one of those things you tend to overlook when you're buying a bike and regret forever . afterwards. I've had bikes where you almost had ~o disassemble the engine to change the -air cleaner element. You've probably been through that. Maintenance on the Yamaha is a dream. The points are out where they can be easily reached. The heads and cylinders could be popp.ed off in a matter of 20 minutes OLSO. The twin Mikuni carbs are rubber mounted on both ends and they could be removed for cleaning in one or two minutes. The air cleaner element can be removed in a less than 30 seconds without any tools, which must be a first. My only complaint in the maintenance line is the engine oil tank. This frequently must be filled on the road, but it is impossible to do without a long-necked funnel. The hole for the oil is about as big as your little finger and buried under the seat so that there aren't any straillht shot possible. Filling (Please turn to pg. 22) J, 'The air cleaner element pops out in a matter of seconds. Note easy access to battery. ~_~~e .:.orve goes off-camber your apprec~ate the Yamaha's good ground clearance. - ... '" ri ,;, ::> <:( ~ w Z W ...J () > ()

• Cover