Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

been to uc hed si nce the Swiss GP six months ago . "So smooth · th e power, th e ride t he controls. .. eve ry t h ing is so sm oot h !" T hat was Vic Eas twood's sna p verdict aft er an a fternoon's ride on last yea r's 500 cc World Championship winning Yamaha . T he big Yam h a d sta rted up willingl y. . .a fter a few drops of wa ter had been clea re d from th e ca r b o Vic had a cha t with M ikkola 10 chec k ou t th e b ike and th en gingerly set off around the twisty, hill y course set in the middle of an apple o rc hard . T he going was muddy a nd very slippery bu t Vic soo n gai ned co n fidence and speed . he was obvi ously enjoying h im sel f. Mikk ola went out o n his new bike a few mi n utes la te r a nd for a wh ile the two ci rcu la te d toget he r, play ra cin g . The light was beginnin g to fa il when' th e fin a lly pried Vic off the bike. Even before ge lli ng o n t he bike Vic had com mented how ligh t it was : " I lifted th e ba ck wh eel up off th e grou nd - no t ro ub le ," he sai d. " A nd riding th e bik e I was just not co nscious of t he weig ht at all . I wou ld g ues s t hat it must be rig ht o n th e FI M weight limi t. " Bu t wha t rea lly struc k m e was just how easy it was to rid e ," he went on . "S he was so smoot h , no vices at all. " T he smoot h ness a p p lies to the who le bi ke, everything , even the sca t is goodness knows how thic k · it's so com fortab le. T he su per b suspension makes it a tireless b ike to ride , too : there's II · inc hes avai lab le a t the fro nt a nd t he rea r. Bu t I did find the sca t height a lill le highe r than I'd like ideally. I suppose th a t it's a bo ut th e sa me as m y old CCM , but if I was raci ng t his I'd have a bit lopped off th e th ickness. "The rear su sp ension wa s so good I ha rd ly noticed th e bum ps and th e front was effic ient too. But I d id find th e front springi ng a bit hard , though Mikko la's mechanic did sa y tha t th ey'd jus t p u t a ha rd set of sp ri ngs in at th e end of last season . " Wi th adjustable damping in both d irec tions a nd variable pre-load o n the m on oshock un it the b ike ca n be tu ned to suit a lmost a n yone and a ny circu it. The Yamaha works m en ha ve o bvio us ly fou nd th e rig h t se t · u p fo r Mikkol a a nd it sui ted me 100 , but I sta nd by what I sa id whe n I rode the produ ction bike - I think it 's fa r sa fer fo r th e a verage blok e 10 leave th e set tings a lone . " I found th e rear sus pe ns ion better th an t he produ ct ion bike I rod e last vea r ." com mented Vic. "T he wor ks bike has m ore movement a t the rea r and it wo rks very very well. I ca n't say that the massive alloy box sectio n mo noshock re ar unit was a nv sti ffer than the product ion tubu lar' design , b u t this is c le a r ly ligh ter . Fr o nt suspe ns ion I fou nd about t he same. though again I th in k the works version has m ore mo vem ent avai lab le:' Like the product ion forks -the wo rks fo rks ca n be pumped up with air 10 g ive a variab le p re -load . . "Steering is very precise . O nce I'd got used 10 th e bi ke a nd lea rn ed 10 ride it , she'd go whe re ve r I wa nted . .. no pro bl ems. I found tha t if J was goi ng a lill ie too fas t in a bu m py rut it'd just bounce o ut. I co u ld j us t drift a long feet up a lot of the tim e a nd pick m y wa y ove r the h oles - the smoot h engine pow er helped he re. Engi ne pow er de livery is so d iffer ent to the 1977 produ ction bik e . This is so m uch ' smoot her. T he pow er co mes in sm oo th rig ht through t he rev range . yo u jus t cog it u p a nd away yo u go . On th e other han d th e product ion versio n is fier ce r . it co m es o n so ng a nd tak cs off. ..It 's thi s smoot h power t ha t m ak es th e works bi ke so easy 10 ' ride . It d oesn 't do anything funny ; co m ing out of a corner in the right gear you j ust Eastwood (left) and Mikkola discuss the handling of Mikkola's bike , Eastwood was amazed that the bike was "So smooth - the power, the ride, everything." , open it u p and blast awa y. T he accele ra tio n is great - Mi kkola a lways go t g rea t sta rts last year . "T he gea r box is smoo t h a nd precise . o nce J got used 10 th e bike I found I co u ld go arou nd the whole co u rse. hi lls a nd a ll in t hird . "T he rear b ra ke was su pe r b , b ut th e fro nt was not as pow er fu l a nd progressive as I wou ld have liked . "Sta rt ing was easy . I sta lled th e m ot or a co u ple of t imes wh en I locked up the rea r wh eel. but a ll I ha d to d o was ta ke off th e brak e and it'd pic k u p no trou b le a t all. I'd sav th e co mpression ra tio must be very 'low. " C lu tch was su per smoot h tOO, very ligh t a nd tireless 10 use , it sui ted t he mo to r perfecrly. " ..A ll the co nt ro ls ca me to hand easilv, Mikko la and J a re similar in bui ld · I g uess tha t he 's a bit heavier a nd no th ing had 10 be a lte red to sui t m e . I j ust got on and away J went , " Eve ryt hi ng about t his bike was just rig ht. One lillie detai l J pa rticularly liked was th e integral co ver over the edge of th e twist g ri p 10 kee p o ut th e m ud and d irt - on ly a sma ll thing I kn ow. b ut it sho ws jus t how much tho ug ht has gone into th e preparat ion of th e b ike . As a fo rmer development engi nee r a nd works rider Eastwood was ve ry impressed wit h Yama h a 's su pe r smoot h ie ; " T here's a lot to be sa id for a bike you ca n rid e flat -ou t a nd u nder co n t ro l." he co m me nt ed . U n for tu na tel y you j ust ca n' t d o th a t with a lot of mo tocrossers becau se t hey're jus t too fas t! " Ya ma ha ha ve go t it a bso lutely right ." he co ncl uded . "That 's obvious . It 's a bloody good bik e a nd it's pi lot ed by a fantastic ri der , p ut the t wo togeth er and you 've go t t he W o rld Cha mpionship - rig ht?" • Eastwood leads Mikkola in a little play racing on the Borgloon circuit in Belgium where the bike was test ridden, > 19

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