Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

- 6fthffiia:Jtreed that it's a good-looking motorcycl e. A few sa w it as a bit far out. It ca n be expec ted to sell bett er than the XV920RJ , the Europeanstyled sports version now in its second year, bUI not a s well as th e Vir ago 750. As Yamah a well kn ow s, cho ppe rlike bik es a re sti ll hot in the marketplace, bUI th e big ger Vira go 's 53699 price ta g is lik el y 10 keep its numbers down, in these da ys of unbelievable interest rates. For th ose of us in the smalle r half of th e rid in g population, sta ture wise, the Vira go 920 is un commonl y easy to hor se arou nd, for a motorcycle larger than the 750cc class wh ich seems to mark th e boundary of eas ily handled bikes in most cases . Onl y in do zens of tight , uphill, sand -lined turn s did I find the bea st a handful. Its low center of gravity makes it delightfull y easy to wheel around corners in town a nd on all but the 'most extreme of mountain roads, despite the long 59.8 inch wheelbase, which is scarcely less than that of the '82 Harley-Davidson Sportster's60.75 in ches. Stock tires are tubeless Dunlop F I I 3.25H19 front and Dunlop 327M 130/90 rea.r, adequate but not as stable in a lean, perhaps, as those good 01' K81 s. They did seem to get a little better with scuffing in . This motorcycle did not have an y of that annoying tenden cy of some bikes with fat rear tires 10 understeer, For a large di splacem ent bike, it 's exce p tio na lly easy to bal ance a t slo w speeds. As pa rt of o ur 2000-mile-pl us acq ua inta nce . I look it o n a dirt roa d a nd found OUI in the Sleep, rutted parts th at its reasonable use as a big tr ial s bik e is li mi ted to the more moderate slo pes. Gam es whi ch ca n be pl ayed with it include sto p ping at stop sig ns withou t putting your feet down. Getting bac k to o u r mount 's trappings, people either love or hate its multitude of features. I found th e liquid crys ta l tach and speedo di stra cting a t the very fir st , then came to appreciat e their easy-to-read di splay. The speedo numbers go up to an optimistic 200 (Dea th Valley? Turbocharged?) as you see when you press the check buttom for 10 seconds and th en watch the entire tach fan assemblage, and then the speedo numbers one through nine appear, foll owed by 10 th ro ugh 90, and 100 and 200. In real life, however, th e numbers stop goin g higher a t th e same o ld 85. T o th e left o f the chec k button is on e to cha nge th e speedo from mph to kph and back; wh en this one is momentaril y depressed togethe r with the check button , th e tach will switch from normal to idl e mode to faci litat e sett ing the idl e, as it will th en read up to 2000 in incre ments o f 50 rpm instead of u p to 10,000 in inc reme nts of 250. ' AI the rig h t side of the Cyeam di spl ay is a list of chec ks whi ch th e sensors do on sta rti ng the engi ne, telling you if the sides ta nd is up ; brak e, oi l, a nd battery £luid levels OK ; head a nd ta il lam p s fun ction ing. Gas tank level is indica ted by a four-part bar g ra p h, wh ich is n OI exac tly linear in resp onse to tank level , but certa in ly furn ishes much mare infor ma tio n th an the us ua l on or o rr-reserve system . In fact, I found th e ver y sho rt bar for th e fin al quarter before reserve so gra p hica lly suggestive that I never ran past it. T ypica lly, the fir st three quarter-tanksful a re indicat ed a t 28, 69, a nd 102 miles, respectivel y. One time I ran it until the Fuel sig n a nd red warning light started to light interm itt entl y a t 124 mil es, but as I wa s head ed up th e can yon I gave up and gOI gas rather than wa it ing for them to stay on , or for reserv e to co me on which is supposed to occ1.!r. at 3.3 gallons, .6 I ~11IiiMI"""i6A YAMAHA LOS ANGELES 2904 S. Figueroa Los Ange les, CA 90007 (213)-747-0348 ---- TASTE----THE SWEET OF VICTOR'l Open Tuesday thru Saturday Terry Poovey - SERIES WINNER ! H- D DIRT TRACK SER IES C HAMPIO N . SECO ND YEA R IN A ROWI Castrol congratul ates Terry on his great wins an d hig h placings. Thank you for rid in g Cast ro l A merica's #1 m otorcyc le oil. Engineered for Performance. Castrol 401 Hackensack Avenue, Hackensack, NJ 07601 23

• Cover