Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126634
test gas . Behind it is a long sea t, that we fo und comfo rta ble and slightly ha rd to move around on. Engine oil is ca rried in a n externa l o il tank rat her th an th e frame as in th e past. T he ai rbox and oi l tank set-up is very clean in execu tion ; oi l tank weigh t is much lower tha n before . An '83 rising ra te Mon oshock system is ut il ized. Yam ah a 's new design was a blessin g in di sguise for thei r th umper lin e. With th e old underthe-ta nk placement th ere was di fficulty in designing th e taller fourstro ke engine around it, or vice versa. Swi nga rm ma terial is alumi num. T he rear hub is smaller so that it, in combina tio n wi th engine braking, will not make for a toggle-switch-type reaction whe n th e peda l is used. T he bike we rod e was o n ly a preprod uction prototype, a nd our riding time and area was limited. but we can make so me concl us io ns a bo u t the bike. Yamah a has done an excellent job of keep ing th e weight low in th e fram e. Wh ile ridi ng, th e TT feels heavy, but not as heavy as it is. Before any other impressions register on the rider 's' mind, th e shee r power and torque of 600cc of di spl acement rear their heads. The TT is a fast a nd powerfu l motorcycle. Hills o f all magni tudes were leveled in either scenery- blurri ng ru shes or trial s-like tracta bi lity - just choose. The five-spe ed transmission shifts easily and allows a healthy (or unhea lthy, depen ding on the conditions) top speed. Shi fting is balky under power wi thout the clutch . as it is wit h most four -strokes. After the euphoria o f th umper power wears off, ot he r th in gs become noticed. One of the first trai ts to fall under fire is o ne that can, and hopefu lly will, be changed on the production models. The front fork was much too soft, so soft th at most of th e trav el is used up whi le riding on level ground. The action is plush , so a heavier sp ri ng should do the trick. Rear suspens ion comp liance is excellent, but still a bi t soft. over big bu m ps. Easy riding ove r stu tte rbumps is good also. Steering seems a ll right, but th e gro und wasn ' t th e best by any mean s. Out in th e trail s th e bike shined, mo re so in wid e o pen trail s. Tight, di fficult trail work was just that. work. While tra iling through on e such section we dropped th e bike a nd stalled it. It was then we rea lly noti ced the weigh t. We also noticed how hard it is to start wh en it doesn 't wa nt to. T hree kick sessions a nd two rest stops were requ ired to reli ght the fire. On th e Iireroad- type trails, slides were fun and wheelies effortless. In . fact, on th e mo tocros s course th ere were no bad su rp rises. There was never any doubt that th e 600 was a big. heavy bike, but rough stra ig htaways were a bly handl ed under power an d at speed. Jumps? No problem as lo ng as the rider ge ts th e bike off th e ground reasonab ly straight. Although Yamaha mad e th e rear brake smaller for less streng th, it locked easily. The fron t double leading shoe brake is strong eno ug h, but didn 't feel so with th e front fork so soft. The riding positi on, both sitting and standing, was good. The bottom line seems to be that the TT600 is th e best big bore tra il bike we . have rest ed. We haven't thrown a leg over th e new Honda XR500 yet, but hope to soo n. The Yamaha feels great in fast , rough trai l riding. We mean, however, at fast trail rid in g speeds. For real speed work, the Can-Am Sonic is better, but comfort is a lot hi gher o n the long ·ride on th e Yamah a. We feel a 101 could be done with th e TT with just everyda y set-up. We look forward to spending some real tim e, on real trails. with a real production model. • SUPER SERIES NEXT STOP MILLER HIGH LIFE SUPERCROSS April 16 Dallas Cottonbowl Dallas, TX IRS 3/'29i s3' Sacramento. CA AMA NATIONAL HANGTOWN CLASSIC BOB HANNAH 2110cc CI... Honda on DUNLOP Bob bags both 250 moto sl No doubt about wh o wanted to w in more than anyone alse on the track Sunday. Thanks for doing it on DUN LOP. More cycles ride on Dunlop than -.yother tlrelntheworlcl. ~DUNLOP . The Logk alChoke 33