Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

The huge tires on the BW makes riding over rocky terrain smooth. (Below right) The front and rear (shown) brakes ara not very powerful. The 196cc four-stroke motor produces moderate power but is capable of producing hours of fun for experienced and inexperienced riders. tIe almost brings -the front wheel off the ground. The BW isn't fast, but it does have enough power for fun, It likes to climb steep hills - slowly and wade its way up rocky streams, but it doesn't like to be revved out. If you do rev it out, the power drops off drastically, which is typical for a small-bore, single cylinder foursuoke. For the first few hours on the bike, - the horsepower seemed sufficient, but after awhile, we were wishing for more. Aftermarket companies will have a ball with the BW: Cams, pipes, porting and carburators kits should sprout up everywhere to make the BW more appealing for the serious weekend rider. But the way it is stock - will make family-oriented weekend riders happy. We were quite pleased to find that the BW200 actually handles very well. There are flaws: we didn't Like the way the BW lands from mid- to largesized jumps - harshly. With only a little over six inches of travel and a 'wet weight over 250 pounds, the Yamaha lands with a thud even on sand. The fat tires absorb some of the impact but not enough. Another quirk some testers complained about was the BW's hesitance to turn when the rider is standing. It takes alot of body lean to make the BW change directions. The Yamaha by far felt best in sand; the deeper the sand, the more fun it is to ride. We took the BW on some uacks built in the sand by riders on three-wheelers, uacks consisting of high haH-bowled switchback turns, and we had a great time. After a few laps, we had no problems keeping up with three-wheelers - actuaHy, they had a hard time keeping up with us on theBW. A shortage of power coming out of the turns kept us from picking up better lap times. In the sandy turns, the BW loves to be . leaned over with the handlebars almost dragging the ground. We did encounter a few problems when doing this, though. First, we wrapped the shiftlever around the foot-peg once, but a few good swift kicks bent it back to its original shape. More of a nuisance rather than a problem: When leaned over far enough the bottom of the frame and the swingarm-mounted kickstand drag in the din. It didn't seem to hurt anything, but the noise was annoying. Luckily the motor.is protected by a sturdy skidplate. Riding over rocky terrain was a breeze. We took the BW over ground that was so rocky, we couldn't see the din underneath the rocks. The BW rode so smoothly over them it almost felt as if we were riding on asphalt. Instead of weaving around the big rocks, it was no problem just riding right over them. It was a neat sensation. We also didn't have any problems riding in rocky streams. Wet rocks don't affect stability, and losing traction is never a worry. The only problem is with the BW's brakes. Water easily found its way into the drums, and when this happens, the Yamaha doesn't slow down. Even when they dried out, they never worked the same, and, unfortunately, they didn't work all that well in the first place. By the end of the first day, the brakes were mushy and squeaked badly. Trying to wheelie the BW requires too much effort to be any fun. The front end is too heavy, and there isn't enough power to get the front end up. The lack of horSepower also makes sliding the BW next to impos- sible; the huge tires " ' t help much, either. The Yamaha feels very small between the rider's legs, but it isn't uncomfortable. The bar/peg/seat relationship doesn't create a cramped feeling. The handlebars are tall and the grips didn't give our hands blisters. However, the footpegs feel just a tad too Low, but they are well c1eeted giving the rider's boots good traction when wet. The fenders on the BW are very wide, and the front fender has six large vents that allow more cooling air to reach the engine. However, while playing in water, the rider gets roosted by the front wheel, because the fender and air vents are wider than the rest of the motorcycle. Water y ..... h.8W2ooN Engin. type ...• Air-cooled, SOHC. four-stroke lingle Bo.. x stroll• . . . . . . . . 87x55.7mm DO~.~t 198cc Compression ratio 9.5:1 Cerburetlon .. . . . . .. 24mm Taibi Horae_ 14,8 @75oo Torque 10.8 Ib.lft. @ 8500 Valves per cylinder. . . . . . . . . . .. 2 Intake valYe lize . . • . . . . . .. 34mm Ex"-t v.1Ye size •..•.•. 28.5mm Inta lift 0.308 in. Exhaust lift ...•........ 0.308 in. Intake v.lve timing 28°-80° Exhaust v.lve timing .•.•. 70°_24° Ignition ............•..... COl Lubricetlon . . Wat sump Redline 7800 rpm Ge.r r.tios Prim.ry .•••...........•• 3.700 Fin.1 ..•••............... 3.524 5th .................•....821 4th .........•.•........ 1.040 3rd ••.......••••••••••. 1.318 2nd ...............•.••. 1.789 1st . '" .•.............. 2.833 Calc:uleted ~ in lIN" at redlina 5th •..•.•.•.....••..•.. 48.•• 4th ••.•...•.•.••••..... 38.87 flies through the vents and hits the rider in the face. The vents shouldn't be so wide. The BW200 Yamaha is an excellent bike for beginners, while more experienced riders will still have a blast on this new two-wheeled ATV. Some of our test riders who are quite experienced on three-wheelers felt at home on the BW, while other test riders, who try to stay away from three-wheelers as much as possible, really enjoyed the BW and would purchase one before buying any threewheeler. The BW has modest horse- . power, good handling and the slight' overweight problem is rarely noticed. We liked the BW200 very much and predict a two-wheeled ATV craze on the horizon. - •• 3rd ......•.............. 30.52 2nd ............•....... 22.48 1It .............•...... 14.20 Frame Single downtube. steel R 27.25° Trail _. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 3.5 in. Front su_nsion type .. Tele8copic forti forti tube di.meter . . . . . . .. 33mm Front wheel trllVe' 8.3 in. R_ su~lion type .......• 0 ...1 hydeulic dempers RNr wheel trilVel . . . . . . . .. 8.3 in. Front bnI~ 4.3 in. drum RNr bnI 4.3 in. drum Front wheel •....• 12x8.5 in .Ium. RNr wheel • • • . • • • •• 9x9 in.•Ium. Front ti.. . 25x8-12 RNni 23x12-9 Dry weight. . . . . . . . . . . . . 242 Ibs. Wheelben 53.4 Over.lllength 78.1 in. Over.11 width •........... 32.7 in. 42.9 in. Over.1l height Fuel cepecity 1.7 gel. Ground ct nce . . . . . . . .. 9.4 in. SNt height 31.3 in. Colon White R..-il price. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . , 299 25

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