Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

The TV has z-spokes and both tires are Michelins. It weighs 196 pounds. dropped th e transrru ssron into first ge ar - with the en g in e sti ll cold from neutra l wh il e a t id le, th e bike would dan o u t from under the rider as if th e clutch lever wa sn 't pulled in at a ll. This h appened qu ite o fte n but would di sappear a few m il es d own the trail. T o cure th is p robl em , we replaced th e stoc k 30w transm ission oil w ith mult i-gr ade 20 w-50 oi l. We were never p leased w ith th e transmission - t he gearbo x feels too ti ght a nd is very ha rd to sh ift whi le m o vin g . a nd it is almost i m possi ble to find neutral with the engine o ff, Before sta r ring a sec tio n, th e T Y had to be ri dde n around a bit to be s u re it was in th e r igh t gear, beGIUSe if th e ride r cl icked u p to second from n eutral w h i le a t id le . i t so m e times wo u ld n ' t q ui te go a ll the wa y into gear a nd would slip ba ck 10 neu tr al a few fee t lat er. Shift in g down o r up a gear during a secti on is risky bu siness - m issed shifts be tween first and second ge a rs are too co m m o n . T o m a ke thi ngs worse, the sh ift lever is th e foldin g type: m ount in g the lever so it 's stra ig h t up do esn 't work out, because the lever w i ll fold back wh en sh ift ing with yo ur heal. It n eed s to be welded so lid . By far th e T Y's m ost o u tsta n d ing feature is th e sus pe ns io n. especia ll y in th e rea r. L anding off steep d ro p o ffs, th e Monocr oss rea r s uspension a bso rbs th e im pact very smooth ly fo r a rider wei ghi ng u p to 160 pou n ds. a nd the re is enough re bo u nd dampin g 10 keep th e bik e in a stra ig h t line afterwa rds . But even a ISS-p ound r id er could eas ily ge t th e back end 10 bottom: some tim es harsh ly even o n the stiffest preload sett in g. Wh en it d id , it would crea te a loud m el ani c " th u n k," bUI we co u ld n ever d etect a ny resultant dama ge. T he back just plain works, a nd th e rider ca n feel it working . than ks to over si x in ch es o f tra vel. T he front fork works well , too damp in g is ve ry p rog ress ive a n d smooth . Dro p p in g th e front w heel o ff roc ks a nd lo gs d oesn ' t produce a sha rp j olt through th e rider's a rms a nd shou lde rs. Bo th th e front a nd back e nds a re sta ble o ver loo se a nd roc kv terra in. Wh en th e fo rk h its a good-si zed rock, i t smooth ly a bsorbs th e i mpac t a nd w ill m aint a in a st raigh t lin e ove r th e roc k. Very ra rely would th e front end di ve to th e side o ver rocks or w h i le crossi ng fro ntw heel -le ngt h d i tch es. . Th e T Y is in credib ly n ar r o w , esp eci a lly a t the tank/seat j u nct io n ; because o f th e singl e sh ock set- u p , the rear portion of th e Yam aha is even slimmer than m osttrial ers. T his makes th e TY verv maneuverable when m a king a dt:'cent, it is ea sy for th e rider to tra n sfer weight over th e rea r fender. It 's easy fo r the rider to just m aint ain co nsta nt p ress ure o n th e T Y betw een hi s legs a nd slide back : th ere a re n o o bs tacles to hinder th e tr ansit ion, bac kwards or fo rewa rds . T here is no dro p off from th e sea t 10 the rear fen d er , a n d the ta illight is mou n ted far enough back to stay o u t o f th e rider's wa y. Sometim es, if the ri der gets far enough back, th e si le ncer ca n be felt, but it do esn 't ca use a ny proble ms. T he na rr o w d esign and excelle nt forks com bi ne to m a ke th e T Y a turn er. At slow s peeds, it ca n cu t a ver y tigh t co rner a ro u nd ro cks a nd Yamaha TY350 Eng ine type .•... . .. . . A ir-cooled two-stroke reed -valve single Bore x stroke . . . 80x68mm Displacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341 cc Compression ratio . . • .• . . . . 5 .3:1 Carburetion . .•... •. 26mm Telkei Ignition • . •• .• . . • .• . • . • .. . • .• COl Lubrication Premix Gear ratios Primary ., . ., ., . . 3 .550:1 ., . ., ., . ., .. . . 3 .500:1 Final 6th ., . ., ., ., . ., . 0 .67 7 : 1 5th ., ., . ., .. 0 .963:1 4th •. . . .. ., ., . 1 .40 9 : 1 3rd • ..... ..... .. . , 1 .938:1 2nd .. ., . ., .. .. ., . ., ., . 2 .4 6 7 : 1 1 st. . ., . ., . . ., . ., . ., . ., 3. 0 0 0: 1 Frame . • .. .. . .. Single downtube. double cradle Rake • . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . 23· Trai l 1 .9 3 in . Front suspension .. . . . Telescopic f ro nt Front tube ., .. 36mm Front wheel t ravel ... • ... . 7 .1 in . Rear suspension .•. . . • . • . • Single shock. swinga rm Rear wheel t ravel ..• .. . . . . 6 .3 in . Front brakes Drum Rea r brake Drum Front wheel .. ... ... . •. . .. . 2 1 in. Rear wheel . .. . . .•. .. ... .. . 1 8 in. Front t ire 2 .75-21 Michelin Rear tire 4 .00-18 M ichelin Dry weight .. ., .. ., .. ., .. 1 9 6 Ibs. Wheelbase 5 2 in . 0 .93 ga l. Fuel capacity Grou nd clearan ce 1 2. 8 in . 29.3 in . Sea t height . . ., .. ., . ., ., ., . ., W hit e Co lors Retail pric e $2 4 9 9 The shock has 2.2 inches of stroke. but wheel travel is 6.3 inches. (Below) The clutch cover is tapered. and the pipe is well tucked in . obstacles p recisely. T he from end doesn't have a ny tenda ncy 10 overst eer when it hits a bump or ridge, bu t we did run into a few occassions when the fork and hand lebars went into a full -lock posi tion ca using a q uick da b. T h is problem is inev i ta ble fo r tri a ls bikes, beca us e they must ha ve a right tu rn ing ra d ius, but a t least o n the Yam ah a , th e o vers tee r problem is easy to live with . Wheeli eing the TY o ver boulders, water- crossings a nd lo gs is sim p le 10 d o . It takes a slig h t tug o n th e han dl eb ars and a health y twi st o f th e w r ist to ge t th e front wheel st ra igh t u p in th e a ir . Both front a nd rear brak es are reasonably st ro ng, a nd t hey ha ve good feel. Beca use o f th e hea vy flyw heel effec t. th ough , th ere is e no ug h e ng ine br ak in g power th at th e rear brake is h ar dl y n eed ed . Wh en r idin g i n strea ms. wa ter will find its wa v to th e brak e shoes: w he n th is happen s, braking power is redu ced , a nd th e brakes sq ue a k h id eou sl y unt il th e shoes dry o u t, wh ich doesn 't tak e 100 lon g. T he Mich el in tires a re excel lent th ev stick 10 rocks wh et her we t o r d rv, a nd h ook up well o n hard-pa ck ed o r loa rn v dirt - th e knobbies a re soft a nd 1 ;liable. But we still didn 't noti ce any prem atu re wear. The bar/peg relati onship is co m fortabl e - the sea t a nd handl ebars ar e low a n d th e foot pegs a re high . T he foo tpegs fol d , a nd w hen th ey get fol d ed up a nd b u r ied in th e d irt during a crash, dirt gets packed in between th e peg a n d peg sto p . a nd th e peg won 't return 10 a level position, It takes a screwdriver to ch isel th e di rt out. We m an aged 10 d rop th e T Y more times than we wo u ld like to talk a bo u t, but n oth ing broke o n the bik e. T h e fende rs are flexible and never crac ked , b ut the scra tches in th e white pl astic ge t fi lled u p with dirt a nd th at m ak es rh e TY lo ok p re mat u re ly t h rashed . The cl u tc h lever bent o ne ti m e, but we wer e a ble to ben d it back to i ts origina l shape. T he chrome d handle bars held u p to th e a bus e, bUI th e grips started to wea r ou t a fter a few rid es. Even though we never smashed th e gas ta nk , we a re g la d it's made o ut or pl astic ra ther th an fib erg lass or a l u min u m . Most Eu ropean tr iale rs ha ve fib er gl ass gas tanks, w hi ch a re very easy to da m age, w h ile TYs of yesteryea rs had alu mi n u m ta nks th at would gel scra tched a n d de n ted in a hu rry. T he d ecal s o n th e new T Y ha ve vet to fa ll off. Besid e th e tr~n s mi ss ion , th ere isn' t a n ythi n g to co m p la in abou t - from th e kn obbi es o n up , th e new TY350;\l is ultra trick with exce lle n t s us pe nsion a nd m otor, a nd de ta ili ng is fir st rate. It 's been a n eig h t-yea r- lo n g wai t fo r th e return o f th e T Y, but it wa s worth every minute. • 19

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