Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

The FJ1200 is basically a refined FJ11 00. with more displacement. a more-slippery fai ring and detail internal changes. (Above) The 1294cc 1986 Venture Royale. w ith new saddlebags and travel trunk. (Below) The SRX600. one-cylinder. lightweight roadste r. 26 one, the peop le in cha rge o f develop me n t wanted to ma ke it." Mabuch i was th e ma n in charge o f th e mod el's development. and he's the man who pr esent ed hi s co nce p t for mu lated in h is spare ti me - to Yamaha managemen t. T hey gave him th e go-ahea d. and th e machine became a success in j apan . sell in g much bet ter tha n ex pected and spa wn ing co ncep t co pies from Honda. No DIll' ca n loo k at the SRX600 and not see some sort of co n nection wit h classi c si ng le-cy li nder Br i t is h mach ines ; the li nk is there, just like the link wi th classic Ameri ca n Vtw in s ex ists in the Yama ha Viragos. But Ma buch i sa ys he was n't irying 10 buil d a n a nti q ue in th e S R X600. but rat her a modern classic. Ma buchi sa ys th at good a nd bad . beaut y and ugliness are unrelated to time; hi s co nce p t was bac k to basi cs, ro cupture traditio nal m o to rcycl in g valu es, bui ldi ng a mo torcycle that was ea sy to rid e. easv to co ntro l: a ma chi ne tha t let the 'rider co ncen trat e o n the' joy of ridi ng; a mach in e a rid er wo u ld feel proud 10 own . The SRX600 is based o n th e proven 95x84m m, 595cc XT I TT powerp lant: SR XfiOOs so ld in o ther parts o f the wor ld w ill hav e a slighrl v-lu rger bor e to br in g displacemen t 10 (JOScc. ma king th e model meet th e ov er-(JOOcc eligibi lity ru les for Formu la O ne end u rance racing in Japan ; U .S. models wi ll be 595cc beca use all en gin e must be re-certified wi th th e EPA if displacement is cha nged . a nd the cert ifica tio n process is leng thy and exp en sive. certa in ly not worth th e trouble for l 3cc. T he SR X600 sti ll mak es more p ow er (40. 1 bh p a t 6500 rpm ) a nd to rq ue (34 Ib.-ft. a t 5500 rp m ) tha n th e XT lIT mod els because it ha s a large r dual-th roat ca rbureto r. a la rger airbo x and a less-restrictive ex ha ust . Mabuch i used a sq ua re-steel- tube frame wi th a dual -shock sw inga rrn: no t using a si ngle-shock swingarrn m ade room for a finned o il tank located beh ind th e engi ne . a nd a llo weel h im to keep the bike relatively short with the ma ss reIat ivelv cen tra lizcd. Wh eelbase is 54.5 inches; ra ke a nd trail are 26° an d 4.0 in ch es; wh eels are 18 in ch es. front a nd rea r, a 2. 15x18 fro nt a nd a 2.75x 18 rea r. with two 10.5-in ch front disc brakes an d a 9.6-inch rea r disc brak e. There isn 't a n electric sta rte r , a nd the SRX600 wi ll be so ld at a relative lv low pri ce in the L .S. l . The XVIIOOS Vira go lead s Yamaha 's cru iser lineup for 1986; it's a stroked version of th e 1985 XVI OOO . with a n ex tra 5.8mm o f stro ke - up to 75mm - bum p in g ca p acity from 981cc 10 1063cc. Bor e is un cha n ged at 95mm.It's interesting to hear Yamaha spo kesmen ta lk a bo u t th e Virago and its pos itio n ing. because th ey ta lk a bou t th e need for evo lu tion o f th e machi n e' s cha rac ter vs. repl acem en t. Mai n ta ini ng maximum parts int erch angea bility betw een model years is a goal , along w ith simplicit y o f design and a desire 10 del iver h igh-qua lit y paint and ch ro me. T hose evolut ionar y cha nges incl ude a new co m bus tio n ch a mber shape and new cylin der head fins; p iston do me h eight is reduced to keep th e com press io n ra tio a t 8.3:1 despi te th e extra disp lacement; the m iddl e co m p ressio n ri ng a n d th e oi lco n tro l rings are th in ner to red uce friction . Th e cra n kca ses have a more rounded shape, th e a lternator is ligh rer bu t the flywh eel s ar e h ea vier, and first gear is ta ller beca use the engi ne makes a 101of more torq ue. There's a . d iaphragm sp ring on th e clutch to give it a ligh ter p ull o n th e cl ut ch lever. and new ca r bs hav e vacuu m ac tiva ted en riche n ing circu its to red uce backfiri ng wh en th e th ro ttle is cl osed . Ign itio n timing is changed for th e from cylinder. The Vir ago 11 00 has a larger gas ca p acity (up to 4.4 ga llons). two- ton e pai nt . a nd a nu mber of ot her sty li ng and detail cha n ges. The XV700S Virago has reshaped cran kca ses and a larger gas tank (u p to 3.9 ga llo ns). a long with resh a ped cvlin der fins a nd an em ission -co n tro l system tha t p ipes air into th e exh au st h ead er pi p es to ign it e unburned h yd ro ca rb on s, To dea l with th e ex tra heat ge nera ted by th e new em issio ns system , a nd to pr event ch rome di sco lo rat io n , the h eader pipes a re tri p le wa ll : T he Virago 700 is availa ble with either cas t a lu m in u m a lloy or co n vent io na l wire-spoked wheels. Yamah a 's full -dress rou rer is a vaila ble in o n ly o ne mod el for 1986 , the co m p letel y-loaded Venture Roya le, a n d comes w ith a bigger engi ne . T he engi ne ca paci ty is increased from 11 98cc to 1294cc by a 3m m- la rger bore ; bore a n d st ro ke are n ow 79x 66mm. Cam timi ng is cha nged to boost low- en d and mi d-range power; the ma in beari ngs are no w made of th e same heavy-d ut y ma ter ia l as th e main bearings in th e V-Max, and additiona l oi l ga lle ys deliver extra lu brica tion to those main beari ngs; th e ca r bs are no w 35m m CVs " u p from 34m m: th e clutch has a d iaphragm spri ng; the tra ns m ission mainsha ft has an add itio na l oi l passage. the sh ift for ks hav e a new d ura bility finish , a nd seco nd and fift h gears hav e undercu t enga gemen t dogs, a ll to improve sh ifti ng. Ot h e r ch a n ges to th e Ve n t ure Roya le inclu de th e V-Ma x fin al drive case and a n ew gea r tooth p rof ile to in crease strength (the ra tio is uncha nged) , hu t th e big n ew s is in the gadge t depa rtment. T h e Ven tu re Royale has p lenty . T here's a cr u ise con trol wit h accel era te, decelerate and resume co n tro ls bui lt into a ha n dl ebar sw itch; eac h tap of th e sw itch cha nges speed by 1.0 m p h , a nd ho ld-in gdown th e switch chan ges speed at the rate of 1.5 mph eac h seco nd . T he re' s a n electron ic a mi-dive sys- tern , using a so lenoi d 10 in crease front fork co m pressio n dam p in g an y time the bra kes are app lied; a blowo ff va lve a llows the for ks to react n orm all y over bu m ps wh ile brak in g . T he sadd lebags are so lidly-mou n ted, have rernov eable lin ers and are 50% bigger with out bei ng a ny w ider. A n ew travel truck has a n ad j ustabl e recli ni ng passenger backr est, a mirror a n d va nity ligh t insi de th e lid , a nd in corporates' turn signals a nd reflectors, Vin yl pou ches to carry sma ll ite ms are a ttac he d to the fro m o f th e travel trunk and th e rea r of the fu ll fairi ng. Th ere 's a 40-channel C B radio, sta ndard; a n AM/ FM ster eo casse tre dec k, sta ndard , with remote co n trols fo r th e passenger. T he I I-inch fro m brak e d iscs a re new. bei ng slotted in stead of laminat ed / ventilat ed. with fou r-pi ston ca l ipers: the 12.6-in ch rea r d isc also has a four-pi ston ca liper, an d pad life is supposed to be grea tly improved . A co w ling in Iron t o f the engine ca ses im proves ae rody na m ics. T o top it a ll o f£, the retail price of the Venture Royale has been red uced. T he V-Max has minor cha n ges for 1986, in cluding th icker exha ust header pi pe wa lls and new int erna l muffler desi gn to help th e bike m eet th e 1986 noi se sta nda rds . Iarge r V-Boost valves ' (u p from 30m m to 32m m) to o ffset p ow er lost i nth« muffl er red esign , a nd u ndercu t engagem en t dogs o n seco nd a nd fifth gea rs. Peak power is now reach ed at 8500 rpm , in stead o f 9000 rpm . No significa n t cha nges were ma de to th e Xj700M Max im cruiser, powered by a 697cc five-va lves-per-cy linder water-cooled engi ne. T h e sporti ng FZ750S wi ll be avai labl e in Ca liforn ia for 1986, wit h retarded ign ition timi ng (ba ck to 5° from 10° BTDC) a nd an eva pora tive em issio n s ca n ister. T here's a thr ust bearing between th e clutch p ush rod a n d pressur e p la te to avoid seizu re a nd a sma ll co w lin g is added underneath the engin e. Deta il changes incl u de an a ircraft-s tyle gas ca p, a d ua l-head lig h t system . and strea m" lined tu rn signa ls (the fro m tu rn sign als now do u ble as runn in g lig h ts). Yamaha 's street mach in e line is rou nd ed ou t bv two 50s, the 49cc two stroke Yarna ha hop per a nd th e 49cc Jog ; thenow - 199.7cc (u pfrom I7 Icc) R iva 200S 'a n d Ri va 200ZS scoo ters; th e 124cc R iva 125 scooter ; a nd th e 79cc Ri va 80 scooter. No lo n ger incl ud ed in the Ya ma ha line ar e th e Fj600 a nd the two- va lvesper- cyl inder XJ700 Max im cru iser. T he standa rd . stripped Venture is also not availa ble. •

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