Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

.;· R ' fa 1988 Yamaha street bikes ~ FIR400 paves the way . . The flagship of Yamaha's 1988 street bike lineup is the very trick FZR400, an all -new , mid-sized sport bike. A no t he r all -new entry for 1988 is Yamaha's Route 66, a custom, 250cc, V-twin with traditiona! styling . " P ut the fun back into motorcycling," . is Yamah a's m arketing theme for 1988, and the Japan ese motorcycle manufacturer proposes to do that by thinking small. The three. all-new motorcyd es i n Yamaha 's 1988 street b ik I' II b I e .In eu p are s.ma er- ore ~a ehmes. They includ e the 6 FZR400, a mid-sized spo rt bike; a 2S0cc custo m V-twin crui ser ca lled th e Ro u te 66; a nd th e DT/ LC, a s t:e~t :le ga l, 50cc, du al -purpo se m in ibike, Setting the three n ew mod els asid e, Yamaha 's line has ch a n ged little fro m 1987, wi th two excep tions. The nl200 super sport bi.ke wi ll not ~e Imported in to th e U n ited Sta tes this year , a n d the V-Max , Yamah a 's mo ns te r fa ctory cus to m 1198 cc DOHC V-4 wh ich was not imported into the U.S. in 1987. wi ll retu rn for 1988. T he heart o f th e exotic FZR400 is a 399cc, liquid-cool ed , fo ur-s tro ke, in-line fou r-cylinder Genesis en gin e th at rcd lines at 14,000 rpm . Un lik e larger .G en es is powerp lants, th e motor in th e FZR400 sports four , rather th an five valves p er cylinder. T he cylinders are inclined forward 45° to a llow bette r weig h t di stributio n a nd to provide a stra ig h t intake path for four downdraft 32 m m co ns ta nt- vac u u m Mikuni ca rb u reto rs; a ir bo x ca paci ty is 7.7 liters. Bo th th e dual- coil TC igni tion an d th e electronic fuel pump are co ntrolle d by a di gital co m p u ter, Cool ant is' stored in a forwardmounted , double-row ra dia tor, an d a n electrica lly driven fan h elps mai n ta i n co ns ta n t co o la n t temperature. T he powerp la nt is h oused in Ya maha 's ri gid, lightwei ght Deltabox aluminum frame, which uses sheet a lumi num welded in to large bea ms to m ak e up th e ma in back- bone. Cas t a lum in u m pi eces form th e steering head a n d swi n ga rm p ivo t, a nd sq uare sectio n steel tubing IS used for th e front downtubes an d to form seat and fender su p port. T he bike is sus pe nded in front by a Kayab a fork with 38m m sta nc h io n tubes, The Monocross rear sus pen sio n co n trols an a lu m in u m swin garm via a sing le Kayab a shock with seven -way adj us tab le sp ring preload; . sus pe ns io n o ffe rs 5. 12 in ches o f tra vel , front a nd rear. . The 400 has larg e di sc br ak es to h andl e sto pping chores. Up front, th e FZR sports d ual 282mm floa tin g di scs, a nd a 2 lOm m di sc sh u ts things down in th e rea r. The 400 will co me sta ndard with low-pro file radial tires, eithe r Brid geston e or Dunlo ps, m o unted to holl ow cas t-a lumin u m wheels. T h entire package h as a claimed dry weight of 370 pou n ds a nd will retail for abo ut $4000, (suggested retail p rices for 1988 m od els ha ve no rbeen released ). Th e California vers io n of th e FZR400 (the FZR400S) will be th e first p roducti on motorcycle to offer Yamaha 's pa tented variable ex haust valve syste m (EX U P) , wh ich co n tinuall y a lte rs ex ha us t pipe tuning to best su it different en gi ne speeds. Th EXUP system reportedl y boo sts low an d mid-range to rq ue , resulting in high er p ower o u tp ut. EXU Peq u ip ped bikes will be so ld in California onl y. The FZ line is rounded ou t by th e FZRIOOO, FZR7 50R, FZ750 (u p to 749cc from 699cc in 1987) and th e . FZ600, a ll o f wh ich o ffer detai l changes but are virtually unchange for 1988. The Route 66, which Yamaha ca lls , " the m ost afforda b le cus to m Vtwin in Am eri ca ," is powered by a n a ir-coo led , long-stroke 250cc engine fueled by a si ngle Mikuni downdraft ca rburetor. The en g ine ex ha us ts th rough stylish staggered dual pipes o n th e ri ght side. The Route 6~ ha s a tradi tion al teardrop tank, pullback bars, spoked wheels with ch ro me rims a nd a lo w, two-piece seat. Othe r .c u s to rn m od el s in the Yamaha line include th e retu rn of th e Virago 1100 and Vira go 750. On both models riding p osi tion has been changed - h andlebars ha ve been m o ved fo rwa rd ( 1.6 in ch es ) and upwar d ( 1.2 inches), foo tpegs hav b een m ov ed fo rwa rd a bo u t two in ch es an d bro ad er saddles hav e been added. T he mid-sized V535 Virago and th e monster V-Max ro u nd out th e cr uiser lin e. Yam aha h ope s to rep eat th e. unprecedented succe ss of th e YSR50 (w h ich returns unchanged in 1988) with a n ew, full y street legal, dua lpurpose, " fu ll sized" minibike. The DT / L C has a 50cc, wat er-cooled, sing le-cylinde r engine, long-travel , air-adj us tab le fork, Monocro ss rear sus pe nsion, fu ll ins tru me nta tio n a nd an Au tolube o il inj ecti on system . It will retail for ab out $1100. Yam aha fills out its 1988 dual purpose line with severa l relatively unchanged m od els - th e XT350, TW200, BW350. BW200, and BW80. In th e to u r i ng d epartm ent, Yamaha will aga in offer th e Venture Standard, powered by a 1294 DOHC liquid-cool ed V-four engine co mbined with a five-sp eed overdrive tra ns m ission a nd sh aft-drive, a nd th e Venture Royal e, which boa sts th e same features as th e Standard plus Yamaha 's Computer Leveling Air Su sp en sion Sys tem . Yamaha's Radian, a so p hi stica ted "en try- le ve l " m otorcycle , a lso returns relativel y un chan ged for 1988. It SpOTtS a 598cc, a ir-cooled , in l i n e four -cy li n d er, fou r -str oke wi th a si x -s peed e ngi ne transmission. _

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