Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

, On th e California mode l, an ex haust power valve is located in the exhaust collector. .1 - - - - - - - - . .,. .-- - - - The EX UP -equippcd model is " cdsier to ride .through corners, especia lly for less experience d pilots. - EX U P allow s a rider to ro ll o n th e th rottle a nd pow er th rough th e turns even if he's running a gear too h igh. It defin itely pulls hard er due to th e extra power produced by th e exha us t power valve. On th e 49-sta te model , wh ich will , De imported with out EX UP, there is )fa tendency to run 'a gear l o~ er to o ffset th e lack of EX U P boost 111 the midrange an d low' en d. The Ca liforn ia m od el feels as if it' s carbureted a little leaner in th e m id- range to so me how o ffset th e power va lve in the exha ust. We put th e bikes o n th e road, ru n n in g side by side a t 50m p h, and ro lle d o n th e throttles sirnu lta ne" o usly. Th e EXUP-equipped FZ used , ' its boosted mid-range to pull a way 'J, from th e 49-sta te m od el. Once th e two bikes hit top en d, however (wi th th e Ca liforn ia mod el a bo u t 20 feet in front of th e 49-state vers io n) to p speed was dead even. Although th e FZR400 is fast, yo u have to ride it to mak e it go fast. It 's a full- on sport bike whi ch probably won 't work well for co mmuting - if you 'r e not runni ng in the right gear at th e right time, there '/. isn 't a lo t of ex tra pow er. If a n ? FZR400 rider su dde n ly needed a lot of ho rsepower to get o u t of a trick y traffic situa tio n, a n d if h e wer e cru ising a lo ng in th e wrong gea r, th at p ow er m ight no t be th ere. The " FZR400 makes pl enty of ponies, but , yo u have to keep it o n th e pipe. The FZR400 has roughl y th e same . dim ensions as the FZ600, but it's 40 pou nds lighter (370 pounds vs. 410). If yo u th o ught th e 600 was easy to - fl ick into th e co rners, yo u'll love th e 400; it handles lik e a drea m - th e t hi ng was mad e for co rners. The front end worked well for mo st test riders, who wei ghed a nywhe re between . 150 a nd 200 pounds; li ghter rid ers felt th e telescopic fork miglu work better for th em with a littl e l ig h te r fork o i l; nob ody ex p ressed di satisfacti on wit h th e rear Monoshock. Grou nd clearance (5.3 1 inch es ) was good - with th e 400 a pilot can , di ve into a tu rn a nd lean th e b ike ove r farther th an most sa ne riders would want to. H o wever , th ere are tab s on th e end of th e footpegs tha t h av e to go. With hi gh ly-ski ll ed ride rs, th e tab s hit th e pavem ent w he n th e bike is lea ned over to its lim it. The fix is easy - take a pair of chan ne llocks an d snap th em off. The b ik e o ffers a comfortab le riding positio n, even for our test rider wh o is six feet ta ll a nd weighs in a t 200 pounds. Our test rider felt cra m ped while craw ling onto th e • bike, but once he was rolling th in gs felt fin e. The dual floa tin g fro n t disc brakes can sto p th e 400 in such a hurry that we never touched th e rear bra ke and can o n ly ass u me th e rea r bra ke works as well. The bik e is o ffered in Yamaha's classic silk y white/fin e red pai nt .sch erne a nd is as attrac tive as it is funct ional. Conclusion The FZR400 is trick - much m ore exotic than its simi larl y- priced brother , th e FZ600. It 's a state-of-theart motorcycle fo r the serious enthusias t. Si nce it will cos t about the same as a 600, h ow ever, th e average rider will have to as k h im self if he wants to pay a 600cc price for the best 400cc m o to rcycle o n th e market. Ya ma ha h as taken a big gamble bv intro d ucin g a 400cc m od el into a' mar ke t segment domi nated by larger m o torcycles. If Yamaha can sell th e idea o f a 400cc sport bi ke to co ns u mers, th e FZR 400 p robab ly will repl ace th e FZ600 as Yam aha 's premier ligh tweigh t m achine. And it co uld spark interest among o the r m anufacturer s. Will we be • seeing a 400cc Hurricane soon? ~ ~ r- OO O"l .-; ~ c-r .... V ,.0 8 V u V Cl The liquid -cooled, four-cyl inder. four-stroke Genesis engine has plenty of power. It accelerates as hard as any 600 and redlines at 14,000 rpm. Yama~a FZR400 >" The bike breathes t hroug h four, .3 2 m m downdraft Mikuni BDS32 constant-vacuum carburetors. Engine type •• • •• • Liquid:cooled, four cylinder. four-stroke Bore x Stroke •• ••• 56x40.5mm Displecement • • • • • • • • • • 399cc €ompression ratio •••••• 11 .5:1 Carburetion • • • (4 ) 32mm Mikuni Starting system. • • • • ; • • Electric Ignition ••••• •••••• • • •• . TCI kLubricat ion ••• •••• • • • wet sump , Transmi ssion speeds. . . . : . . . . 6 Primary drive ••• •• ••••••• gear Final drive • • • • • • • • .. • • • •chein Gear rat ios Primary ••••• •• • ••• 2.170:1 Finel •••••••••••••• 2.895:1 6th • • • • • •• • • • • • • • • 1.174:1 5th • ••••• •• ••• •• •• 1.273:1 4th • • • • • •• ••• • • •• • 1 .435:1 3rd . • • • • •• •• • • • • 1 .714:1 2nd .. .2.222:1 1 at. . . . .3.308:1 Frame • • • • • • Deltahox aluminum Rake/trail. • • • •• : . , • • • • • N/A Front suspension telescopic fork Fork tube darneter • ••••• 38mm Front wheel travel •••••• 5 .12 in. Rear suspension • ••. sing le shock swingarm Rear wheel travel ••• ••• 5 .12 in, Front brake .••• • 11 in. dual disc Rear brake •.•• 8.25 in single disc Front tire • • •'••• 10/70x17 radial Reartire . • : ••• 40/60x18 radial Claimed dry weight •••• 370 Ibs. Overall length • • •..•. •• 81 .5 in . Overa ll width • • • • • ••• • 27.2 in. Overa ll height ••• • •• ••• 44.3 in . Wheelbase ••• •••• • • • • 55.1 in. Fuel capacity •• ••• •• •4 _76 gal. Ground clearance • • • • •• 5.31.in. Seat height •••••••••• 30.9 in . Colora • •• • • ••• •• • •White/Red Retail Price • • • • ~: • • • • • $3999 Retail Price (CalifOrnia) •• • $4099 The 1988 FZR400 comes in Yamaha's traditional silky white /fine red racing colors; it 's an attractive motorcycle. 7

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