Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Sti ll, wi th it s o vera b u n da nce o f horsepower. ab sti nence is the key. Also lik e a ra cer. th e da sh is virtua lly devoid o f frill s. with just three gauges - a lar ge cen tra llypos it io n ed ta c ho meter. s lig h tly sma ller spee do m eter at left a nd a tiny tem pera tur e /?auge a t righ t. A ro w o f wa rni ng lights which in clude a neutral ind ica tor are p resent o n th e low er da sh . FZR's dash panel includes tachometer, speedometer andtemperature gauge. Yamaha hits the mark By Brian Catterson Photos by Rich Chenet and Nate Rauba With the introduction of the new-from-theground-up FZRIOOO, Yamaha has achieved i ts target of liter-class sport bike domin an ce with what can only be termed a direct hit. Whil e previou s Yamaha sport bikes with the excep tion ·' · du c t i o f t Ite I i m it ed -pr o u ~ lion FZR 750R, were more widelyfocus ed stree t ma ch ines, the new FZRIOOO screa ms road racer. . From its I iOmm-wid e rear Pi relli radial tire lO it s c lip -on s a n d rear- set Iootpegs, th e FZR is clearl y o ne of th e most si ng le-p u rpose mo torcycles ever built for stree t use. And a rgua bly th e mOSI ca pa b le. Ready . 8 ifi T he .tech lllca l speer 1~ 1I0nS o~ t~e new r;ZR were cove~ed 10 detail, 111 I1~e NO\e~ b.er I~ l ~sue of Cycte 1\ ews, but we II rev !e" so meo f II here for th e sake of cl':lnl y. Yama l!a eng,meers sta n .ed th e FZR IOO~ s Iacelift by red uci ng th e f~ rwa r9 incli ne of th e cylinders Iro rn 'i., 10 3:> degrees. T he n. by remov!ng , I he fron~ fra me do wn tubes and usmg th ~ el~gme as .~ str ssed member.o! thl; Ira me, ~he) w~re, a ble 10 bnn~ thl fro nt \\ h eel ~ac: cl,oser to the . t~ o~~r., .. produci ng a sho rt e r \\ h: d base. . 1 h e new I?eha bo~ frame, pro u ce red o.n Ya ma ha s ,s ucc es sf u l Gra nd P n l' .road !'acers. IS narr()w~r Where, the n~el. sus I han last year S '1! a~huw . a 'yld ll1g th e leap frog -st yle rid ing p.~ Slt lO~l co m,mon to oth~r SpOI l ~~kes. Llr& ex t~ uded a l u ~ le uum.be,uns run directly from the ~as t st('en n/? head to. the hollow s.w m ga!n~ Piv ot cas ll n~ for m a."I!lWm ri g id i t y. T he sw m g~ r n,l IS al so termed." .Deltabol'. a nd I S.I.l g h ~ er a nd more rigid than last yea r s Ulllt. T he five-valve-per-cylinder G en e-, sis mo tor a lso und erwent so me ch anges, notab ly a .5m m in crease in bore 10 i 5.5mm , boostin& di splace- m~1ll 1O 1003cc. A new cyh nder head with a m ore co mpac t co mb us tio n c ha m be r co m b ine d with Ha rrer crow n pi stons rai ses th e co m p ressi on ratio from 11.2:I to 12.0: I. Mi kuni BDST38 flat-s lid e ca rhuretors have been su bsti tu ted for th e previ ous BDS3i s. w ith pull -pull cable o pera tio n. A new co m purer-d esign ed fai ring incl udes Yamaha 's Fresh Air In ta ke (FAI). wh ich forces cool air th ro ugh f~ iri ng du ct s inlO.a ne w Iarger a irbo x. Yamaha cla ims a slip pery Cd(A) o f o n ly 0.318 for th e new fai rin g , la rg el y du e lO a lo wer w inds h ie ld a nd fl u sh - m oun ted headl ights. Ya maha ha s fill ed th e 1000 with th ei r EXU P ex ha ust valve system, first used in 1988 on Ca li for niamode! FZR 400s. EXU P us es a co mputer-controlled . servo-powered valve in the exha us t co llector bo x to regu lat e pressure waves i n th e exh a ust sys tem . By tun ing these waves 10 a ny given eng ine sp eed , EX P grea tly increas es scavenging efficiency. Ya maha claims a 10-20% power in crease. a 5% reduction in fuel consu m p tio n at h igh rpm. a 2030%hyd rocarbon em issio n redu ct ion a nd a 4-Sd B nois e reduction at idl e. An enormous muffler adorns th e right side o f the m achine, bo ld ly di sp layi ng th e EX U P logo ; man y thought it was an a fterma rket uni t. T he sam e di gi ta l co m puter co n tro ls th e TCI ignition syste m, EX UP exha us t valv e a nd th e fuel pump co n tro l unit. Aim At fir st gl an ce , th e FZ RIOOO a p pears much sma lle r th an it is; so me mistook it for its sibling, the FZR400 . Like a Grand Prix ra cer , the FZR is tin y co m pared 10 , say, th e Ka wasaki ZX-IO or Honda CBRlOOO Hurricane. But it 's th is diminutive size tha t gives it its excellen t handl in g cha rac teristics. The seatin g position is racer -like but su rp rising ly co m fo rta b le, at least in a spo rt ing situa tio n. The clip-ens a re low a nd wid e, a nd the foo tp egs. while high, do no t require that th e rid er pra ctice yoga. Even ta ller rid ers wi ll feel at ho me, thoug h owne rs of lo nger legs ma y find their kn ees rubbing o n the fuel tank' s ridges. But it' s wh en th e bike is ridd en o n th e hi ghwa y for an y leng th o f time th at th e sea ti ng position ta kes its lo ll. Aching wrists and sho u lde rs ma y be felt , not immedi at ely bu t,like a fter a good workout, (WO da ys la ter. Even so, th ere arc bikes with worse sea ling positions, The G en esis mo to r produces usable power from as low as 4000 rpm (even lower if yo u bog it), wit h a top end rus h beginnin g a t 8000 a n d co ntinuing to just short o f th e 11 ,500 r p m red l in e. T he p o wer builds sm ooth ly a nd pred icta b ly. a boon to th e ca n vo n o r mountain rwisti es rider sin ce the th ro ttl e ca n be ap p lied whi le exi ting corners with less worry over the rea r wh eel brea ki ng loose. Since o urs wa s a European model. th e spee do was marked in kph, which proved to be a real distraction (d ivide by ten a n d multipl y b y s ix for a p p ro xima te mph ). The tem pera tu re ga uge occasionally reach es redline in city traffi c, but quickl y returns to normal o nce underway. Very littl e engine heat reach es th e rider. An electr ic reserve switch o n the inside left fair ing panel is a cu rio us fitment, but works fin e o nce yo u' re used to it. Our Eurosp ec m odel a lso h ad a h eadl ight o n /o ff ' swi tc h , so me th ing yo u wo u ld n 't normally find in th e U.S., a nd a peculiar pilot light just a bo ve th e sta nda rd dua l headl ights that emi tted virtuall y no light a t a ll. U nde rcu t engageme n t dogs are used on seco nd, third a nd fourth gea rs o n the input shaft, and fifth gear on th e outpu t sha ft. with th e result being improved gear engagement from last yea r's b ike. Suspension is excellen t. fro nt a nd rear. G iant 43m m for ks (u p 2mm fro m last year ) ar c extreme ly rigid, and incl ud e four-way pr eload adj ust m en ts. T he rear shock has a remote reservoir wi th adj ust rnen ts for bo th preload and damping. P irell i ach eived a major marketing co up when Ya m ah a decided 10 fit th eir FZRIOOO with MP7 Sport radials. Cagiva has been offering th e Du rari Paso with th ese tir es for a whi le, and they are eas ily the best a va ilab le on a ny stoc k motorcycle. The Yamaha is fitt ed wi th Ii-inch. EXUP logo (abore) is proudly displayed on the FZR's muffler. A tank bag (left) transforms the bike info a capable sport·touring mount . . • accenton sport.

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