Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Cycle News 1992 02 05

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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STEST 1992 Yamaha XT225 Serow e MildĀ·mannered mountain goat By Nate Rauba Photos by Ken Faught hat's in a motorcycle's na me? When a ma nufacturer names a model, it's usually one tha t connotes power, bravado or some form of honorable heritage. There are Sportsters, Ni njas, Katanas, Hurricanes, Zephyrs, Intruders, Viragos and Voyagers. But a Serow? That's what Yamaha dubbed the XT225 , their new dual sport machine. And it's named after a mountain goat, one that belo ngs to the antelope family, and is found in east Asia. While a goat doesn't conj ure images of power or a fearless warrior, Sero w seems to be an apt na me for Yamaha 's newest du al sport machine. Like the mountain goat, it can go just about anyw here. The Serow's dimi n u tive stat ure woul d seem to ma ke it more agi le than full-size machines, and the smaller di spl acemen t an d a gen tler po werba nd th at Yama ha hopes will appeal to a wide range of riders. It already has a relatively appeali ng low price of $2899. It's obvious Yama ha isn 't ou t to conq uer th e dual spo rt wor ld wit h th e new Serow. T here are p lenty of larger models market ed by Yamaha an d its competi tors. Ins tead of shooting at the competi tion, Yamaha made the Serow more attractive to the first-t ime buyer. W 14 The a ttractions There's nothing fancy ab ou t the single-cylinder, air-coo led 223cc four- (Above) The Serow 's comfortable, yet ra th er small layout. Nothi ng catches or snags the ride r's legs while riding. (Left) The steel m uffler does a good job of q uieti ng th e Serow, while th e rear drum bra ke provides adequate stopp ing power. stro ke engine, althou gh it does feature a number of convenie nce item s. It has . a sin gle overhea d cam wi th an au tomat ic cam cha in adj uster. A cou nt erbal ancer is incorporated in an effort to keep vibration at a mi ni mum. The exha us t system ha s stain less-steel h eaders to prev en t r us t, a n d a handlebar -mou nted lever activa tes the choke u ni t on the 34mm Miku n i carburetor. Igniti on . is h a ndl ed by a mai ntenance-free CDI un it, and best of all , there is an electric starter. Unfortunately, there is no kickstarter for a backup in case power from the maintenance-free sealed battery gets drained. A wide-ratio, six-speed transmission is designed to give the Serow a broad range of gearing for many conditions. The engine is wrapped in a "diamond" single-downtube frame made of high-tensi le steel tubing. The frame geometry gives the Serow a low seat height of just under 32 inches without com promising ground clearance, which is ju st over I I inches. A lack of ultra- long tra vel suspension also keeps the Serow's heigh t do wn. The air-adj usta ble front for k provides 8.9 inches of wheel travel, wh ile .the rear Mon ocross suspension system has 7.5 inches of travel; bumps are absorbed by a single Kayaba shoc k with fiv e-w ay reb ound damp in g adj ust ment. Standard 21 and 18-inch wheels are at both ends and are fitted wi th tires feat u rin g a specia l tread p a ttern designed for goo d traction on either dirt or pavement. A 220mm di sc brak e is mounted up front, wh ile th e rear stopper is a drum. To fin ish the package, the 2.3-gallon gas tan k, fenders, enduro-style headlight cowl and side pa nels are brigh t

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