Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127558
we could tell, there seems to be many advantages to the new design with little or no negative side effects. The first thing we noticed when riding the GTS is how the front end refuses to dive, or pitch forward, under normal braking. This is a very, very strange sensation for anybody who's used to riding any kind of motorcycle. All bikes do it dive when the brakes are applied. That's just the way it is and has been. But here comes the GTS and it breaks all the rules of front suspension physics. Oh sure, you can get the front end to dive on the GTS if you try. Gain some speed and grab a handful of front brake and that Will do it, albeit very little. But under normal or hard braking, while using the back brake, the GTS remains nearly level. It truly is a weird but pleasing feeling. Not only is the no-dive sensation obvious while braking, it's also very noticeable in the corners, especially while transistioning from one turn to another. Since the front end doesn't pitch forward and the wheelbase, thus, always stays the same, the GTS is extremely easy to flick from tum to tum, requiring very little body adjustments system. Up front is a beefy opposed sixpiston disc brake caliper, and a huge, centrally mounted (inside the wheel) 330mm ventilated front disc. A single 282mm ventilated disc with an opposed two-piston caliper is used in the rear. And to top it off, the GTS also incorporates an anti-lock braking system (ABS). Yamaha's system uses double microcomputers to process and analyze information from sensors at the front and rear wheels on impending wheel lockup. The sensors inform an electronic control unit of lock-up at eight millisecond intervals and the hydraulic unit can then increase or decrease brake fluid pressure up to 10 timesper second. Front and rear wheels are constructed of 17-inch cast alloy, using a threespoke design. The liquid-cooled, four-stroke, 20valve, OOHC, forward inclined paranel engine is based on the Yamaha FJlOOO's powerplant, but features one main difference - electronic fuel injection (EFI). Yamaha's EFI system is controlled by information received from various sensors on and around the engine, including a throttle sensor, air intake sensors, rpm sensor, water temperature sensor, individual cylinder identification sensors and an oxygen feedback sensor. What the rider will notice most about all th is is tha t a choke lever device is no longer needed to start a cold engine just turn on the ignition and hit the starter button. He/she will also notice crisper throttle response. The EFI also means that regardless of altitude or weather conditions, the engine "jetting" will always remain "spot on." Keeping the environment in mind, the GTS comes equipped with a catalytic converter to reduce emissions. Riding into the future So what does RADD, ABS, EFI, Omega, and all these sensors, swingarms, levers and bizarre-looking components really mean to the rider? A hell of a lot Simply put, the GTSlOOOA is one outstanding motorcycle, and the new front suspension system has a lot to do with it. Yes, the strange- and futuristic-looking single-sided swingarm front suspension works extremely well. From what by the rider. The bike is, overall, extremely stable and inspires plenty of confidence on canyon roads. Simply awesome. The front suspension works superbly when entering a corner after a long straight, in other words, at .speed. You can tap the brakes without worrying about abrupt diving, making it much easier to set up for the tum - less distractions. . Cruising along the highway in a straight line, the suspension, both front and rear, feels very solid and stable. The two ends work in harmony, resulting in a smooth ride. We became a full believer in the GTS's suspension when one of our test riders hit a bag of cement mix that was lying on the freeway. Although the bike, which was traveling at approximately 50 mph, bounced quite high, the GTS remained perfectly straight and recovered instantly. The only negative side of the front suspension that we could detect was a fairly high turning radius. We nearly dropped the GTS once while making a slow speed tight turn, expecting the steering to tum steeper than it did. But o'verall, slow speed stability is very Performance and comfort are the GTSlOOO's strongpoints. What else is left? (Right) The single-side swingarm front suspension all but eliminates diving in the turns and while braking. Note the centrally mounted front disc brake. (Below) The only traditionaJlooking part of the frame is the rear sub-frame section. 17