Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

e RIDING IMPRESSION ! Icmg on the coke 1994YamahaFZRI000F t'""'1 Yam aha took the al ready-outsta nd ing FZRIOOO and m a d e it even b etter for ' 94. Ar eas that received touching u p includ e the trans mission, fro nt brake and aerodynamics. The fron t brake now fe atures super-strong, dual , s ix-pis to n calipers. It also has an anti-theft ignition. By Kit Palmer ~ 48 amaha could have tak en the ea s y wa y o ut. They cou ld have kicked back and rested on th e ir laurels . Instead, Yamaha engineers kep t ch u g g in g away and refi ned what was already regarded as one of the bes t big -b ore sport bikes around. They could have easily taken th e 1993 FZRI000, sla p p ed on n ew grap hics, given it new pa int, changed the yearly model letter designa tion from "E" to "F," raised the price a notch, and sold it as a '9 4 m o d e l - and no one would have given a hoot. Ins tead , Yamaha went th rough the FZRI 000 with a fin e-tooth comb, and polishe d off any ro ugh areas it m ight ha ve had. When all was said and done, Yamaha wound up focusing their efforts on three main ar eas: improved engine u sa bility, handling performance, and riding comfort. Yamaha's interpretation of improving "engine usability" was, in the case of the FZR1000, ma king it shift better and smoother. They acco mplished th is by changing the in te rnals - th e cl utch's main axle and push rod now have a tigh ter tolerance, and the shift fork "pawls" have been extended. Externally, a four-way adju stment dial has been incorporated in to the cl u tc h-le ver assembly. The rest of the 100&c, liqui d-cooled, four-stroke, DO HC, forward-inclined parallel fou r-cylind er engine has been left untouched. As far as "improved handling " is concerned, Yamaha concentrated on the inverted fork and the front disc brake. St a rt ing w ith the fork, there have been two changes. New anti-friction b u sh ing s ha ve been installed in the ou ter tubes to increase rigidity, and rubber bum pers have rep laced the oil-lock bot tomin g system to p ro vid e better cu shion from su d den bo ttoming. The fork also features external compression an d rebound -damping adjustmen ts, as well as spring-preload adjustment. An d the front brake? It now featur es bee fed-u p, dual, six-piston (instead of four-pis ton) calipers, as well as massive 320mm rotors. The sam e system is found on Yamaha's new FZR750R. To improve "riding comfort," and/or rider convenience, Yamaha ma de some sub tle, yet effective, changes to the FZR. The upper fairing and windscreen have been reshaped to reduce wind tu rb ulence to the cockp it. The fairi ng has a st ee per angle, a nd the windscreen is wider, plu s, like the YZF750R, it features the new "cat-eye" d ual head light system . In addition , the mirrors have a ne w shape and are wider for better viewing. Like the clutch lever assemb ly, the front brake lever now features four-way adjus tability. To top things off, an anti-theft device has been built into the ign it ion. The device is made up of a fr ee-t urning, ha rdened-steel ring loca ted above th e ignition sw itch. Th is ring protects th e ignition fro m d a mage, such as for ced entry via a d rill, screw driver, or other such ap paratus. Ge t on, hold on and shut up Yamaha presented the '94 FZRI000F to the motorcycling pr ess in conjun ction with the unve iling of the all-n ew YZF750R "superbike" at Roebling Road Raceway in Georgia. The FZR1000F, like the YZF750R, is a pure joy to ride on the track. O verall, it still feels ve ry much like the FZRI000 of old, but, in certain areas, it's better. The engine still vibrat es a little bit, b ut it also still develops s tag g er in g power th ro ug h ou t it s su per -sm oo th powerband - p retty much the sa me as last year. The only difference is that the new FZR does shift better. It takes slightly less exertion on the shifter to ca tch the next gear - during bo th upand d own-shi fts. Thanks to the be tterfitting push-rod , the clutch also appears to have a better feel. Perhaps the most noticeable difference between the '94 and '93 FZR1000s is the front brake. The fron t binder is extremely progressive and powerful. We had no proble ms whatsoever slowing the big Yamaha down for the turns, even when braking into Roebling Road 's tum one after the long front straigh taway. At slower speeds, the front brake has out standing feel- it's not as "grabby" as the units that have graced past FZRs. As far as the new fork goes, we ha d no complaints. Since we d id n't ha ve a '93 FZR1000 on hand for back-to-back comparison, it was difficult to telI if the fork is actually an improvement over

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