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/127733
1996 Yamah ZF750R aY (Left) Styling of the new VZF750 is distinctive. The sunset-colored decals on the fairing and the rear sections are not covered with clearcoat. (Above ) The Yamaha combines a reasonably comfortable riding position with very well-controlled suspen sion. Hand ling Is rocksteady and makes the bike a blast In corne rs. By Mark Hoyer Photos by Joe Bonne llo en thousand four hundred nin ety -ni ne d ollars. Th at's a lot of cash. And that' s how much it' ll cos t yo u to get yo ur hands on Yamaha' s 1996 YZF750. Like the salaries of the best athletes, the best motorcycles cost more and more every year. If you have any d oubt that Yamaha's 1996 YZF750 is a good player, just ask Tom Kipp . In a class that Yamaha has yet to w in a cha m p io ns h ip - AMA' s 750 Supersport - the Ohioan leads the points race riding just such a machine. So there is no doubt the basic platform is sound for the race track, but how does the bike stack up in the real world, where normal people have to spend real money? The list of cha nges made to the new model start with th e requisite graphic updates. More attractive than last year's color sche me, it didn't set any fires for the staffers, but got more than its fair T 32 share of pra ise out on the road. The YZF is an att ractive machine and with th e unique cat-eye headlight treatmen t placed in a fairing that has been resh aped to a ccommod ate th e n ew cu rved, increased-volume radiator - the ma chin e has a very d istin cti ve look. The forks were changed in the wa y of val ving, and ne w se als and b u sh ings w ere u sed to decrease the level of friction. Also added this 'year is mor e space u nder the seat (for a If- lock), an anti-theft ignition circu it an d a stro nger steering lock. The YZF is p ow ered b y Yamaha's five-valve-per-cylind er, liquid-cooled Genesis 750cc engine and is internall y unchanged from last year-.The four forw ard -inclin ed cy li n ders use a se t o f 38mm, Mikuni downdraft carburet or s which are new for thi s year. The intake setup allows a nice straigh t shot into the combustion cham be rs but necessitates the use of an airbox that fills the space where much of the fuel tank u sually resides. The fuel is instead carried to the rear of the tank, and reasonable capacity is ma intained by a protrusion of the tank body that extends d own between the aluminum Deltab ox fra m e s pa rs. Fu el capaci ty is 5.02 gallo ns whi ch provid es a range of abou t 145 miles before the lowfuel warning light begins to glow . Take this yellow lig ht seriously: th er e is no pe tcock, hence no proper reserv e. O nce the light shows itself, you've got a little less than a gallon of fu el to use before you tu m in to a pedestrian. Ther e is no gas gauge. Th e exhaust sys te m fea tu res Yamaha's computer-eontro lled EXUP (Exhaus t Ultimat e Po w ervalv e) to broaden the po wer sprea d and the large, reasonably quiet m uffler canister is made of stainless steel. Launching the YZF smoothl y is not the easiest task. Power is practically nil below 2000 rpm, and if you let the clutch bu t without feeding the required revs the mot or will fall flat on its .face and you I .~ won't get anywhere. Action from the wet clutch is light and preci se, so it isn't too tough to accommodate this quirk, but is not what one no rmally expects from an . engine of this displacement. Lumbering along in top gear at normal cruising speeds (80 mph or so) the YZF's mill is turning around 5800 rpm. At these speeds the engine is incredibly smooth. Couple this with a not-too-punishing riding position and fairing that offers good wind protection, and long stints in the broad sad d le wouldn't be out of the question . The fir st comfort casua lties are the should ers and wrists. Credit this to the low, clip-on bars that force the rider forward . Top-gear roll-on acceleration is crisp if not exactly authoritative, due to a greater propensity for making power in th e upper reaches of th e rev ran ge. Sayin g that the engine lacks midrange wouldn't exactly be co rrect, just more that th e midran ge gets somewha t oversh ad owed by the very strong top-end kick. And what a kick. The first real surge of power comes in a t a ro un d 7500 rpm. At th at e ng ine speed, thro ttle response and acceler ation ar e immediate. It only gets better as the re vs climb, intakes howling gl ori ou sly, contrasted by the aggressive snarl pr ovid ed by the cam profiles, a n d you move . Qui ckly . Abov e 9500 rpm the powerplant is com pletely in its element and will pull stro ngly to the 13,ODO-rpm redline. The engine does ha ve a high-frequency v ib ra tion above six grand th at sets your hands and feet abuz z and all but renders the mirrors useless. But it is tolera ble, especially in light of the power that comes wi th it. In fact, when you are really on the gas, the last thin g you' ll be thinking about is the vibration, or the fact that yo u can't see any thi ng in the mir rors; secon d gear being worth nearly 100 mph y ou w on 't wan t to see what ' s behind you. With all the good power mad e high in th e rev range, having a .good gearbox with w ell-spaced ratios is very im portant. Yamaha has fulfilled that need perfectly . The six-speed bo x on the YZF is one of the better units we've come across. You won't find clunks or false neutrals