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/127734
1996 Yamaha VZ1251250 NEWBII<:ES @9 Gone is the humongous si d e p anel design, and in its pla ce is a Kawasa ki-esque sid epa nel /airbox junction. The new design would most likely allow engineers to enlarge the volume of th e ai rbo x a nd in turn , improve the YZS breathing habits. Gone are the side p anel ha nd holes. Engine-wise, it 's difficult to s peculate w hat changes lu r k inside the YZl25 and 250 powerplants. Visually, the engines look th e sa me, but o ne ca n hardly assume t hat Yamaha wou ld ha ve rested on its laurels. The 250 pipe has a new shape and the silencer appears to be shorte r. A d iffere n t ca rb u reto r is nestled bet w een th e 250 ' s cylinder and airbox. It seems as if greater rigidity is th e th eme o f the new YZ's ch assis . The beefy aluminum swinga rm has a new shape, and the all-new shock linka ge now mounts through th e s w inga r m, rather than on underside-mounted tabs. Goi ng alo ng w it h th e greater-rigidity theme is the new frame. Take a look at the area be hind the head tu be, and you'll notice that the ga ping hole fou nd on older YZs is missing . Mo unted up fr on t is a new se t of inver te d Kayaba forks . Ru mo r has it that the tubes are up in size, from 43mm to 46mm, and that the internal cartridge design is enlarged as well, from 25mm to 28mm. The larger tubes and cartri dge allow for a wider range of comp ression and rebound da mping control. Underneath the forks, the front bra ke hyd raulic line appears to be routed d ifferen tly, and a new plastic guard p rotects the hose. We spo tted a ne w design front brak e mas ter cylinder on Yam aha R&D rid er Doug Dubach's YZ at the San Jose Supercross, an d it appears as if the same u nit will be incorporated on th e new YZS. The master cylinder featu res a new linkage design, rather than the trad itional plu nger design found on most motorcycles . l~ elieve it or not, new bike season is upon us already. It seems like on ly yes terday that we first threw a leg over the 1995 Yamaha YZS. Ima gine our surprise when a large blue and white Yamaha bo x van pulled into the Cycle News parking lot, packed with pre-production 1996 YZS. Though the Yamaha clan was rather tight-lipped about specificatio ns , they did allow us to sna p a coup le p hotos a nd m a ke a few ass u mptio ns a bout the ne w machines. No drooling, please... Fo llowing in th e foo ts te ps of Yamaha's factory race team efforts, the new bikes ar e - as expec ted blue and white. The blue tint of the fue l ta n k, radiator s hrou ds and sea t cover are, howe ver, quit e a bit darker than the blue color of Jeff Emig and John Dowd ' s factory YZS. Yellow and white radia tor shroud graphics compliment the new color scheme . Asi de fr om th e co lo rs, t he most obvious change is the allnew bod ywork . The ne w YZ's boast a lower-profile, sleeker d esign. The lines of the new pl asti c bodywork flow well, and there appear to be no sharp edges to snag th e rid er 's bo ot s. B 39