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/127758
ha has now made the decision to sell their TRX850 sports twin abroad. In making its debut at the Paris Show this September, in revamped guise for the European market, Trixie has gone on her travels, and even if an apparently close vote stopped Yamaha from sellirig the model in America next year as well, word is that a '97 U.S. launch for the first Japanese bike to be a true competitor to the current breed of European twins is in the cards. However, in coming to Europe, Trixie has also gone native, with a series of detail amendments to 'the original J-market specification wrought by the development team, headed by Yamaha project engineer Hirosuke Negishi, in the interests of adapting the bike to European riding conditions - as well as a new suit of clothes. Instead of the red and white livery of the J-market model, the TRX850 sold abroad comes either in all black, or metallic blue with a silver frame, with the engine painted silver rather than a sombre black, and the three-spoke wheels a tasteful gray. She looks all the better for it. As one of the handful of European journalists asked to ride a J-model TRX850 round the windmills of Holland back in freezing' February - it was in response to our suggestions that (Above) The 849cc paralleltwin uses a 270degree crank . that augments torque - much like a 9O-degree V-twin's does. Negishi-san and his crew made the changes they did for Trixie's European launch - I found the chance to compare and contrast the latest Euro version of Yamaha's 270-degree big twin on a 185mile ride from Spain's craggy Costa Brava up into the foothills of the Pyrenees especially rewarding. I should also declare a further personal interest: Yamaha Europe asked me to ride the only TRX850 racer to be seen outside Japan in 1995 for them, prepared in Japan by Over. Out of a total of eight .International BOTT races in Europe this season, we won five of them, finished second and third once each, and DNFed just a solitary time with, of all things, a broken bolt in the gear linkage - after qualifying on pole for the seventh time out of eight starts. Winning major BOTT races ahead of 6Q.-bike fields on GP drcUits like Spa-Francorchamps and Assen was a real buzz, as well as proving the significant potential of the TRX for performance tuning - for road or track. Yamaha has concentrated on delivering a sound basic product at contained cost - 6800 pounds in Britain, for example, against 7895 pounds for a Ducati 900sS on which the owner can then improve the specifications as inclination and budget allow, personalizing the bike to his tastes. By offering not only their own six-speed close-ratio gearbox and racing ignition as a customer option, but also marketing the entire range of Over Racing parts through Yamaha dealers including camshafts, high-compression pistons, 2-1-2 exhaust system with carbon silencers, 41 mID Keihin flat-sliders, and various chassis parts - Yamaha has made it possible to duplicate my 114 bhp race bike down to the last ultracompetitive detail, without sacrificing the ridability and smooth, torquey power delivery that made my gal Trixie so easy to ride on tight street circuits or in wet conditions. But you don't need all these goodies to make the TRX850 into an enjoyable street bike; riding it just the way it comes is an impressive testament to the qualities of this supersports twin. In adapting the bike for more forceful, higher-speed European riding conditions, Negishi and his team have also (Above) On toP. of the fork tubes you'll find sprlngpreload and rebounddamping adjustment. Adjustable brake lever makes up part of the excellent ergonomics. (Right) Exhaust note is like no other twin. Rear suspension is fully adjustable. sharpened the TRX's appeal, starting. with the throatier exhaust note from revised exhaust silencers, removing the accelerator pumps from the 38mm semidowndraft Mikuni carbs, and gearing the bike up quite substantially by two teeth, with a 39-tooth rear sprocket instead of the J-model's 41. It will still pull that tall gearing, though, as a fast run back to base along the PerpignanBarcelona autopista confirmed: Squatting I.!') . 0\ 0\ ....... \D~ 1iJ "S III U III o 7