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/127768
out. The across- the-frame, fou r-cylind er FZ also had five va lves per cylinder, a design feature Yamaha's top sportbikes still retain. Interestingly, while the GSXR used a conservative IS-inch wheel choice front and back, the more traditional-looking Yamaha had a 16-inch front hoop . Unfortunately, the powerful FZ was no match for the far more nimble GSXR on the track, and race performance was becoming an important measure of street bike prowess. Honda returned fire in 1986 with their second generation V-four, the VFR750. This machine came stock with gear-driven cams and aluminum frame, and has a clear family resemblance to the VFR of 1996. While today's machine isn't trac k-orient ed , the 1986 VFR was an international production road rac e winner, especially o n tighter layou ts whe re it's V-four torque and drive could be used to maximu m effect. . The modem mega-bike wars started in earnest in 1986, when Suzuki's "big brother" GSXR1100 hit the streets. Previously, the larger-motored bikes we re more street-oriented, but the 1100 Suzuki put the race replica squarely among the more sedate opposition. Suzuki also started another trend, offering a limited edition GSXR750 LTD with more trackready standard features to help win in production racing action . For years, many sportbike fans were devoted to single-cylinder machinery, saying that these "thumpers" were the purest form of corner carver. British bikes defined this market in the '50s and '60s, and the Japanese echoed the trend with dirt-derived street bikes like Yamaha's late '70s SR50(} and the Honda's 1982 Ascot single. The last serious U.S. street thumper appeared in 1986, when Yamaha's SRX600 hit the showroom floors. The square-tube frame was pretty, simp le and not covered by bodywork, while the four-valve engine was reaso nably powerful. En thusiasts loved the bike, and many SRXs made it to the track as noncurrents, but the single wasn't a sales success for Yamaha and more or less ended the alleged thumper craze from the Japanese perspective. The last piece in the modem sportbike puzzle was put in place in 1987, when Yamaha m o u n ted the FZ750 engine in a track-type, aluminium-spar chassis, creating the FZR750. The deltabox frame set the new standard for stiffness, formed from aluminium sheet, just like the race bikes. By now, the unloved 16-inch wheel-fad all but had ended, and 17-inch wheels were standard on most modem sports machinery. The trend-setting middleweight of 1987 was Honda's brand-new CBR600 Hurricane, an all-new bike with allenveloping, Bimota-style "jelly bean" bodywork and a fairly conventional steel frame. No netheless, the CBR was wonderfully balanced, and could actually take on the all-eonquering RGSOO in worldwide mid-displacement p ro duction racing. Through several revisions, the CBR's winning formula has continued to this day. Altho ug h we d idn't know it a t th e tim e, th e brand-n ew 1988 Du cati 851 Strad a would go on to father one of the most successf ul lines of moto rcycles in history. The new, fuel-injected Ducati Vtwin continued with desm o valve control but now had four valves per cylind er and les s-bulky belt cam drive. In typical, non-con form ist Ducati fashion, th e frame wa s a la tti ce of steel tu bes, using th e sli m eng ine as a stressed member. Former U.S. Superbik e sta r Steve