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/127862
Yamaha is proudest. Yamaha cJaims the Rl is ligh ter, de livers more power, and is a more nimb le ha ndler than Honda's C BR900RR. This ma chi n e is all new from the ground up and is powered by a lightweight, liquid-cooled, four-stroke, DOHC, 20-valve, in-line four-cylinder engine that features a 99&c displacement, which is down Sec from Yamaha's previous YZFlooo model. The mot or is designed to be extremely com pact. One of the ways in which this was accomplished was to positioning the mainshaft of the six-speed transmission far ther forw ard and higher up . in the engine. In fact, the mainshaft is now po sitioned well above the cran ksha ft. As a result, the motor is now 3.2 inc hes s ho rte r (front to back) than before , resul ting in an overall reduction in weight and size. Another benefit of this design is tha t it enables Yamaha to us e a longer swinga rm whi ch, coupled with a shorter wheelbase, improves handling and stab ility, Yamaha claims. Another special feature of the motor is that it uses lightweight, a luminumforged pistons. Yamaha upped the size of the four BDSR Mikuni carburetors, going from 38 to 40mm mixers . These a re jus t some of th e many changes and fea tures of th e Rl 's new powerpla nt, which Yamaha claims pumps out ISO hp at 10,000 rpm (redline is 11,750 rpm). In comparison, the previous YZFIOOO produced a claimed 135hp power output at 9500 rp m. The Rl's motor is nes tled in a new ly designed, lightweigh t, ridgi d aluminum Deltab o x fra me d u bbed De lta box II. De s p ite the longer, aluminum swingarm, the w heelbase of the Rl is a super-short 55 inches, which you might think would decrease the overall stability of the motorcycle, but Yamaha cJaims that by shorteni ng th e w idth of the motor and using a longer swingarm, the Rl slill tracks straight and true. Figu re in the sho rt wh eelbase and you have a stable open-class motorcycle that corne rs like a middleweight sportbike. Up front, the Rl sports 41mm Kayaba inv erted forks, with spring preload and compression and r ebound adjusters. At the rear, a single, piggyback Bilstein-type Yamaha shock handles the cushion. The shock also features spring preload and compression- and rebound -damping adjusters. . The bike will come stock filled with Dunlop's new D207s wrap ped aro un d 17-inch, th re e- spo ke, cast 3.50 -inch (front) and 6.00-inch (rear) wheels. Up front is a one-piece opposed four -pis ton caliper, 298mm disc brake, and out back is a o n e -p iece o pposed two-p iston caliper 245mm disc -brake assembly. The sh a rk- n os ed fai ring fea t u res quick-release fasteners for easy remo val an d reinstalla tion. In the cockpit, you'll find a digital speedometer with a fuel -trip function. In o ther wo rds, when the fuel-reserve light goes on, the fuel tripmet er a utoma tically resets to zero, so you'll know exa ctly how many miles you've traveled o n reserve an d how ma ny miles you have left. Expect to see th e Rl on showroom floors in March with a reta il price of $10,199. Perhaps the biggest news of all from Yamaha is tha t none of the returning '98 Yamaha models have gone up in pri ce; in fact, some of them ha ve actually gone down, including the Virago 1100 an d 1100 SP models, the FZR600, the Seca II and th e Riva Razz. Most of th e '98 Yamahas should be available by the en d '" of November. O~... wno made this race season possible. AARON YATES, Winner 600cc Supersport Na tional, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, les (20), Pascal Picotte (21), Larry Pegram (72). 'l(Al1Ierican Suzuki Motor Corp) {Team Manager) ~€rew Chief) Suspension Tech) (Data Acquisition) unwalder, Richard Doan, T.J. Fahey, James Hashimoto, Yuj i oru Matsuzawa, Brad Stephens and Hiroshi Y akota. $SUZUK I RK ~"'CIIAl. DUN~DP MIICUNI NIOIOREX & A --. -..- !:I oS H Yoshimura Research & Devel opment of America, Inc., 4555 Carter Court, Chino, CA 91710, USA (909) 628-4722 FAX (909) 591·2198 http://www.yoshi mura-rd. coml ..V ~ ~ ~ r-, 0'\ 0'\ ..... C'J' C'J .... OJ ..c a .... u 0 23