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/127963
SHOW INA G R LINTE M T UUA RO MUNCHEN New Munich Trade Fair Center in g fins improve heat di ssipation and help eliminate reson ance . Th e transm ission has been uprat ed from that of th e Virag o , co m in g equi pped with a n improved shif t-fork mechanism for sm oother gea rs hifting . Gea r rati os have a lso been revised, for ease of rid in g, w he ther bet w een stoplights or s ta te lin es. Fina lly, th e gearchange linkage' d esign has been amend ed to give improved comfort. Like the XVS650 Drag Star before it, the new XVSl l 00 ru ns w ith an exposed sha ft-d rive sys tem that requires very little main tenance. O th er im portan t feat ures inclu d e a one-way clut ch-typ e sta rte r motor for smooth er and qu ieter sta rting, and twi n ov er-and-u nd er muffl ers tha t fea tu re a s ma ll ba la n cer pi p e be twee n th e s ile ncers fo r im p r o v ed lo ok s a n d reduced noise ou tput. Cha ssiswi se, the Drag Sta r's look is d ecidedl y har d tai!. To achiev e its classic lon g-and -low look, the bike features a new, torsiona l- R7' s alumin um fuel tank has a capacity in excess of 5.8 gallons and is eq uipped w ith an in tern al fue l pu m p. Rl -t ype, three-sp oke a lloy w heels r un a 120 /70 -Z RI7 fro n t ti r e a nd l80/ 55-ZR17 rear tire . Braking up front is handled by d ual 320 m m discs w it h lig h tweigh t one-piece ca lipers. In the rear, the d isc and caliper are the same as . those fou nd on the R1. Accordi ng to Yamah a, th e bike will be a vailab le o n ly in li mited q u a nt ities, and it ca n be mod if ied with a few sp ecial kit parts fo r racin g a nd track u s e . If y o u can fi n d o n e , th e R7 shou ld be in d ealer ship s by Feb ru ary or Marc h . If you wa nt to view life from a slower lane, then the Yama ha XVSll 00 Drag Sta r may be jus t th e bike that you 've bee n wa iting for. O ne of the first Japanese ma nufac tu rers to enter into the custom-cruiser segm en t in the '80s, Yama ha A ~ ~ has, in the newest member of the "Star famil y:' come u p with a des ign th a t s h o u ld pro v e very a ttra cti ve to th e crow d tha t a p p recia tes th e " W id I' Glide "-style chopper look. And perhaps a few other elements as well, for this Yamaha V-twin is of the ai r-c oo led variet y ra ther tha n liqu id coo led . Re-en gin eering com es by way of the engi ne tha t cu rre n tly powers the XV1100 Virago. Displacing 1063cc, this 75-degree SOHC "vee" has been one of the strongest-performing large-capacity eng ines in the class . Bu t th e re are so me n o tew ort h y cha ng es, includ ing the u se of low- friction , ch ro me -co m posite-p lated bor es a n d s tro n ge r, lig h ter fo rged pis tons . Rev is ed ca m pro fil e s b o os t low - to midran ge torqu e even fur ther, and new , thi cke r cra n kc ases m ake fo r q ui ete r eng ine running. Compleme nting the new in ternals is a pai r of BSR37 carburetors, which are fed through a lar ge-capacity airbox . The Drag Star is also eq uip ped wit h a throttle-pos ition sens or , which mor e or less 'allows the carbs to ta lk to the igniti on for improved t h ro ttle r es p o ns e a n d stronger acceleration. Other im provements include a new "silen t" cam-cha in w it h a n au to ma tic cam-chai n tensioner, w hile thicker cool- ly ri gi d d o ubl e- cr a d le tubul ar-s teel fra me which gives it a long (65.6-in ch wh eelbase), low (27.6-inch sea t heigh t) look. Desp ite its classic appearance, the rea r en d u tiliz es a h id d en li nk- typ e Mon ocross sus pens io n system , w hich offers jus t over 4 1/ 2 in ch es o f rearwheel travel. T he front end is held up by heart y-lookin g 41mm for ks, fea turing chro me -plated inner- tube pro tectors to hel p pr event chip damage. Rolling stock is in kee ping wit h the m a chi n e ' s ti m el e ss s ty li ng . Spoked fron t and rea r wheels with chro me-plated rims are in p lace, with a power ful trip le-d isc bra kin g sys tem . Up fro n t, dual large-d iameter 298mm fron t"'tliscs are slowed by differential bore two-piston ca li pers. And a t th e rear, a newd esig n single disc is opera te d by an opposed p iston caliper. T h e D ra g St a r's class ic two- to n e teardrop fu el tank h old s 4.42 ga llons , w hile the deep ly valanced rear fender is in keeping with the bike's custom looks, as is the larg e-faced circu lar speedometer mo u nted on top of the tank . Of co urse,' wh en t he Dr a g St a r arrives in the U'S, ma rk et, you can bet that it will be followed by a full comp lement of bolt-on cus tom good ies, includ ing pl a in and fring ed lea th er sadd leba gs, cus to m lea th er tool bags, bill et mir ror assem blies a nd chro me-p lated eng ine gua rds . Rider s will also be able to equi p the new Drag Star with a genuine Yama ha windshi eld , lu ggage rack and sissy bar