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
panels s houl d reveal the truth . If, as BMW claims , it was seeking to build a 7series fur the to uring market. then it wou ld be hard to crit icize their effort. The sleek fairing offers concealed instru m enta tion beh in d a fu lly adjustable w indscreen , a nd th e -bod ywor k flows through the generous seating area to the rear, where the LT's integrated com partments offer a capacious 4.2 cubic feet of space. Co mfo rt is the name o f the game wi th the LT, which places both the rid er a nd passen ger in an erge nornically sa tisfyi ng positi on. All cockpi t contro ls a re laid out on the pullback- sty le steel handl eba rs so th at the ri der ca n adju st every thi ng w it h ou t rem oving a hand from them . For yo ur listening plea sure, the LT is topped off with a com pletely new sound sys tem that can accom modate (a drumroll, please) a six-disc CD changer. Acco rdin g to BMW officia ls , th e mach ines shou ld be hitting U'S, dealerships in mid -March. Expect three levels of trim, with all of them ringing up for u nder $20,000. Yamaha chose Muni ch to d ebut the ma chine tha t almost eve ryo ne in the hypersports and road racin g com mu nity ex pecte d as fa r back as two years ago . But it' s h ere now, and brot her, does it e ve r look m ean . The Yamaha YZF-R7 OW02 ma rks a ret urn to th e race-spec side of the block for Yama ha, b ut desperate times call for d esperat e mea su res, and you need only look a t the s ucc ess that Hon da 's RC 45 a nd Ducati's 916 (c'rnon, they a ren' t reall y street b ikes in the classic se nse) ha ve enjoyed over the pa st five seasons in both World a nd AMA Superbike competition to see what ha s now become the norm. Starting where it co u n ts, th e allnew R7 is powered by the m o s t ad vanced powerplan t that Yama ha has ever prod uced for the general public. The slan t-b lock motor , which is a full y st resse d m e m be r b y t he n e w G Pinspired a lu mi nu m frame, is equ ipped with a n electro nic d ual fue l-injec tio n system, w hich is fed by a massive ai rbox . Th e EFI system delivers p recisely mete re d fuel via 12 t it a n iu m inlet va lves in to th e m a c h in e d cyli n de r hea d fo r be t ter a cc el era t io n a n d instant p ickup. Going for the u ltima te in p er forman ce , t he produc tio n R7 engi ne has also received titan iu m connecting rods, di rec t igni tion, a speci ally tr eat ed crankshaft, pla te d p iston crowns a nd a racin g clutch wi th a back torque limiter . Th e cases, which house a three-axis tran smi ss i on , we re desig ne d to be ex tremely compact, there by allowing the use of th e short-wheelbase chassis. Twin radia tors helps dis pe rse hea t when in battle. Like its R1 (lOO Occ) and R6 (600cc) bre th ren , the R7 chassis has .been based closely on the design used on Yama ha's 500cc fac tory GP ra ce b ik es , a n d em ploys a sho rt w heelbase layou t. It, too, featu res a longish-look ing, h ig h ly rigid b ox-t ype swinga rm lik e those found on the other two bikes. Up front, Ohlins upsid e-d own front forks are utilized , as is an Ohlins rear s hock absorbe r . Boih un its a re fu lly adj us ta ble for pre load, re bou n d an d com pression damping . Bod ywor k is as trick and slick-looking as it co mes . The front fender, cowl and se a t assemblv a re manufactu re d from lightweight com posites, a nd the 00 0\ 0\ ...... 1'-,' l-< OJ .c o ..... u o 15