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/128010
little fine tuning. And even then, our 220-pound intermediate motocrosser / expert off-road rider claimed that with heavier springs he would be content. "P rogress" is the key word when it comes to the '00'5 new suspension. The fork was updated with new lighter internals, and the resul t is a smoother ride that pushes less and soaks up any ha rd hit on a basic motocross track. The shock weight was reduced as well, and more importantly, a high- and low-speed compression-damping adjustment was added to increase adjustment range. By taki ng time to d ial in the shock it's hard to go wrong, especia lly wit h suc h a wi d e ra nge of adj us tme n ts. In time we discovered that the shock helpe d ke the bike pointed in a straight line. It ep d id not pack or swa p, hoo ked up grea t coming ou t of corne rs a nd hand led big h its w it h grace and ease. W ha t mort> could vou ask for in a shock? . Overall , the YZ handles wit h stabilitv arid does not exhibit an v head sha ke. if a motocross bike is go in'g to head shake it's go ing to do it a t Glen Helen, a nd ou rs did not. Wha t it d id do is turn, and ver y well at that. Berms, fla t co rners, hard or soft, it just did n' t matter. Our tes t rid ers could screa m d o w n a lon g straightaway and then throw the thi ng in to a corner without missi ng a bea t. Th e YZ still re ma in s one of th e mos t ' nimbl e motocross bikes on the planet. In add ition to the new hand lebar pos itioning, Yama ha went the ext ra mile and dropped the new aluminum subframe 10mm to create a roomier ride that accommodate" human-sized riders. Eve rvone felt comfortable on the new setup, even though ali three riders are very accustomed to their own bend of ha ndlebar and own handlebar clamp se tup. However, no one really noticed the change in the subfrarne height. With a diffe rent ha ndlebar position, why not change the controls as well? Yamaha developed a clutch lever with a free-play adjustment and an altered le v er ra tio, which crea ted a lighte r' clu tch pull. It's not the new clutch control a lo ne, however, th at ma ke s t he clu tch feel so much better. A new clu tch rod and actuator cam and press ure plate gra ce the righ t side of the eng ine case, provid ing a be tter clu tch feel that won't go stiff anytime soon. The en tire clutch pa ckage is a big ste p up from last yea r's YZ250. The new adjust-on-the-fly clutch lever assembly is a luxury in itself that u ntil now could not be found as origi nal eq uipment. ormally a tr ick part li ke that wo uld retail for close to 100 bu cks. What's a new mo del without little changes - little odds and end s, lik'e the return of the Yama ha tuning fork symbol that is proudly displayed on the corner of the radiator shroud. Like the bike itse lf, the return of the tuning fork gets our seal of approval. eN IDEBS MOTOCRO SS RACE FOR MOTTS CHILDREN HOSPITAL " 'J r om 7 he J f ear I g n c. » $7000 PRO AM PURSE $40002S0C C $3000 12SCC SEPTEMBER t 1 s, 12, 1999 Pro-Race on Sept. 12th ALL AMATE UR D IS TRICT 14 CLASSE S DOOR PRIZES FOR ALL CLASSES BELL MELMltn fP!.~ ---- ----- PORTLAND, MICHIGAN THERMOFlL ~ 1~ 1'· .... s.on .. Located off 1-96, Exit 77, West of Lansing, FoUow signs to track For More Information cau Phone: 734-663-6262 E-Mail: fthmotocross@hotmail.com .~ ~. 25