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/128013
First Look 2000 Yamaha street bikes lig htened internals, a ta ller first gear ra tio, red esigned sh ift sha ft and a modified shif t linkage to im p rove the manners of the six-speed crashbox. The Yamaha crew went even more ' ballistic in the chas sis department - literally . The R1 is draped in all-new, more aerodyna mic bod ywork that includes a slig htly larger wi nds cree n, red esign ed upper , lower and side cowlings and a redesigned sea t cowling . The fuel tank has been resh aped to be even less obtru sive wh ile reta inin g the same 55-gallon capacity of the previou s version. Yamaha even wen t so fa r as to lig ht en the mirrors, the tail assembly, d ish ou t all of the fas teners - eve n run smaller-dia meter wi re s prings o n the all -new shock and rev is ed fo rks . T he 298mm d ua l float ing fro nt brake sys tem and the new slimmer-bod ied instrument cluster have also been target s for weight savings. These changes make for a significant subtrac tion in the total weight of the Rl. The bike no w r egi st ers a lith e 385 pounds, and thi s even w ith the ad d ition al po u nd age brou ght abo u t by the A IS emissions sys te m . And consider this: Price is the one targ etthat Yamaha chose to remain stationary, even though it ma y be all but impossible for the other ma n ufactu rers to h it a b u llseye. The 2000 Ya maha YZF-Rl - lik e a ll o ther returning Yamaha models - checks in at the sa me suggested re tai l price th at it did last year, $10,199. Riders considering a new cru iser or By Scott Rousseau I a> ~ 1:: ~ Q. (g 28 n light o f th e fact th at the Yamaha Mot or Corporation has gra bbed the lion's share of awards, headlines and new moto rcycle cu st omers among the Big Four brand s for i ts a g gress ive approach in bringin g exciting new products to the mot orc ycle mark et ove r the p ast tw o ye a rs , it is n o wond er th at "gen tle giant" Hond a actually sing led ou t it s rival by name as the ta rge t to s ho o t for in its qu es t for w hat it calls "total market domination." But as evidenced by Yamaha 's response, namely its 2000 model year street and off-roa d motor cycle lin eup, its new messa ge to all wo uld- be ch all en gers is ve ry clear: Bring it on, bab y. Parall eling th e improvements mad e to its incredibly su ccessful Yamah a YZF m ot ocr oss er, Yam ah a h as ch o sen to mak e several im p ro vem en ts to so me models in its existing fam ily of stree t machines - as well as add and subtract a b ik e or tw o - in an effo rt to p ro vid e what it calls "a moving tar get" for the competitio n. No where is this quest to stay on top more evide nt than in Yamaha's flagship sport bike, the YZF-R1. Despi te the fact that the company feels that the Rl far exceeded customer ex pecta tio ns , th at d idn't s top them from tearing the bike apart in se a rch of p ossibl e improvem erits. Over 150 components were carefull y ana lyz ed, and if a chang e for the better could be mad e, then it was made. Sta rting with th e hyper, l50-h or sepo wer, 998cc DOHC inline fou r, Yamaha added a lighter, more compact starter moto r and new ma gn esium eng ine cov- (Above) Yamaha's technological flagship YZF-R1 has been rendered obsolete by this bike, the new Yamaha YZF-R1. Yamaha eng ineers improved over 150 components on the machine, sav ing five pounds in the proces s. Hors epower, and price, are the sa me as last year. (Righ1) Limited expres s : The Yamaha Venture MM Limited Edition takes the company's toplevel touring bike one step furthe r. Less than 1500 are slated for product ion. e rs, re worke d th e ca rb u re tio n to im p rove low- speed p ower d e li very, revised the cams haf t journal lubrica tion syste m for better oil d istribution and added its ow n Air Indu cti on System (AIS) to make th e fir e-breathin g mill more emissio ns- frie nd ly. Toppin g off the im provements is a titanium exhaus t silencer and d iffuser that knocks a total of 2.2 p ound s o ff o f th e bike 's total weight. The R1's transmission has also rece ived considerable co mbi ng, w it h touring bike ma y need to look no fur ther than their local Yama ha deal ership as well. As the seco nd largest manufacturer of cruiser and tou ring models in the wor ld , there is a good chance tha t Yamaha has some ki nd of Star wo rth