Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Left) Ride it , collect it : Yamaha has released an MM Lim ited Edition version of the Road Star as well. The bike featu res the tr ick " MM" logos and key to match its ivory paint scheme and studded seat. (Below) Yamaha has hit another price po int in the cruiser category with the int rod ucti o n of Its V Star 1100 Custom. MSRP is S7799. co nsi d e ra tio n . The co m p any has p olis hed up its cru iser and touring lines With the int rod uc tion of th ree new mod els, o ne o f the m ca te ring to' the val uem ind ed cu s tomer, while th e o the r two a r e limi tcd-ed it ion h ig h-end b i ke s geared toward the more a ffl uent - o r mavbe even th e collecto r. The Yam aha V Sta r 1100 Classic is based closely on th e retu rning V Star 1100, a nd thus beco m es the ne w bi g brother to th e 650cc V Star Cla ssic that has so ld over 8000 units for Yamaha so far in the 1999 model yea r. It isn 't sole ly a makeo ver , thou gh . Th e bodywork for t he 1100 Class ic has b een desig ned s pecifically fo r tha t mod el. The fro n t fender is d eepl y valanced, and the rear features a lon g flare at the rear to give a tim eless look to the bik e. Other new features include a 16-inch front w heel wi th a fa t, 130 /90-16 tir e, a large-diamet er head lig ht with a chro me shell, new pullback-style hand leb ars and red es ign ed , ta nk -m ou nte d in s t ru m e nta tion . For rid er comfort, th e sea t features thicker, lar ger padd ing. Th e 1100 Cla ssic offers fron t-moun ted floorboards, wi th a classic heel /toe-styl e shifter on the left side . Th e V Star 1100 Classic wi ll be ava ilable in tw o di fferent paint schem es for 2000: onyx a nd a two-ton e spark le maro on / ivory. Suggested retail price is $7999. Touring o r cru ising enthusi as ts looking to go upscale m ay be more interest ed i n Yamah a ' s t w o li m it ed -e d iti on m ot orcycl es: the Venture MM Limi ted Edi tion an d the Road Star MM Limited Ed ition. Both bikes offer vintage styling and m od ern technology in thei r respective segme nts, with an added tw ist: No more tha n 1500 of each mod el arc slated for prod uction . The Vent u re MM Limit ed Ed ition is based upon the Royal Star Ventu re, but whereas the standar d Ventu re might be co mpa red to an upscal e Toyot a seda n, th is lim ited- bu ild " Millenniu m Model" (the MM d esignation actua lly sta nds for the yea r 2000 in Ro m a n nu m era ls ) screa m s Lex us a ll the wa y . Touring ac co ut remen ts inclu de p lu sh sea ting, opera tor and passenger floorboa rds , and easy access audio /CB switchgear . And the Venture MM goes a few steps further wi th its pea rl white/ivory hues and ta ncolored sa d d le ry , b rass seria l nu m ber pla te affixed to the trunk and "M M Limited" logos on the saddlebag hinges. The bike also has a specia l, MM com memorative ign ition key. Suggested retail price is $16,099, just $100 above that of the Royal Sta r Ventu re, and the bike is backed bv one of the best cus tome r su pport packages in mo torcycle history: a five-y ea r, u nlimi ted -milea ge warra nty and a 24hour roads ide assistance pro gram , Th e massive, 98-cubic-inch Road Star MM Lim ited Edition offers th e sa me push rod V-tw in - that belts o ut 99 foo tp o u nd s of torqu e - as is fou nd o n the Road Star, w hic h made its debu t last year. Special highli ghts of th e MM ve rs io n in cl u de an ivo ry p ai n t sc he me, w hite-wa lle d tires o n chro me d , w irespo ke d a lu mi num w heels , a studd ed sad d le an d pillion pad Ii L Road Star Sila vera do , and the "MM Limited " logo on the spedome ter and br ass se rial number plate on the rear fend er . It, too, comes with the co mmemo rat ive ig ni tio n key . Suggested reta il price for the Road Star MM Limited Ed ition is $10,599 . Again, thi s is just $100 more th an the regu lar Road Star . That abo ut covers the major changes to Yamaha 's street b ike lin eup fo r th e new m illen niu m . Whether o r not th e com pany has met its goa l of honing and sharpen in g its prod u cts in th e face of onco ming new models from th e competition remains to be see n - in our ridi ng impres sions and shootou ts. Even so, it isn 't to d ifficult to ca tch th e message they're se ndi ng to the motorcycle world now. ' eN Ca tch me... if yo u can. Sayonara, F,ZR600 I ts time had come , and th e Yama ha FZR600 has exited the company's lineu p for good as of the 2000 m od el year, ending a lO-year ru n that saw th e gro und-brea king supersport m achin e go from Nationa l Champio ns hip win ner to bargai n blaster, to sim ply the little bike that cou ld . Burst ing on to the scene in 1989, the FZR600 qu ickly proved its capabilities on th e track, winning eve ry round of the '89 AMA 600cc Supersport Series, including Daytona, with John Kocin ski aboard . Scott Zarnpach claimed the seri es cha m pionship title on an FZR600 th at year. In 1990, David Sadowski pi loted the bike to its seco nd stra ight 60llcc Supersport title, wi th the FZR racing off showroom floo rs as well. It w ould remain competi tive for severa l more seaso ns before the advent of th e YZF600 d ropped the FZ R to number tw o in t he Yama ha 600cc Supersport fa m ily . o ma tter, as the bike practi ca lly gained cu lt status w ha t with all th e si m p le a nd inex pe ns ive modifications that could be made to mak e it somewha t com pe titive with the latest cro p of bOOs to hit the m arket each year. Yet despite the fact th at its fantastic perform ance was never d im inish ed. sa les we re, as Yamah a offe red a new hyp erbike to the buyi ng publi c - the YZF-R6 - in 1999, thus d ropping the YZF to the tier occupied by the FZR. And , well. as the old say ing goes , this tow n ai n't big enou gh... "The FZR600's im pac t on the category was treme ndous both for the category and for Yam ah a," Ya ma ha com m unica tions guru Bob Starr sa id . "But when we mad e the d ecision to re-price th e YZF600, we found th at peop le we re willing to pay a little more to step u p to th e YZF. It didn't wa rrant us bringing in su ch a small number of FZRs. It's sad. It's rare that a mot orc ycle can be su ch a so lid per fo rmer for that lon g. That bike was a sold ier." 50, the FZ R600 is officiall y retired in th e name of progress - th e sa me way that it KO'd the FZ600 befo re it. Even so, there is little do ubt tha t it will be treated kind ly in mo torcycling history as on e of those milest one ma chines tha t broke new gro und and se t new sta ndards for the 600cc class . Shutter to think that we may be saying the same thing abou t the YZF-R6 so me 10 yea rs from now. 29

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