Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Cycle News 2004 07 28

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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pleas e both th e novice and expert rider. The bike also hoo ks up nicely out of the turns and does n't have the tendency to bog in the turns nearly as muc h as our '04 yz does . When you open it up on the 'OS, it always seems rea dy to go, if not, one quick fan of the clutch lever qu ickly gets its atte ntion and brings 'e r up to speed. In comparison, ou r '04 yz just isn't as responsive as the 'OS. In a nutshell, the 'OS mot or is definitely an improvement over the '04 in every way, shape and form. Not on ly is the yz fast er. but it also slows do wn be tter. thanks to the new front-bra ke hose routing, w hich is now st raighter, shorter and mo re direc t . Th e fron t brake has goo d. pos itive feel and is supe rstrong. And. spea king of fee l. the new aluminum handle bars are a big improv ement over the o ld steel bars. Just as Yamaha claims. t he new plastic do es seem to lisld uPltletiilZ:;;~I::I""'"~._:';.t-~;:~~~..._ ENGINE TYPE Two -strok e. liquid-coo led, single cylinde r. with YPVS DISPLACEMENT I24cc 2. 16 x 2.18 in. BORE AND STROKE COMPRESSION RATIO 8.6 - 10.7:1 LUBRICATION Pre mix CARBURETION Mikuni TMX38 CLUTC H TYPE Wet. multiple-disc IGNITION : CD I STA RTER SYST EM Kick T RANSMISSIO N Co nstant mesh , six-speed 31/ 13 (2.385) GEAR RATIO I 29/15 ( 1.933) GEAR RATIO 2 27/17 ( 1.588) GEAR RATIO 3 GEAR RATIO 4 23117 ( 1.353) GEAR RATIO 5 24/20 ( 1.200) GEAR RATIO 6 23121 ( 1.095) PRIMARY REDUCTION RATIO 64119 (3.368) SECO N DARY REDUCTION RATIO .4811 3 (3.692) Chain FINAL TRANSMISSION slightly heavier springs (now .42, lormerly .41) , to perform quite we ll over various obstacles with little to no clicke r ad justments. Paired up w ith the Kayaba shock , which also has a stiffer 4.7 -spring, in the rea r, the ne w yz felt dialed in right out of the crate . In previous years. the suspension on the Yamahas was good . but it always had a slight harshness to it. Not anymo re . This year t he new suspension do esn't blow throug h the stroke on hard hit s yet remains sm oo th w hen we had it pinned down fast straights. Just like the chass is, the lighter and more compact e ngine is complete ly new. But th e big news here, of co urse, is the re tu rn of t he six-speed transmission (can you hear us cheering?), w hich w e foun d easy to shift and provided t he right powe rto-w hee l ratio for just ab out eve ry situation. T he ex tra gear just made the 'OS yz easie r to ride than the '04, as it was less of a st ruggle to kee p the peppy motor on the pipe all the t ime . As far as nat-out power, we can bes t sum up the 'OS YZ's moto r with just one w ord - fast . We are impressed . It is so fast , in fact, that when we rod e the yz at a local mo tocross race, the bike pulled 250cc fo urstrokes up the giant hills . And not only is the yz fast, but it' s also quite "ridable " fo r such a highly-strung 125cc two-stroke. Th e powerband is reasonably broad, yet the motor revs o ut to t he moon, which should te r. Even t hough we've o nly ridde n th e bike a lew times - one 01 th ose times in a race our 'OS yz still looks pretty new and does not ye t sport those annoying wh ite "bruises ." O ur '04 YZ, on the oth er hand, looked hammered alte r the same amount 01 time . The graphics , howeve r. aren't much be tt e r; they 'r e already a little chewed up. 50 did Yamaha build a fou r-str oke kille r? Unfo rtunately, we won't know th at for sure unt il we ge t more time on the bike and bust out the stopwatch and compare lap times between the new yz and the fo ur-st ro kes, but we can tell you that Yamaha definitely improved the yz 125 and certainly narro wed the two-st roke an d fou r-stro ke gap . eN www.cyclenews.com CHASSIS FRAME ......Aluminum sem idouble cradle FRONT SUSPENSION..Telescopic fork FRONT WHEEL TRAVEL 12 in. Swingarm REAR SUSPENSION (monocross) REAR WHEEL TRAVEL 12.6 in. FRONT BRAKE Single disc REAR BRAKE Single disc FRON T TIR E 8011 00-2 I 5 1M REAR TIRE 100/90- 19 S7M DIMENSIONS O/A LENGTH O/A WIDTH O/A HEIGHT SEAT HEIGHT WHEELBASE MIN GROUND CLEARANCE TRAIL DRY WEIGHT FUEL TANK CAPACITY OIL TANK CAPACITY 85.56 in. 33.08 in. 52.72 in. 39.76 in. 57.72 in. 15.56 in. .4.28 in. 189.2I bs. 2.08 gal. 0.182 gal. CYCLE NEWS • JUL 28, 2004 Y 33

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