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/141006
.... N N THE YAMAHA XS Z '" '" a.. '" N .... Cl ui .ci '" u. Ul ;: w Z w ..J U >U Things start to get a bit complicated on the righ t-side handlebar. From the top th ere is a kill switch, brake fluid reservoir, brake lever. twist grip, tw o throttle cables. bra ke light cable, starting moto r cable. decompression lever, and kill switch cable. first, b ut you get accustomed to it very quickly. There is still no shock absorption in the drive train, so that is still the bike's weakest point. Maybe next year. On the desert I did a few hi gh speed run s and so me acceleration tests. T he engine at th at point only had 20 0 mil es o n it so I di dn 't t ry fo r the ultimate. It d oesn 't seem fair to me to wr eck an ex pens ive mo t orcy cle just to see h ow fast it will go fo r a ro ad test . With me in a semi-c ro uch posit ion the bike wou ld do a sh ade over 95 mph , b ut I d id no t p ush it t o t he red lin e in fourth and I doubt if it w ill pull red line in fifth . I' m su re that when the engine loosens up it will do over 100 eas ily . If it were mine, I' d cert ain ly drop one tooth o n t he countershaft sprocket. T his would produce better top speed, better acceleration, and it wouldn't require so mu ch buzzing off the line. As it is, it 's geared for freewa y rid ing . The engine just purrs at 65 a nd if you want t o pass you d op into fourth an d you're right in th e p ow er band. Touring riders might prefer that t o the sportier set-up I suggested. T hro ughout the rest of the day I tried the b ike o ne eve ry type of surface I could find, always pushing it hard . We di d 20 miles of dirt road wi th h alf a do zen stream crossings . T he engine is waterproof as it co mes . T he disc brake works w he n it's w e t , b ut th e drum in th e rear doesn 't. (Even a good soaking in a car was h d idn 't faze the elctric o r the carburet ion.) On d irt' roads th e b ike is manageable, b ut n ot m u ch fu n to ride. Eve ntually I wo und up o n the old ridge r o u te to Bakersfield, an abandoned road. Twenty-five miles of broken concrete slabs, rocks on th e road and other misc ellan eo us obstructions. The wind was blowing at 50 mph and the temperature had dropped to freezing. As I stopped to t ake some pi ctures I suddenly realized th at it had been a full hour sin ce I'd se en a nother ca r o r person. As I struggled to h old th e bike upright in th e wind, I be cam e very fond o f th at elec t ric st art er. We go t o ff the ridge just as dark ness arr ived and I fo und a little store that had coffee and gaso lin e, both of which I needed. The proprietor, though, was a hospital nut and as soon as I got my helmet off he began the tale of his latest operation. Too m uch. I p refer riding, even in the cold . The headlight o n the Yamaha is one of the best I've encountered. The h igh beam is actually adequate on a dark road at abou t 80 mp h, wh ich is u nu sual. I got o n yet another curvy canyon road and started swinging th rough the dark corners, seei ng o nly an occasio nal car. Su ddenly, surprisingly , I sa w th e lights of a town , La ncast er , and re ali zed th at I h adn' t b een paying attentio n to wh ere I was goi ng and I h ad mi ssed m y turn by about 10 miles. A t th is p oin t I also r ea lized someth ing else. I'd been riding hard in winter conditions fo r over nine ho urs but I wasn 't very tired and I was still enjoying it enough to miss m y t urn for home . I d ecid ed the Yamaha had to be a pretty damn good bike. Mu ch of the cr ed it for the lack of fatigue must go t o th e new vibration resistant h andlebar mount. On e very serious comp lain t : The headlight sw it ch and the dimmer switch are t o o close t o geth er and tw ice I t urn ed o u t my ligh ts when I t ried to switch to low beam. That 's n ot a p roblem when you're wearing thi n gloves, b ut with mittens or heavy gloves it's impossible to feel the knobs. T hat's so mething that can get somebody killed and it should be ch an ged . Even a good deten t o n the h ead ligh t switch wo uld help. My t rip ended with just a bit ove r 300 miles on th e odometer. We averaged 3 1.6 miles to the gallon. A bsol utely nothing had come lo ose or given the slightest in dicatio n that it m igh t fai l. It was hard t o b elieve it was th e same b ike I tes te d a ye ar ago. Somebo d y 's been workin g pretty h ard. With a ll th e super mult i-ey clinder bi kes ar o und, you might wonder wh y anyo ne w ould pre fer a twin of o lder des ign . One reason is, uf co urse, low er ini tial cost. But an eve n more importan t reason is maintenance.. T he Yamah a is designed to be very easily main tain ed. T he air cleaner elements pop o ut in seconds. The spark plugs and carburetor adj ustments are reachable. Anyone with just a smidgeon of mech anical aptitude co uld keep the Yamaha tuned and maintained for y ears a nd shun the o verload ed d ealers. On the more complicated three and four cylind er jobs, even a go od mech an ic is o u t o f luck if he doesn't h ave just th e righ t special t ools. And i f tra veling in remote pl aces b y y ours elf is your bag (as it is mine) , th en you'll ta ke mech an ical simplicit y o ver so p his ticatio n every time. T he Yamah a sti ll h as a few flaw s but for a good all-arou nd, long-lasting bike, yo u can' t go wrong b uy ing it. SPEC IF ICATIO NS Length 85.4 in. 55 .5 in . 45 .3 in. Wheelbase Height. Groun d clearance 5.9 in . Weight (w it h 1 gal. gas a nd oi t) 460 Ibs. Engine type: , . 4 stroke, overhead cam, air cooled, ver tical twin Bor e and stroke: 2 .95 in. x 2 .91 in. Compressio n ratio : 8 .7: 1 . Gas Ta nk capacity : Reserve Oil (sump I " ." : 3 .3 ga l. 5 gal. 3.2 qts. Tr ansmission (overall rat ios I t st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th J 5 .9 1 4 .24 3.47 2.93 2.56 Fron t suspension . . . . . T elescopic, oil damp ed Rear s uspensio nS pr ing & dam per combi nati on Front ti re Rear Tire . : 3 .25 x 19 .4 .00 x 18 Fron t bra ke Rear brak e Hydraulic d isc Dru m , inte rnal expanding Clutch A ir F il tration ..- S ure beats wait ing for a chair . List Pr ice • Multi- p la te . we t Two paper elements .$1399 .00 ...