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/141018
Our test riders and test bikes loo k tuff . MOTOCROSS CC bends o r breaks every time you dro p th e machine. The air box is mounted hig h under th e se at and a foam element type cleaner is used . Both the 250 and 360 ar e supp osed to co me with p ointless elec trics bu t th e 250's are n 't fitted with them as yet. The ta nk comes off very easy, lik e all the tanks in past models. Just lift th e seat and take ' er off, exposing t he co il, etc., for easy checking. Both co me fitted with 21-inch front and IS-inch rear wheels with fu ll knobbies . a no th er move to ward the Ultimate Racer. Now th at w e're d oing ch ec king them out, let's see wh at this seven- port two-stroke wonder ca n (o r can't) do : The tricky-sounding "To rq ue Induction" is strictl y Wilshire Blvd . advertising for "re ed valve ". Yam aha went one better on the reed valve b y des igning nylon reed. This saves you buy ing a new pisto n should the re ed go an d the nyl o n should b e less likely to break in th e firs t place. A lso the special p iston will be far less cos tl y than buying a stocker and havin g it machined. Of co u rse, th e ad agency people know thi s (hopefully) but they are trying to get this thing ac ro ss to the new motorcycle buyer. Taking to the Lions course we discovered neither bik e co mes off th e line well as th ey b oth were set up extra .rich , The factory has this id ea that we all ride flat out so rich is th e way to go. We all know this is only done whe n pretty female types are wat ching o r wh en writers get overimaginative in Cycle News . In checking with o ur local dealer, Long Beach Ya maha, we were told th at th e sh im in th e o il pump is too large and a sm aller one does wonders . So we just changed the p lug to a holler o n e an d made sure we kept it on the pip e. The bike work ed be tter, except o n t he starts. First a nd second gear we n t a bit flat on top end. But th ird an d up pulled strongly even at low revs. This type o f in fo just points to the fac t you sho uld know yo ur dealer an d go to one th at y o u know is going to set it up right an d stand behind wh at he sells. Yamaha has long had one of th e best dealer networks and service bulletins are co n t inu o usly going to dealers. These tw o are so close in size and we igh t th ey are hard to tell apart so while testi ng w e ya nk ed off th e 2 50 's number plate j us t to make it easy fo r o ur pho to id entification. Th e han d ling o n b oth is sp ot-on and m at ch es any on the ma rk et today. I sho uld men tion here that these are b o x stockers not proto ty pes as som e o the r have tested . 1 go t the word th at th e 36 0 was very pipey and th is proved true on th e b ike I ro de at On ta rio when Yamaha had th e p ress sho wing · long b efore th e producti o n models arrived. The 360 we had was pipier th an the 250 but still not at all un man ageable. The power band co mes on in all th e right places when you want it an d I found th at using more th ro ttl e c o n tro l works much to your ad vantage. This means to blip the throttle, no t just fly headlong in to the real cho ppy st uff an d through co m ers. Next time the Euro peans are here just pick a spot and listen for this . I did find that th e 3 60 will put forth more power to th e rear wheel than adhesion will allow ; thus, more concentration mu st be given to co ming out of comers on th e 360 than the 250. This is not saying the 250 won't also d o your number, though. When lofting ov er th e one awesome jump at Lions the suspension did take most of the beating but it still is hard co ming down and this is the only ti me I had any trouble with the gear box. T he 360 on oaccasion would pop out of gea r fro m the impact. All gears and neutral we re easy to find and shifti ng was positive even w hen this popp ing o u t occurred. Both bi kes ' h ad a tendency to inst ill ove r-co nfidence and wh ile the 250 nev er got me its big brother made up for it. Lions has a right hander at the en d o f the only straight with a jump type tum, then a q uick left. The idea is to drive off th e top, not jump. Remember that throttle control? I fo rgot. I crested an d sid eways it went. Now yo u know what happens when a sideways motorcycle touches a straight track. That 's right, it spits you over th e bars. Sure glad th e photog had headed home. In all, Yamaha h as co m e up with what mo to cro ssers need to really be co mpetitive and at a price that sure hel ps tile o ld racing budget. They are plenty fast box stock, hand le well, and sits you comfortably fro m the mo me n t you firs t th ro w a leg ove r. Photography: David Swift m ... . 2J, 0N .... m .: Q. « ~ w Z W ...J U >- U