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/141064
.... . . ...... . . ....... ... " ., '" "- FAST RELIEF FOR TN WOBBLES. ... .M ~ N " c: ~ -, en ;: ,/ w Z w ..J o > o , p. " .... ... 0" .' .. A la Carte or f ull d inner sir ? Sour cream -n chives? e; Drooping in pro test to the w orld , turn indi cator flasheson . co me across. Both ends wo rk very well and undou btedly contribute to the fin e ste er in g ch arac teristics of th e 450. Bumps th at m ak e other street bik es go " ugh " are absorbed smoo thly by th e 45 0. The suspension w orks in bumpy co mers too and co n tribu res to a bike which we just co uld n ' t p rovo ke a wo b b le fro m on th e wo rs t o f surfaces. Suspension co mb in atio ns th at p rovid e b o th comfort and stability are n ot too fre que nt. As mi ght b e. expected, the 45 0 is - p retty top h eavy, bu t it ' is n ot pondero us in h an dlin g as w as expected . It seem s 10 h ave achieved a near pe rfe ct balan ce about. b eing lean ed p ver. It does not h ave to be forced d own and doesn ' t try to s tra igh ten up under accele ra tion, bu t jus t ease s d own and bac k up exactly in th e m anner d esired. The stability is handy, one w ag n oted, 'cau se then you can h oo k y o ur toe in the se at stra p an d hik e o u t to th e side to gain gro un d clearance. T hen , if it is night tim e, you can glance d own and watch the sp ar ks fly off th e s tan d. T he brak es o n th e CL 45 0 bro ugh t the forearms of testers out in fu ll display. Comp ared to a di sc b ra ke th e dual leading shoe of th e CL 4 50 h as to be leaned upon. It will work, b ut it is n o two fing er brake. Our bike's front brake also suffer ed from b ein g o ut of ro un d , which would cause a few n ifty shudders bel ow 25 MPH . The brake is good for on e st rong stop fr om high speed and fr om then on fade gulp s away more and m ore braking. The backing p late would wo rk fine for fryin g eggs, though . The re ar is jus t fine and combined with th e braking power of th e two. cylinder motor does a much higher percen tage o f th e work th an _o n m ost bikes: ' Someone tried to make th e CL 4 50 just like o th er Hondas in it s dials, gauges , and blinking lights d ep artment. The 4 50 would have noth in g of it. In imme diate protest, on e o f it s tu rn i ndica tors stripped its sp line and flopped on its b ar. It ,:"ould n ot tigh te n up, so it jus t w aved there in th e breeze for a few thousand mil es. Honda go t th e b etter o f it th ough ; the bulb co n tin ue d to wo rk fo r th e wh ole time. T he instruments are ac curate . Neat. Unlike i ts rel atives with "b uttery One right large engine, but ki nda' purty at that . smooth shi fti ng " o ur 45 0 had its idiosyncr acies. It had th e most p ositive fee ling false shift ever en countered. But, it wo uld only d o it every co up le of days. At the same ti me, it h ad a real n eutral. Again in d ep ar ture , o ur CL had a be ar of a clutch pull , probabl y to balance o u t th e brak e pull on the o ther en d of th e bar. . Mean while, th e CL used a quart of oil every 5 00 mil es. It d id not bum it as n eve r a trace of smoke was see n. A li tt le bit of it le ak ed o ut , but only a li ttl e . So me of it w ent o u t th e bre ather. But, the other 9 5 pe rcent h ave mad e m ockery of j he co nse rvatio n of en ergy and m att er . Af ter abou t 1,000 miles th e 45 0 so unde d a Ii t tle ra gged, so we p er formed a tune-up . T he timing was spo t on , th e plugs looked perfect, th e ex haust valves we re almo st a quart er o f a ten -th ousand th tight , th e carbs were st ill synch ed , th e cam chain didn't n eed adjustment, an d the oil was cle an and h earty looking. Oh well, naturally, it ran , j us t the same . Except, the next d ay it go t be tter again. A II t h e Ii ttl e annoyances and nuisan ces asid e , th e 45 0 was really nice to rid e . On to p of the good handling , the motor worked nic ely for squirt and go ty pe maneuv ers. Many years of production have ca use d t he thro ttle resp on se to be worked out incredibly acc u rately . T he 450 goes immediately. The di aphram o per ated, constant velocity carbs deliver great mileage , too. At 50 MPH you reall y fell like yo u' re getting something for your money. . . So, now we're beginning to see why there are so many CL 45 0 's aro und. Who cares about a few vib ra tio ns wh en cru isin g Van Nu ys Blvd ? It ' s m ore manly anyway. Not too much hot co rne ring d own th at w ay either. On top of that, it 's a : Honda, and that coun ts fo r somethin g. Once y ou ' ge t used to it , it even sounds kind of neat. But b est of all , it's ab out as many p ounds pe r dollar as you can buy . T he most interesting thin g abou t th e CL 4 50 is th a t we c o uld like it. What would be a lot of fun woul d b e a CL 45 0 with a dis c up fro n t, th e cen ter sta n d thrown as fa r in to t he tooli es as o ne's stren gth would allo w , and may b e a 'few m o re ce 's. Sort o f a stree t rider's IT bik e. No matter what kind of carr ier you use for your bike or bikes, the all new Yamaha Tie Down Straps will do three things for you: 1. Loading will be faster and a lot easier. Hook one end of the tiedown to the bike, the other to the carr ier and pull. That 's it! 2. Unloading. Just snap the self-locking quick reo lease up and unhook your machine. 3 . Most important of all, when you look in the rear view while towing-voila! No more wobbles. Your equipment is snug and secure, cinched down with Yamaha's 100% nylon t ie downs. Not to mention the fact that your rig will look super sano. . Also available now, Yamaha's unique heavy chrome retractable tie -down hooks. When not in use, these hooks will automatically retract flush with the surfa ce of your car rier. Available now, from your nearest Yamaha dealer. . Y AMAIIA PARTS DISTRIBUTORS, INC. a subsidiary of Yomaha International Corporotion. 6610 Orangethorpe Avenue. Buena Park, California 90620