Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(Abo ve ) The t u rbo unit lives a t the e nd of the collectors a nd does boost pow e r a bit. (Above right) Exh a Dst gas s es exit the left pipe; the right 'is conne c te d to the turbo wast e gate. (Fa r right) Forks and bra kes work well. used when the engine is col d but can be shut off altogether after a mile or two of easy riding. T he en gine did seem to require a bit more cra nking time in order to fire off than a normally aspirated 650. Shiftingwas quite posi tive going up or do wn through the gears. Clu tch pull felt a li ttle heavier, no doubt due to the beefing up engineers gave it in order to withstand the increased power. The clutchengaged smoothly an d ma de it easy to p u ll away from a stop. The tu rbo unit's distin ctive wh ine or whistl e was always audible when cru ising around town; at hi gh way speeds, wind noise tended to ma sk it. T he noise is not an noying; cou p led with the muted hot rod sound ernan- : ating from the mufflers, you r ears are pr ivy to veritable con cert . Regular exhaust gasses were rou ted on ly out of the left m u ffler; th e right one remain ed silent and cool to th e touch . T he right-side pipe is connected to the turbo's waste gate. One thi ng that was a n n oyin g, though it wouldn 't hurt anything, was a loud buzz aro und th e tank whenever the engine was in th e 4000 4500 rpm ra nge. It was fin ally traced to the flip -u p cover that exposes the lo cking gas cap, particularly th e spring that keeps pressure on the door and makes it pop up when the release latch is pressed.,Apparen tly, no t all Turbos suffer from this, and a stron ger or longer spring sh o u ld remedy the complain t. The fairing does a good job of keep ing bugs and blasts of wind off the rider. En gine hea t can be felt on bo th legs due to the fairi ng, bu t it would only become uncomforta ble on the warmes t days. Our tallest tester (6'2") was bothered by the wind ru shing over the wind screen and directly into his face, but shorter riders didn't seem to notice it. In keeping wi th the sporty na ture of the beast, the Turbo 's riding position is slanted that way. Our racer types got along ni cely with the way the pegs - set rearward and a bit higher than " normal" - low bars and seat fit them. H owever, a co up le of riders didn 't get along with the bars, saying that th ey in du ced wrist cram ps. Those with long legs and/ or those who like to sit forw ard on the sea t (you'v~ got to want to do tha t because the seat slopes upward at the front sort of like a mo tocro sser' s safety seat) will find their knees banging th e fairing. Riding for an ho ur or two at a stre tch produced a li ttle saddle soreness . T he engine is, in a word, strong! T hat' s only when it gets on boos t, though. Below 6000 rpm, it doesn ' t feel like much more than an average 650 or a good 550. Between 6000 -7000 rp m, it starts to breathe, an d from 7000 it 's all go! Redline is at 9500 rpm, but our bike seemed a bit rel uctant to reach that willingly; after 85QO rpm, it seem ed to hesitate and break up a bit before climbing higher. It wa s probably nothing that new pl ugs or a tu ne-u p wou ldn' t cure. Speaking of hesitating, we still found the famed turboIag present, despite Yamaha's efforts to overco me it via th e tin y Mitsubishi turbo unit and its " un iq ue positioning. " The 650 runs like a brawny 1100 wh en the tu rbo is on boost, but snapping the th ro tt le on when at the bottom end of the turbo's apparently effective range produced no extra or immediate kickin-the-pants feel. This was mos t noticeable in spirited mountain road ru nning; getting on the gas com ing out of a corner got you no th ing but the feeling of bogging it, where a big bike would give more preci se response to a slight twist of the wris t. That was the only time we could fau lt the Turbo; it takes just a bit too long coming out of corners to get maximu m acceleration. In straig htline running, or when not going 100%, it performs great. Taking it up to nea rl y 6000 feet above sea level didn' t seem to have an nega tive effect on power output. Gas mileage on th e T urbo was surp risingly good. It ranged fro m a low of 38 mi les per gallon after a tank of hi gh speed and mountain running to a high of 50 afte r a tank of fast freeway flying. Keeping it at legal speeds should net an easy 50+ mpg. The T urbo Seca handles fairl y well. It possesses remarka bly good ground clearance; we never tou ched anything on the right side whi le street thrashing, and ground onl y the sidestand and peg on the left. Pitching the bike into a corner is accom plished without fear, though there is a feeling of bul k an d weight accompanying quick moves. We rode the bike with the ~uspen sion set as delivered and had no maj or complaints. One tester felt tha t both ends were too stiff and harsh for any thing ot her than p ush ing hard in the tw isties while racer types felt they were good and firm. Hard braking over rough pavement induced a little bobbing in front. but th e rea r remained "in good contact with the tarmac. . The brakes performed quite well, although the front brake lever seemed to require more pressure than necessary - in light of the twin discs -;- in order to decelerate rapidly under hard use. A long downhill run with lots of hairpin corners got the brakes hot, but they faded negligibly, th ough the rear drum required adjustmen t on the rod to take u p slack afterwards. The biggest kick when riding the bik e, aside from experiencing the healthy acceleration when the turbo kick s in, is seeing poeple who nearly suffer self-induced whiplash do ing double-takes when they see the Turbo Seca. We were forever bombarded with questio ns like, " H ow fas t is it?" or " How much did you pay for that?" In th at regard, it might just be the best boulevard cruiser-come-p lay racer yet. It delivers most of what is promi sed, and the majority of potentia l Turbo owners won 't mi ss the th in gs it doesn 't. just so they can have a pi ece of the mystique which accompanies the word. • Specifications Engine , Type Turbocharged. DOHC. air-cooled, parallel . ,four-cylinder four-stroke. Bore and stroke 63.0 x 52.4mm. Displacement 653cc. Compression ra t io 8 .2:.1 . Starting system ElectriC. Ignition system Battery ignition (full transistor ig niti o n). Battery capacity 12V 12A~ (10). Lub rication syst e m /engine oil capacity Pressure lubricated, wet sump/3.7 U.S. qt. Carburetion Four Mikuni BS30. Transmission Constant mesh, five-speed , drum shifter. Secondary reduction system/ratio Shaft drive/2.909:1. Clutch Wet, multi ple disc. Frame Ty pe Rake/ t ra il Fro nt s uspe ns io n / t ravel Rear s us pens io n / t ravel Front brake Rear brake Front t ire Rear t ire : Tubular steel double cradle. 2 7 °45' / 4. 5 3 in. Te lescopic fork, o il damper, air / and coil spring/5.6 in . Swingarm, oil damper, air and coil spring /3.8 in. Dual hyd ra ulic disc. Drum. Bridgestone, Dunlop 3 .25V19-4PR. Bridgestone, Dunlop 120/90V18. D imensions Overa ll length -; 85.4 !n. . Overall wi dt h 28.7 In. Overa ll hei ght , ; . 53.3 !n. Seat height 30.7 In.. Wheelbase 56.7 in . Minimum g ro und cle a ra nc e ~.. . . . .. . .. . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 5 .5 in . Claimed d ry weight ~ 507 I~s. Min im um turning ra d ius 1 02.4 10 . Fuel tank capacity . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 4. 10 U.S. gal. Reserve amou nt 0.581 U.S. gal. Color Crystal silver. Suggested retail price . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. $4999. . .. . ... .,.. 23

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