Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

?OO5 MotoGP Racers help the four-pad four-piston Brembo radial calipers and big 320mm carbon discs slow the Yamaha down. Not only did the M I fe€l so stable in doing to, it also let me recover from 8efting over- ambitious with my turn speed, when one lap I needed to take an extra handful of front brake while cranked over in the middle of the turn, which the Yamaha let me do without str-aying an inch off line, or pushing the front as it sat up and under- steered (like another bike might do). Supremely controllable - that's what this bike is. The legendary direct connec- tion between your right wrist and the back tire is there to Perfection. You know exactly how much Power you're asking the rear Michelin to transmit to the tar- mac as you work the throttle. And even if you get over excited and take too big a handful of 8as exiting a turn, the YZR-M I won't wheelie abruptly on you, like the Suzuki repeatedly did under hard acceler- ation. The Yamaha iust lofu the front wheel lazily and controllably, six inches above the tarmac as you powershift through the 8ears. without sacrificing acceleration or ultimate velociry Nor will it spin up the back wheel beyond a cenain limited extent. (Above) the in-line iour-ty'inder MI revs lo l6,0()0 rpm. (BoEom leh) Brcmbo corbon brqke:. lBofiom .ighr) Singlo cxhoust silencer' This b.oad spread of power, coupled with the fast-rewing nature of a motor that seems to have minimal inertia, makes hitting the rev-limiter in intermediate gears quite unnecessary. You can even short shift from third to fourth around the long left, up and over the hill, leadinS down to the final turn at Valencia. The Yamaha just motors like a missile homing in on rhe finish straight, while staying glued on the line you've chosen for it - unlike the Ducati Desmosedici, which pushed the front wheel bi8 time except at peak revs. The Yamaha is truly impressive in the way it accelerates, yet not in a violent or vicious way. lt's just so all-around effec- tive. lndeed, everlthing about the Yamaha seems delicate and refined. Think Olympic pentathlete rather than 100- meter sprinter. vvhen braking hard for Valencia's third- gear turn one from a Senuine sixth gear down the short pit strai8ht, you can feel there's iust enough engine braking deliv- ered by the combination of the mechani- cal slipper clutch and ICS variable idle sys- tem as you back down through the gears in quick succession while still using the clutch, as required by the Marelli ECU, to lnstead, even at rny slower lap speeds, I could still feel the rear dual-compound Michelin start to walk when leaned hard over into the bottom-gear left-hander leading on the front straigtt - once I final- ly got brave enough to pin the throttle before I was totally straightened up and flying straight. ln doing so, you don't feel any dramat- ic stufter-8un compression cutout lts you would on some superbikes, or even any direct feeling of the iSnition being retard- ed abruptly to prevent wheelspin - iust a so-efiective Eradual diminishing of the Yamaha's torque output, as the ECU tells the two bufterfly throttlqs to ease offa lit- tle to compensate for any over-eagerness with the throttle. Then, once it decides the time is right, the blue-and-yellow Gauloise-livery missile ro

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