Yamaha motorcycle reviews


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Yamaha XVR 1800cc Sept '08 (58)
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YAMAHA XV1900 MIDNIGHT STAR REWIEW
HEAVY METAL THUNDER

* What’s It all About?
You know what you’re going to get with a bike like the Yamaha Midnight Star. It’s a big, laid back cruiser that relies upon technology that hasn’t changed much since John Wayne was extolling the benefits of calcium in your diet, right? Wrong.

Underneath the styling that Yamaha dubs “retro futuristic timeless” there’s some pretty advanced stuff. For the technically-minded amongst you, there’s a four-valve, twin-plug head, EXUP exhaust valves, an aluminium cradle frame, and hefty four-pot callipers on the brakes. This is no replica of a museum piece. Think of it as something that Neo from the Matrix would ride and you’re probably nearer the target market.

* What Does It Cost?
Obviously it’ll depend on your standpoint whether you feel the £9,999 that Yamaha asks for this bike represents good value. It is buying you one of the largest bike engines in series production, a whole lot of chrome and some serious presence but does the Midnight Star represent anything other than an expensive shiny bauble? You’d be surprised. The Yamaha is a whole lot more useable than you’d expect given its styling and the modern engineering under the heavily-stylised detailing lends it a good deal of relevance. The insurance quote of NU14 reflects the fact that these bikes don’t tend to be bought by lunatics looking to stuff them into a ditch at the first opportunity.

* How Does It Handle?
With wheels in different post codes and an all-up weight of 320kg, how do you think the Yamaha Midnight Star is going to handle? Leisurely is perhaps the best description of its cornering ability although that 100bhp engine (about twice as powerful as its closest Harley Softail rival) gives the XV1900 plenty of point and squirt ability on the straights, that long wheelbase keeping the front wheel nicely in check.

The brakes are good, although the suspension can be flummoxed by poor road surfaces. The 1,854cc lump has gobs of torque and is smooth to boot, offering velvety acceleration seemingly regardless of what gear you have selected. Wind protection is, as you’d expect. Pretty poor and taller riders will start to really feel it above 80mph. Somewhat more surprising is the fuel economy of this motor. Even when ridden enthusiastically, this bike can return around 45mpg. The best part about the Yamaha Midnight Star is just to relax, take it easy and soak up the view, the tank-mounted speedo looking quite magnificent when gently illuminated at night.

* Verdict
Although there remains something faintly ridiculous about the cruiser genre as a whole, as long as you don’t take biking too seriously, there’s a lot to like about the Yamaha XV1900 Midnight Star. Your £10k is buying a whole lot of presence, a heap of design detailing and no small amount of fun. If you’ve long retired the knee sliders this could be the sort of thing that gets you excited about riding again.
Submitted by
UKBikerBoy on 08/06/2009
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Yamaha JOG 50cc Apr '09 (09)
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ive had my jog rr for two days now and oh my god it is sooo good. i adore it. i get 36mph on straight and that is still restricted. As soon as you reach a slight decline it shoots up to 40-45mph. ive had it up to 49mph. i have NO sports exhaust all just standard. i say you reach 35 in about 5 seconds. This is how quick it is. You have no trouble keeping up with traffic at all. The handling and brakes are immense. i love it. i am recommending it for any 16 year old looking for a first bike. :) also it only takes a fiver to fill up, its a quality bike.
Submitted by
cole on 08/06/2009
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Yamaha YZF-R1 1000cc Sept '08 (58)
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NEW MOTORBIKE REVIEW
YAMAHA YZF-R1 - RAZORLIGHT

* What’s It all About?
Yamaha’s 2009 YZF-R1 comes equipped for but one task – wresting the litre superbike crown from the Suzuki GSXR-1000. This elite sector of the superbike market runs in definite phases. The Honda Fireblade ruled the roost for some years, followed by the Yamaha R1, which was in turn deposed by the Kawasaki ZX10R before the Suzuki took its position at the top of the podium. Yamaha now reckons it’s time to depose the ‘Gixxer’.

Its secret weapon is GENICH which, if you can believe it, represents the ‘Genesis in Electronic engineering aimed at New, Innovative Control technology based on Human sensibilities’. Only in Japan. What this means in normal language is that Yamaha has recognised that there’s a limit to the inputs a human rider can process and that some bike technologies were exceeding those limits. The new-generation Yamaha R1 runs with an all-new Deltabox chassis offering an idealized rigidity balance.

* What Does It Cost?
You’ll need around £9,000 if you’re to swing your leg over one of these, although it’s not hard to see where your money has gone. The detailing is a lot smarter than the outgoing R1 with the muscular bodywork aping the sharply creased edges of the Yamaha YZF-R6. Six-pot callipers grab the front discs, revised headlights give a longer dipped beam light throw and the finish on the instrument binnacle is clearly tidier. Weight has crept up by 3kg and there are three colour choices, the classic Yamaha red and white combo plus blue and black.

* How Does It Handle?
Intelligently in a word. With every generation of sports bike we tend to hear how frames have got stiffer, brakes bigger and so on. Yamaha has removed itself from this brain-out feeding frenzy and looked at what we want from a race replica bike. The Japanese company discovered that we want to go fast, naturally, but at the same time we don’t want to feel scared, overwhelmed or just plain out of the feedback loop.

Therefore this generation R1 notches back the stiffness of the frame spars a little to offer more feedback. The swing arm, head stock castings and engine mounts are beefed up but Yamaha claims the end result is a more intuitive feel for what the tyre contact patch is up to.

The all-new 998cc inline four-cylinder engine with a crossplane crankshaft feels and sounds smoother than ever, and emits an unforgettable growl from the exhaust. This MotoGP-inspired engine is without a doubt the most technologically advanced powerplant ever seen on a Yamaha supersport bike. A slipper clutch is also fitted to permit silkier downchanges.

* Verdict
Forget about the on-paper figures, the 2009 Yamaha YZF-R1 has been designed not to grab cheap column inches but instead to make big power accessible more of the time. So many supersports bike makers seem to have forgotten about the typical skill levels of the target buyer. The R1 hasn’t gone soft. It just got smarter.
Submitted by
UKBikerBoy on 05/06/2009
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Yamaha YZF-R6 600cc Sept '05 (55)
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NEW MOTORBIKE REVIEW - YAMAHA YZF-R6R

FLY BY WIRE

* What’s It All About?
The Yamaha YZF-R6RR is all about one thing – scalpel sharp handling. No, make that two things because it’s impossible to ignore the searing acceleration from the 110bhp engine that revs to a heady 17,500rpm. Then there’s the fly-by-wire throttle system, the first on any sports bike. In fact, the 2006 R6R is about a whole bunch of innovations aimed at once again establishing the bike’s position as the 600cc supersports bike to have.

Let’s take a look at that throttle system first. Perhaps fly by wire is a bit of a misnomer because there is a conventional throttle cable running from the twist grip. This is there to retain a conventional feel. It doesn’t actually connect to a throttle butterfly. Instead, it turns a spool on a black box, whose electronics tell the engine’s computer how much fuel to squirt in. The ‘brain’ takes air temperature, intake pressure, crank position and engine revs amongst others into consideration before deciding how much fuel to inject. It does this 1,000 times a second. It’s smarter than you

* What Does It Cost?
Expect to hand over around £7,500 for the privilege of getting your name on the registration document of the 2006 Yamaha YZF-R6R. No, it’s not cheap and it’s an act of faith by Yamaha to price it above the current class leaders, the Honda CBR6R00RR and the Kawasaki ZX-6R, but once you clap eyes on that shape, the astonishing level of detailing, the silky paint finish and the beautifully finished exhaust, you’ll think it’s worth it. Notable omission? There’s no steering damper. The pillion pegs are knocking about in the bottom of the bike’s passenger crate, in case you’re interested.

* How Does It Handle?
The Yamaha YZF-R6R handles pretty much how you’d expect a bike to handle that tips the scales at a mere 161kg and which has inherited a whole load of MotoGP genetics. The 1,380mm wheelbase ensures rapid turn in and the steering geometry closely mimic’s that of its bigger brother, the R1. That’ll mean you’ll need to be on your mettle on badly surfaced roads, but it endows the R6R with a level of front end bite on decent macadam that‘s way beyond the ken of the old model. Yamaha claim 52.5 per cent of the bike’s weight sits on the front wheel, which is a mere gnat’s away form Valentino Rossi’s ride.

The new 41mm upside down front forks are rock solid and the 310mm front brakes are well up to the job of repeated high-speed decelerations. The mirrors, number plate and pillion hangers are all designed to be easily demountable for trackday use.

* Verdict
Mission accomplished. The Yamaha YZF-R6R rewrites the supersports 600 rulebook once again. If you live for the weekends when you can get some seat time at a track, this is the bike for you. It doesn’t pretend to be versatile. Twenty minutes of city riding will make your wrists scream for mercy but get it on home turf and it feels unbeatable.
Submitted by
UKBikerBoy on 05/06/2009
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Yamaha FZ 600cc Sept '08 (58)
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YAMAHA FZ6 FAZER
When you’ve just passed your full bike test and taking your first steps into motorcycling, what would be better that to buy a machine that combines the attributes of a sports bike, the usability of a commuter bike and the comfort of a long distance tourer? But, where would you start looking for a motorcycle that has all these talents, in other words, where you find a motorcycle to suit everyone?

Yamaha have recently introduced a new model to their line-up. The new Fazer 600, whose lineage goes back to 1997 when the Fazer model was first introduced, is the first major model change in six years but it still maintains the same basic values that made its predecessor so successful in Europe. However, there can be no doubt that the FZ6 is an all-new model from the ground up.

Yamaha’s new FZ6 Fazer is a cracking all-rounder being easy and forgiving on the less-experienced rider but providing enough pace and thrills for the keen sports-orientated biker. The new Fazer 600, does it all, whether you’re hacking through the city streets, riding down the back lanes or cruising along the motorways. But how does in manage to be a bike for all people?

Yamaha have packed the Fazer with the latest in supersport technology. It’s the result of a great deal of development work carried out by some of the most talented engineers in the industry. Product planners gave them carte blanche freeing them up from any restrictions. The project team led by Yutaka Kubo, took their new prodigy out onto the roads of Italy, Germany and France to hone its ride and handling to perfection. Many thousands of valuable miles were covered across Europe so that they could reach their goal of producing a motorcycle that would combine ‘supersport’ performance and excitement with the relaxed riding style along with the character of a street sport bike. They believed that the next-generation Yamaha Fazer should be bike that’s not only fast when its engine is revved but also quick when riding through bends, without having too much traction on the rear wheel. To enable the Fazer to do all One priority was to redefine ‘High Performance’ in a completely-new context and focusing on a rider friendly high technology solution seemed to be the right approach to take, rather then the ‘more technology is better’ approach often used by some manufacturers.

The Yamaha F6 Fazer is propelled by a liquid cooled 600cc four-stroke, in-line four-cylinder, DOHC 16-valve engine which offers smooth and progressive power delivery. With 72kW (98hp) at 12,000rpm available there’s plenty of power on tap with maximum torque of 63.1Nm arriving at 10,000rpm. A liner-less direct plated cylinder eliminates different heat expansion rates of the cylinder block and improves heat dissipation which achieves an optimum rigidity and great accuracy in cylinder shape. If you combine this with the improved piston ring design and you gain reduced piston motion resistance and lower oil consumption.

Yamaha’s fuel injection system offers an exceptional response to throttle changes and improved fuel economy. The air-cleaner duct has been designed to include the latest acoustics analysis technology so that it gives a pleasing intake sound. The throttle pulley functions progressively with regard to the degree of accelerator opening to give superb control, from idling into low speeds contributing to the excellent mid-speed range acceleration.

Yamaha’s Air Induction System re-burns un-combusted fuel as a first step in the exhaust to clean emissions. The exhaust gas then undergoes further cleaning of toxic elements through a catalytic converter positioned near the end of the exhaust pipe. This means that the new Fazer manages to clear EU-2 emission standards by some considerable margin. In addition to its efficiency in cleaning emissions this up-swept exhaust system produces a great sound.

Yamaha have produced the Fazer’s frame using their exclusive ‘CF Die Cast Technology’. It’s the first time that the company has used this system to build a die-cast aluminium frame for a production machine of this class. It enables Yamaha to give the Fazer’s frame an ideal combination of light weight and strong rigidity. Weight distribution sees the front wheel sharing 51% of the bike’s weight.

The 43mm telescopic front fork is the same size as on the larger capacity Fazer 1000 resulting in first-class shock-absorption qualities and good front wheel road-contact feeling. The Monocross rear suspension includes an optimised damper valve and oil passages design which has given it a function that’s equivalent to link-equipped suspension.

To allow for light and nimble handling Yamaha have altered the Fazer’s centre of gravity and new geometry has enabled them to move the riding position. Compared to the previous model, the hip point has been moved forward by 8mm. By improving fuel tank and cowling design Yamaha have been able to give the new FZ6 Fazer greater manoeuvrability in tight traffic and urban riding as there is now an impressive 35-degree handlebar turning angle.

The six-speed transmission is a pleasure to use offering fast precise gear-changes. Braking is provided by 298mm double-discs at the front and a single 245mm disc at the rear. The braking system provides excellent feel and more than enough stopping power for a machine with this amount of performance. Front and rear tyre sizes are 120/70 ZR17 and 180/55 ZR17 respectively.

The Fazer’s twin headlights, which follow the family image of the R-Series, provide an excellent spread of light and are powerful enough for fast riding at night.

The windscreen is designed to provide the rider with good wind protection and to produce the minimum amount of turbulence and wind noise. The screen surrounds the body cowl and on its centre portion, the cowl has two U-shaped visors that are positioned to create an escape for the air flow which minimises the swirl back against the rider. The overlapping effect of the visor and cowl parts gives an appealing, smooth and streamlined appearance. Yamaha’s new colour application techniques maximise the shine effect of the metallic flake on parts, including the front fender and the upper portion of the cowling along with the seat cowl. This new technique actually produces a beautiful near-mirror-like shine and a sense of depth to the paintwork.

The dash is equipped with a liquid crystal meter panel and an integrated tachometer and speedometer positioned right in the centre of the dashboard. The whole design is simple and easy to read at speed.

At £5,299 including on the road charges, the all-new FZ6 Fazer is set to become a best-seller for Yamaha. It really does offer something for all riders. Yamaha also make a ‘naked’ version without the faring priced at £4,699.
Submitted by
UKBikerBoy on 03/06/2009
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Yamaha SRX 600cc 85/86 (C)
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name is dave from dublin i have a 1987 srx 400 and a 600 1990 and the kickstarts a missing a cant get one any where if any body knows where i can get one or 2 could they plesee phone me on 00353866060094 if calling outside ireland or 0866060094 in ireland thanks
Submitted by
sta on 19/05/2009
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Yamaha TW 125cc Apr '03 (03)
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Review
I owned the yamaha Tw now for around 2 months and I have to say its a great little bike. I get at least 100 miles to a tank making it dirt cheap to run. People complain about its speeds of around 50mph-70mph but its fast enough for a 125 and fast enough to kill yourself.

What a good bike i recomend to anyone who wants to learn to ride a geared bike or somone who is moving up.
Submitted by
Venns on 24/04/2009
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Yamaha YZF 1000cc 98 (S)
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Had my ace for a year now,Used daily even throughout the winter, never let me down, even after putting it down the road, got back on fired it up and away we went. very comfortable to ride for hours even two up fully loaded with luggage,and 2 large blokes on , Handles great ,plenty of power, A magnificent sports tourer.
Submitted by
billabong1 in Morecambe, Lancashire on 17/04/2009
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Yamaha SR 125cc 95/96 (N)
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Hopefully this will be a fairly comprehensive review of my '96 model SR 125. Please bear in mind this is from the perspective a newbie rider!

Once I had passed my CBT I was looking for an inexpensive 125cc bike run me to work and back 5 days a week come rain or shine. I had a budget of around £700 and was shocked to see the prices of some 125s meeting or exceeding those of 600cc engines.

I found this bike on ebay for just under £600. Before buying the bike I hunted the internet for reviews and found that it sounded fairly reliable, easy to maintain and cheap to run. £600 seems fairly reasonable to me for a reliable, if a bit ugly (but in my opinion,beauty is only paint/fairing deep) bike.

When my SR arrived it was exactly as described, a bit scuffed, side panels slightly cracked, some rusting on the chrome. But it started first time. Much to my joy it sounded beefier than the CG125 I had previously ridden and from then on called it “Big Bertha” or “Bertha” for short.

So now I had a named bike which started first time. It was high time for a test ride! (now you have to understand, I passed my CBT on a scooter, and my understanding of gears was limited to an hour’s training the week before) I took Bertha out and about my area, stalling her about 3 times per minute, changing up gears without dropping the revs, changing down the gears while doing 30 etc. The worst that happened was a clunk and she then went again! Needless to say she took a battering on the gearbox for the first few outings but as I got used to it the ride became very smooth and comfortable. I can probably class Bertha as the forgiving type of learner bike.

The gearbox on this bike is fairly good, only dropped into neutral instead of 2nd gear once. I seem to spend most of my time in 3rd gear as this seems the most responsive for acceleration and maintaining speed on a hill. Coming down from 2nd to 1st usually results is a fairly loud clonk.

The seat on this bike is well cushioned, the posture very upright and the handlebars seem to be about right for someone of my height (5ft 10). The seat height is quite low as well, so there are no issues with touching the floor.

Cornering at speed is not really advised with this bike, as it always seems to go a bit wider than you’re expecting (maybe that’s my lack of experience showing). Also the suspension seems a bit on the soft side, when braking hard it can feel a bit like a trampoline on the front end.

The SR is not the fastest bike, not by a long stretch! But she can slowly get up to 50 – 60, as i found on the first attempt at getting to work. For those of you who know Leeds, there is a Inner Ring Road, which is classed as a motorway, even though it’s an A road. My route to work runs parallel to this. When you get nearer to the city centre you have a choice of either bearing left to go to town, or right to get on this ring road. Well, I’m getting to the point where I need to be heading leftwards, but a taxi driver decides that he wants to be going from slightly behind me on my left hand side (in my blind spot) to in front of me on the right. So in order for me not to become a pate on the rear end of his car I also travelled to the right, onto the motorway, on L Plates, on a 125 cc bike. I was absolutely pooping myself at this point. Well anyway the bike managed to keep up with the traffic (55mph), took a few seconds to start picking up speed but once she was there she was happy to stay. So, the SR is not the fast “Oh Cr*p my head was just ripped from my neck” you get from some bikes, but shes steady!

Looks wise, she is not much. It’s a very dated styling which was probably outdated in the 1990’s when my bike was make. Its got the cruiser/chopper esque look, but not quite.

But all in all, I am enjoying riding my SR 125. It gets me to work and back every day without incident (well nearly, I had a regulator problem, but that’s sorted now) and costs me around 8 quid every week and a half. The SR is very newbie friendly and can put up with alot of abuse.

Do not buy if you are after a thrilling ride, because frankly, you wont get it.

Viva La Grand Bertha



Submitted by
Trick3003 in Leeds, West Yorkshire on 09/04/2009
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Yamaha FZS 150cc Apr '08 (08)
Overall Rating:
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FZ-S scores high in looks not only in its segment but beyond and is designed to satiate the need for style and fashion by riders. Etched with style and geared to today’s fashion conscious customers, FZ-S is a fusion of machismo and fashion.

FZ-S overflows with dynamism and originality. The running performance brims with thrust that overpowers all others with its unprecedented torque. Dubbed as “Lord of the Streets,” FZ-S is designed and engineered with the potential for active and even aggressive enjoyment of around-town street riding and styling that brings pride of ownership and makes any rider look like they own the road.

With the Triple Macho concept projecting the Muscular silhouette, muscular body parts and muscular chassis, FZ -S is an object de’art on the street and reflects visual expression of performance.
for more information visit..http://www.yamaha-motor-india.com/product/fzs/index.html
Submitted by
aryan on 03/04/2009
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