Yamaha

YAMAHA

PREVIEW '85

If a five-valve-per-ylinder hot-rod doesn’t light your fire, try a 85-horsepower musclebike that Yamaha hopes will dip into the nines

You could sum up Yamaha’s newbike lineup in one word—fast. The 1985 line includes what promises to be: the world’s fastest 700-class cruiser; America’s fastest, best-handling 750-class sportbike; and the quickest bike sold anywhere.

That last machine—an outrageous, 1200cc monsterbike called the V-Max— isn’t much more than a hopped-up, 135horsepower version of the Venture VFour touring engine connected to a humongous, 150/90-15 rear tire. The rest of the semi-custom-styled bike is almost incidental, there just to provide some way of attaching the front wheel and to give the rider someplace to sit. Yamaha believes that this two-wheeled version of the classic American hot-rod will erase all doubts as to which motorcycle is the king of the quarter-mile.

Another entirely new model, the FZ750, should similarly demolish every sportbike in its class, around corners as well as in a straight line. It uses an allnew, liquid-cooled inline-Four engine that has five—count ’em, five—valves (three intakes and two exhausts) in each of its forward-canted cylinders. The claimed horsepower is in excess of 95, which ought to be sufficient to put the competition on the trailer. That same basic 20-valve, liquid-cooled top-end is also used on the Maxim X, a 700cc inlineFour cruiser claimed to pump out more than 85 horsepower. If that’s true, the Maxim X should outrun every other 700cc bike in existence.

Of course, the mainstays of Yamaha’s 1984 lineup are back for ’85. The FJ1100 and the FJ600 both have new paint and a couple of mechanical refinements, and the RZ350 will finally be available in California, thanks to a modification to its catalytic convertors. The 700 and 1000 Viragos both have a new paint scheme, and the 700 has been restyled to look identical to the 1000.

All in all, Yamaha will have 23 models for sale in 1985, which is far short of the number available in years past. But Yamaha, like all the Japanese manufacturers, is stressing quality over quantity these days. And in quality of performance, at least, 1985 promises to be a memorable year for Yamaha.