Distant Thunder
Distant Thunder
CW RIDING IMPRESSION
YAMAHA PLAYS ITS ACE
JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE TO VISIT YOUR local Yamaha store without being tempted by a new sportbike...
Unveiled recently to the European press, the YZF1000 Thunder Ace and the ram-air YZF600 Thunder Cat are on their way to the U.S. Expect them here sometime late
in `96 as 1997 models. No, Cycle World couldn't get a YZF 1000 for inclusion in this issue's Ultimate Sportbike Challenge, but European Editor Alan Cathcart flew to South Africa for the bike's world intro. Whatever else the YZF1000 Thunder Ace is, it's the product of deep and careful market research, which revealed that whatQpen-class_sportbike riders
want is, well, everything-practicality, comfort, styling and power. The Thunder Ace (thankfully, it'll go by just the YZF1000 moniker in the U.S.) is Yamaha's answer to those requirements.
And a very effective answer it is, too. You want horse power? You got it: Though Yamaha blandly claims not to have gone in pursuit of peak power, it lists a whopping 145 horsepower at 10,000 rpm for the T-Ace-this without the ram-air technology as adapted to the YZF's 600cc supersport sister. The 75.5 x 56.0mm, 1002cc engine uses the dis continued FZR1000's cylinder block and head, but with a lighter crankshaft and lightened forged pistons, both aimed at quicker throttle response. But the Thunder Ace engine still exhales through EXUP just as the FZR 1000 did, and it inhales through a quartet of 38mm CV carbs featuring a throttle-position sensor similar to that of the YZF75O. It delivers the same silky power that made the big FZR famous, and now it's got what feels like even more torque, pulling like a turbocharged tractor from as low as 2000 revs up to the 11,500-rpm redline. One complaint is that when you run the Ace's engine hard, some vibration seeps through the footrests from 10,000 rpm upwards. Balancing that, though, is a strong powerband kick at 8000 rpm. That’s when things start to happen very quickly indeed. A cool deal.
You want comfort? You got that, too. Though the wide, 5.3-gallon fuel tank dictates a knees-out stance that feels a little ungainly, you feel part of the Thunder Ace, sitting in it behind a nicely reshaped fairing, rather than perched on top. In part that is because the bike’s seat height is quite low-31.1 inches vs. the 600’s 31.9 inches, and it feels even lower than that. Though the T-Ace weighs in at a relatively light claimed 436 pounds dry, you have to work at flicking it through a series of twists and turns. The overall sense is one of stability rather than nimbleness, without any of the weirdly entertaining twitchiness supplied by bikes with more aggressive geometry.
As Yamaha is eager to underline, the Thunder Ace’s chassis is closely derived from that of its YZF750R cousin. The differences, thanks to a different fork and a longer, stronger swingarm, are that the liter-bike rides on a wheelbase that’s .4-inch longer. The Thunder Ace’s wheelbase, at 56.3 inches, is about 1.5 inches shorter than that of the old FZR1000, though. Its steering-head angle is 24 degrees vs. the FZR’s 26.4 degrees, and its trail is 3.8 inches vs. the FZR’s 4.25 inches. So this new bike is, at least on paper, much sharperedged than the bike it replaces.
But that’s where things start to get blurred. The Thunder Ace wears not a fashionable upside-down fork, but rather a fully adjustable 48mm conventional unit. And this is sprung pretty softly, so all-out comer-blasting isn’t really the Ace’s strong suit. You’ll deck the “hero tabs” on either footrest without too much effort, and even the exhaust canister if you try hard over bumps at racetrack speeds, unless you get the suspension dialed-in just right. And under the fantastic braking provided by the four-piston billet calipers and 11.7inch discs, the front end does dive quite a bit.
The trade-off is that ride quality is excellent-no doubt a
factor for the multi-use market the Thunder Ace is targeting. If there’s a fly in the ointment, it’s that the shock, by Bilstein of all people, has too much spring preload and rebound damping in its standard settings, even for heavier riders. Fortunately, the shock is fully adjustable, so a bit of twiddling can solve those problems.
With everything set properly, the Thunder Ace is ultra-stable around fast, sweeping turns, yet relatively easy to change direction on when you’re pillaging twisty country roads. This, after all, is intended as a widely focused, general-use sportbike-not a streetsquirrel canyon racer like Honda’s excellent CBR900RR, Ducati’s sweet ’16 or Suzuki’s impressive GSX-R750.
Would the Ace have challenged those bikes for outright honors in CIV'S shootout, then? In a word, no. But the YZF’s combination of fullliter horsepower, capable handling, wide-range comfort and swoopy good looks will undoubtedly win friends when it finally hits U.S. showrooms later this year.
