Yamaha`s Strange Brit-bike fetish.

grandpaul said:
bill said:
The Evinrude and Mercury outboards are a VERY complex and EXPENSIVE engine to repair.
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Ever seen the repair bills for harley cam replacements, Hyabusa transmission replacement, etc?
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Agreed, any modern vehicle/engine is complex and expensive to service.
 
Whereas a Commando is as simple as a piece of cake [as long as you have the correct ingredients, mix them in the right order - with all the other requisite matters sorted , - possess the knowledge of the ancients, the patience of the damned, & are prepared to mortage your soul to the deity of fickle goddess Commmando, she who must be obeyed...]
 
J.A.W. said:
Bill, how EXPENSIVE is a 4T outboard to repair - when the CAMBELT lets go & the VALVES collect the PISTONS?
Would that be VERY?, Or VERY,VERY? L.O.L.
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When your boat engine breaks down at sea, cost of repair is not what you worry about.
 
My paternal family crossed the North Sea from Denmark to Blighty `bout a millenium ago, those early `eavy metal types didn`t let no engine get in their way..
 
In Sept `54 Cycle tested a BSA 650 Road Rocket, got 110mph top speed & a 14.5 1/4 mile, did a stocker Yam 650 ever better those figures by much?
 
If is did 109 or 111 mph and a 14.4 or 14.6 1/4 mile et, does that make it a better or a worse bike ?? They sold very strongly, which is about all that matters in the final crunch, and didn't have any serious engine disasters. And acquired leccy start and a disk brake fairly quickly in their model life..

Had a bit of a reputation for wallowing at speed but...
 
...not to mention the fact that Yamaha had a huge market worldwide, broad product line, and very deep pockets to allow various models to play out thier individual lives accordingly.
 
J.A.W. said:
In Sept `54 Cycle tested a BSA 650 Road Rocket, got 110mph top speed & a 14.5 1/4 mile, did a stocker Yam 650 ever better those figures by much?
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How many miles did the Road Rocket did before spitting her left crank bushing? Cam followers? clutch? etc.
Philippe
 
Not disputing BSA/Turner penny-pinching short comings, however, if the XS wasn`t able to better that `50s performance as the sports flagship for Yamaha, then no wonder they had to produce the RD 350..
 
My appologies , its the aircooled RD 250 that did a staggering 90 mph.

The like 350 manadged 105 whilst the speedometer manadged 115 .
 
Those Yams must be tough, when they survive treatment like this and still run...

Yamaha`s Strange Brit-bike fetish.
 
I've owned Yamaha dirt bikes, dual sports, sleds, ATV's and street bikes. My XS1100 took me around the US twice, got run as fast as I thought I could get away with, never had any issues. At all. Ever. The tuning fork logo means quality to me. The TX was a fizzle, granted. They had big problems, but solved them quickly, new engines were sent out for many, many didn't get installed because of a lack of dealer participation. The BIG reason though was that the paralell twin was a DEAD MAN WALKING... the multis were out and Yamaha's marketing group had chosen to try and steal Norton's lunch, when they should have gone head to head with the other three big Japs with MULTIS. Interest in twins was evaporating. By 1973, twins were no longer the TARGET they should have been aiming at if they wanted to sell a lot of bikes.
 
>>> Interest in twins was evaporating. By 1973, twins were no longer the TARGET they should have been aiming at if they wanted to sell a lot of bikes.

Yamaha must have had a few rethinks of this along the way then ?
The TDM and TRX 850/900 Yam twins and the recent launch of the 1200cc parallel twin XT series shows there is life in the old dogs yet. Lotta them getting around. That 1200cc thing is HUGE though, quite a different market to the low slim Commando (in comparison).

Meanwhile, Honda, BMW, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Aprilia, etc have released whole slews of new parallel twins in varying sizes. That balance shaft takes the vibes out - Nortons knew it with the Cosworth twin, but didn't get it to market (Never mind that some designer had some obsession with quill-shafts, as someone noted recently).

And did we mention Triumphs success with twins lately. The 800ish and newish 1600 Thunderbird seem to be getting quite numerous. Saw a gorgeous "marbled red" Thunderbird outside a Dealership the other day - custom paint on Triumphs, ex-factory...
 
Kawasaki have indeed maintained that Meguro fixation, showing Yamaha how to do a 70s 750 parallel twin (that still didnt go as quick as a Commando), & currently making (but not selling in USA) a tidy retro - brit-type-thynne..W800.
 
You'd have to think that with some yoshimura parts in it, that bevel-drive ohc 800cc thingy could be made to FLY - very mildly tuned, apparently.. Suspension is not exactly state of the art though, so maybe it is better its mild....
 
Rohan said:
>>> Interest in twins was evaporating. By 1973, twins were no longer the TARGET they should have been aiming at if they wanted to sell a lot of bikes.

Yamaha must have had a few rethinks of this along the way then ?
The TDM and TRX 850/900 Yam twins and the recent launch of the 1200cc parallel twin XT series shows there is life in the old dogs yet. Lotta them getting around. That 1200cc thing is HUGE though, quite a different market to the low slim Commando (in comparison).

Meanwhile, Honda, BMW, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Aprilia, etc have released whole slews of new parallel twins in varying sizes. That balance shaft takes the vibes out - Nortons knew it with the Cosworth twin, but didn't get it to market (Never mind that some designer had some obsession with quill-shafts, as someone noted recently).

And did we mention Triumphs success with twins lately. The 800ish and newish 1600 Thunderbird seem to be getting quite numerous. Saw a gorgeous "marbled red" Thunderbird outside a Dealership the other day - custom paint on Triumphs, ex-factory...
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He said 1973. Are you trying to somehow "prove him wrong" with examples from almost forty years later? Seventies customers for big bikes were generally "into" multis, the way I remember it.
 
Triton Thrasher said:
He said 1973. Are you trying to somehow "prove him wrong" with examples from almost forty years later? Seventies customers for big bikes were generally "into" multis, the way I remember it.
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We didn't realise this discussion was fixed at one point in time ?

Summing up all the twins that have been along in the course of history, you realise that twins aren't dead at all. And never have been.

And even in the 70s and later 70s, BMW, Guzzi, Harley, Laverda etc etc were still strong sellers of twins - along with the myriads of such bikes from Japon - after the mid 70s demise of the brit bike segment of suppliers. And now China is getting in on the twins market, if you watch your local bike sales figures.

Also watching the sales figures, v-twins are coming back in fashion. Only, again, if you look at all the makers, they have never really been out of the market - its just who was making them that has changed a bit. ?? Even the Japanese were selling them in the 1930s, (after Indian and HD had SOLD them the rights,)(out of financial desperation !) so not exactly newcomers to that market segment either.

Swings and roundabouts, swings and roundabouts.
 
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