Still A Homerun In Our Book

Yamaha YXZ1000R continues to impress

PUBLISHED ONLINE: MAR 04, 2016 POWERSPORT NEWS

We know, from our ride at the Glamis Dunes last October, how the Yamaha YXZ1000R does the dunes.

We had yet, however, to see how the YXZ1000R performed in a little harsher environment—the desert. That chance came this week at the Superstition Mountain OHV riding area in southern California.

And, if possible, we may be even more impressed with the newest Yamaha side-by-side than we were after our ride at Glamis. We got to see how the YXZ1000R handled rocky terrain, serious whoops, chop/stutter bumps and high speed desert running.

We spent our 80-mile day in the 2016 YXZ1000R Racing Blue/White w/Suntop version ($19,999 MSRP), although there were Blaze Orange/Black w/Suntop ($19,799 MSRP) in our group.

Just about everyone in the off-road biz knows about the YXZ1000R, with its new 998cc inline triple engine mated to an industry-first 5-speed sequential shift gearbox with On-Command 4WD and impressive Fox Podium RC2 Shocks suspension front and rear.

Riding the desert, with some dunes mixed in, gave us a chance to experience how much of the engine’s power is getting to the ground (a lot) compared to power-robbing sand. The day’s ride also helped us experience the front and rear suspension in lots of situations, such as whoops, rocks and high-speed running over choppy trails and one or two or three drop-offs that should have been spine tinglers but weren’t. One word describes that experience: incredible.

Yamaha's 2017 FZ-10 Media Buzz

• Long story short, this bike is awesome fun to ride. It’s comfortable, agile, stable, and the engine absolutely cracks to life in the midrange.”

• “Beyond the power, the FZ-10’s engine is just so buttery smooth. It purrs along in the lower third of the revs, snarls in the middle, howls up top, and does all of it on command.”

• “Yamaha has demonstrated with its FZ series of bikes that it knows how to make a motorcycle thrilling to ride, and the top-of-the-line FZ-10 is no different.”

Motorcyclist

• “The revised engine is an absolute ripper, its bump in mid-range torque instantly noticeable in this real-world riding environment.”

• “The exhaust note that Crossplane crank belts out is wonderfully intoxicating, and for those moments when it was bouncing off the hills and through the trees of the North Carolina landscape, it was like being in my own little slice of heaven.”

• “It’s comfortable for the everyday roles of a streetbike, has all the performance you want on the street, and to me, has the looks to back it up.”

-Motorcycle.com

“To love any engine is to love this engine. Its sound, its power delivery, the power of its power, are all exceptional.”