Early this week we saw Yamaha bring a machine to market that is a complete reinvention of the Sport Side by Side. I was lucky enough to get a ticket to the worldwide unveiling of the Yamaha YXZ1000R Pure Sport side by side. Our contacts at Yamaha were talking in code and keeping any and all information about this new machine close to the vest. No one was going to let the cat out of the bag with this machine prior to the release. Leading up to the release on Tuesday, it felt like we were about to see a stealth fighter of definitive proof of the Loch Ness Monster.
The release was in Long Beach, CA, which I thought was an odd place for an off road vehicle release, as there is not a decent sized spit of dirt within a couple hours of the LBC. It was quickly apparent that Yamaha meant business when the press and dealer flotilla arrived at the dock where the event was to be held.
High, opaque fences surrounded the compound so that no passers by could sneak a glimpse of this new machine ahead of the 10 am embargo. The way that our hosts from Yamaha were squirming in their seats the night before with this secret that they all had let me know that this machine, whatever it was, was something exciting. As the press walked to the grandstand we caught a look at the track that had been built for this event. Yamaha trucked in dirt to create the best possible track to showcase their new machine’s capability. High speed corners, a solid whoop section, and two table tops that were meant to be hit flat out.
Out on the track, the Yamaha YXZ1000R stunned many of the dealers and press that was in attendance. After my ride in the machine, the only word that kept ringing in my head was "Immediate." As many of my readers are probably very versed in the specs, I will save my words for the explanation of what it feels like. The drive line is not hampered with belt drives, and in place of that is metal linkage and a foot actuated clutch. How this translates the power from the triple cylinder engine is something that I have never felt in a UTV before. Where the power in other models is very gradual and smooth, the power headed out to the wheels gets there with the efficiency of metal. The pro driver at the helm dropped the clutch and all of the power went to the wheels savagely and without delay. It was special.
Along the back stretch of the track was a line of whoops that were designed to show how well the YXZ1000R could handle extreme conditions at wide open throttle. The suspension was not "soft," but it was explained in the media presentation that there were many trade-offs that were considered in the setup. Optimizing the suspension for comfort leads to poor cornering and handling overall. Head to the other end of the spectrum and you compromise comfort and probably a disk in your back. The engineers were driven solely by the idea of driver connection with the machine, and thus optimizing the YXZ1000R to be what is hopefully the best handling UTV on the market. Flat out through the whoops, the YXZ1000R stayed completely straight. No bucking left and right. This has been achieved with a ingenious blending of trailing arm and a-arm suspension setups. The shocks are not the biggest, or have the most travel available, but they have been designed to deliver the best feel to the driver possible.
Read the rest here: Yamaha YXZ1000R: Revolutions and Revelations in the Industry
