Australasian Dirt Bike – September 2019

TheYZisagreatlittlecontender,now

morethanever.Yamahahaveputalot

ofeffortintodevelopingtheYZ85in

thepastcoupleofyears,improvingnot

onlyitspowerbutalsothehandling.

Foralongtime,theYZ85remained

unchangedbutYamahadecidedto

makeapushbackintotheJunior

classeswiththeintroductionofa

rebornYZ65andnew85,having

realizedtheimportanceofgetting

youngridersonbluebikesearly.

Allourtestriderswereimpressed

bythepoweroftheYZ,someeven

statingthatithadthebest.Wealso

hadriderscomplainthatthethrottle

wastoolightwhileotherssaidthey

likedit.Someofourtestersstruggled

alittlewiththegearing.

Myobservationwasthatriderswho

werenotusedtotheYZtriedto

changegearslessandhadtousemore

clutchtogetthebikeoutoftheturns.

Riderswithalittlemoreexperience

adaptedtotheYZmorequicklyand

weremakingsureitwasintheright

gearatalltimesandweren’thaving

anyissueswithpower.

TheYZisalittlesmallerthanthe

Euros,meaningthatitsuitssmaller-to-

averageriders.Ourtallertesters

mentionedtheyfeltalittlecramped on

thebike.Wealsohadsometesters

mentiontheydidn’tlikethecable

clutchbuttheolderriderssaiditdidn’t

reallyworrythem.

TheYZisagreatbikeandisvery

competitive.Ithasgreatpowerthat

onlygetsbetterwithapipeandsome

enginework.WhiletheYZmightsuit

smallerriders,thisisn’tbecauseitis

slow,ithasplentyofgrunt.

JMX cOMPARO | 85cc MOTOCROSS

Yamahawasthemiddlegroundinthistest GYTR pipe would look good here

Yamaha YZ85

Yamaha YZ85LW

ENGINE

TYPE Piston-port, reed-valve

DISPLACEMENT 85.0cc

BORE & STROKE 47.5 x 47.8mm

COOLING Liquid

COMPRESSION RATIO 8.1-9.6:1

FUEL METERING Keihin PWK28 carburettor

TANK CAPACITY 5.0L

TRANSMISSION Six-speed, constant mesh

CLUTCH Cable, wet multiplate

DIMENSIONS

WHEELBASE 1257mm

SEAT HEIGHT 841mm

GROUND CLEARANCE 330mm

WEIGHT 73kg wet

SUSPENSION

FRONT KYB 36mm spring-cartridge fork, 275mm travel

REAR KYB gas-oil monoshock, 282mm travel

BRAKES

FRONT Twin-piston caliper, 220mm wave disc

REAR Single-piston caliper, 190mm wave disc

RUNNING GEAR

HANDLEBAR Yamaha tapered alloy

FRONT TYRE Dunlop MX3S 70/100-19

REAR TYRE Dunlop MX3S 90/100-16

PRICE & CONTACTS

PRICE $7399

WEB yamaha-motor.com.au

PHONE (02) 9757 0011

WARRANTY None

Brains trust

CODY KILPATRICK

Age: 13

I found the Yamaha really

manoeuverable due to the

thickness of the bike.

LACHLAN MORRIS

Age: 11

I found the YZ was quite

wide and short for my

height. It had good all-round power and

the throttle felt really light.

RILEY BURGESS

Age: 10

I found the throttle on

the YZ very touchy and I

wasn’t a big fan of the cable clutch.

THOMAS HAY

Age: 11

The YZ was good but the

clutch felt a little weird,

maybe because it has a cable. The

suspension felt a little too stiff.

64 | SEPTEMBER 2019 http://www.adbmag.com.au