Australasian Dirt Bike — June 2017

http://www.adbmag.com.au JUNE 2017| 161

CHILD

BELIEVE IT OR not, children

will be adults one day. I know,

your little Johnny looks so cute

in his little boots, riding his tiny

bike. But one day he or she will

grow into a fully developed

human (kinda like Dale

Johnson, and kinda not).

When they do they’ll be

looking for a big boys bike, and

the colour they ride now will

often determine the colour

they’ll ride for the duration. So

it’s important you pick wisely

(not your child, the bike).

If you’re wondering what’s

been happening in the 85cc

world, it’s not much. There

isn’t too much you can do with

85cc dirtbikes when it comes

to innovation. Aside from

flirting with battery power, this

particular capacity has seen

very limited progress across

all manufacturers in the last

two decades.

There are a number of

reasons for this. Weight plays a

big factor. These bikes are light

and are already as trim as can

be, so adding things like fuel or

oil injection will just increase

weight. They already produce

mountains of power and have

been running things like disc

brakes, hydraulic clutches (on

some brands), monoshocks,

USD forks and state-of-the-art

chassis foryears.Butthemain

reason wehaven’tseenany

real innovationiscost.

Runningan 85 cctwo-stroke

will cost youmuchlessthana

four-strokeenginewiththe

same output.Partsare

cheaper, lesslikelytobreak

and whenyouhavetoputa

spanner onit,anyDIY

mechaniccanfumbletheirway

through n 85 cctwo-stroke.

Yamahahasmade

significantupgradesthisyear

to the stylingoftheYZ 85 with

a new frontplate,frontguard

and side plastics.Itstillruns

the same 8 5ccliquid-cooled,

reed-valveenginewitha

close-ratiosix-speedgearbox

and heavydutyclutch.

A fully adjustableKayaba

monoshockand 36 mmKayaba

cartridgeforkfeaturing

compressionandrebound

damping adjustmenttakes

care of thefront-end.A

semi-doublecradleframe

producesadirtbikewith

supreme handling.

LOCAL RIDER

TotesttheYZ 85 we

employedtheservicesof

TylerDarby.Tylerisa

hotshoefromtheSydney

areawho’sbeenridingsince

hewasatinytot.Here’swhat

hethoughtoftheYZ85:

“Myoverallopinionisthat

theengineiscoolandfast.

TheGYTRexhaustsystemand

partsthatthisbikecomeswith

asstandardmakeitreally

standout.Andthesuspension

isawesome,”TylertoldADB

afterdestroyingtheDunlops.

“Ithasexcellentmiddleand

top-endspeed.Forastock 85

Ihavetofantheclutchpretty

hardtogetitgoing.It’sjust

thebottom-endthough.But

that’sprettynormalfora

stockbike.IfIboughtoneI’d

justboostthebottom-endand

rideit.You’vejustgottobe

preparedforwhat’scoming

andanticipatethetrack.

“Thesuspensionfeelsplush

anditfeltjustlikehome.I

MAIN:Tylerwassurprisedbythesmooth

actionofthecableclutch

1.Radiatorshroudslooksharp

2.Handlebarfortalls

3.Houstonwehaveaproblem

4 .TheYZsoakedupOakdale

5.Shortymufflerlookssick

1

FACTORY RIDE / READERS RIDE / HERITAGE / ACTION / OAS / BUYERS GUIDE

YAMAHA’S YZ 85 MAY NOT HAVE

RECEIVED A HOST OF UPGRADES FOR

THIS YEAR BUT IT’S STILL A WILD RIDE

3

2

4

5