Yamaha YZR 500

My pulse quickened before I even threw my leg over the Yamaha seat where Carlos Checa served.

You can even imagine the tension of the moment as you wait and watch


excellent mechanics, how they prepare a valuable car for you, which


only available to the lucky few in this world. Mechanics with skillful movements


fasten the quick release buckles of the thin pieces of carbon armor. From rollers


remove the electric heaters, check the operation of the units by touch. ...

They push the bike out of the garage with the gearbox in first gear and smooth running.


it is the measured clutch movements that bring the four-cylinder engine to life


V-shaped designs. You see, two-stroke. The sound of the engine and the smell of racing gas


mixed with vapors of two-stroke oil, it weaves along the walls. Maybe tomorrow


will no longer be, four-stroke machines will enter the scene. But in the modern world


there is no more exotic engine than a stock V4.

Emotional motorcycle mechanics push me past the garages, v


at the right moment I release the clutch with a simultaneous jerk of the hips towards the seat


and the engine rumbles out of four mufflers. Dry clutch is usually hollow


murmur. Even though I have noise plugs in my ears, I can hear the sharp sound of a car


encroaches on the brain. The entire motorcycle reacts as if


related to my nervous system. When so with a bubbling machine


when driving to the track, I wonder how well the engine reacts


at low speeds.

First lap I drive slowly to catch fingers, feelings and thoughts


from Yamaha. However, she climbs herself into the first sharp right turn. Eh,


the trail is still a little damp in places. This is a demanding and responsible business.


ride the most expensive and fastest motorcycle in the world!

But Yamaha is quite friendly to drive, the engine pulls well.


too high gear and slippery wet spots can be avoided already with


light pressure on the steering wheel. Of course, there is no one at the presentation.


it pushes us to act very quickly. But it does fit. After a few rounds, I already


livelier. And I understand how difficult it is to drive so mentally and physically.


the car, since it does not give a second of rest.

The two-stroke car has no braking effect, and the acceleration is direct.


fantastic. This is why I am constantly waiting to hang myself


front brakes. The engine has a top speed of 13.000 rpm. It happens


quickly that there is no time to look at the counter. Acceleration in first gear is


very tense because the next turn is approaching so abnormally fast.

As a precaution, I try not to touch the brake lever. Sunem v motorcycle


slope. I am learning to switch with an electrical device: when fully open


I just push the throttle on the gear lever. ... in low gears motorcycle


constantly afterburner on the rear wheel. I'm trying to translate it by ear. If


I switch to 11 rpm, the engine runs even harder and


catapults the front wheel into the air.

I used to drive cars with a 500 cc engine. See, and this is not my first fast bike.


But I rarely experienced such an adrenaline rush when, say, on the third


equipment you shoot a red and white beast at the plane and tame it under you when


climbs, kicks, growls. Without transferring weight between the wheels


I achieve a lot. 190 HP and only 131 kilograms of weight is a combination,


where everything is too much. This car looks like an insidious Doberman.

Although I am a full 15 seconds behind the time they reach on this track.


racers in 500 GP races, driving such a beast is a wild, challenging battle for


dominance. What to do if twenty angry racers are behind you


and 150.000 spectators roaring into the sky. I can't imagine what it is


experienced Carlos Checa in the same race on the same motorcycle.

I think this Spaniard is still a little old school.

Yamaho is tuned for softness, loves to ride with a sliding rear wheel.


Last year, he asked the mechanics to reduce frame stiffness, etc.


they burned it several times. Cheka, however, could not feel the front


bicycles, and quite often he ended up with his feet in the air, finally again


days ago in the first race in Japan. This, of course, refuted him.


the theory of "old" Kenny Roberts, who argued that it was the only suitable


cornering with a sliding rear wheel. At that time it was believed that on


the front wheel cannot be lowered. That's what Roberts said,


but this is no longer the case. Modern engines have a lot more torque.

engine: Liquid-cooled, V-shaped, four-cylinder, two-stroke

Bore and movement: 54 × 54 mm

Valves: Suction lamellas

Volume: 499 cubic centimeters

Carburettors: 4 × flat Keihin f 35 mm

Switch: Dry, multi-disc

Energy transfer: 6 gears

Compression: No information

Maximum power: 139 kW (7 hp) at 190 rpm

Maximum speed: 315 km / h

Acceleration = 0-100 km / h 2, 8 s

0-200 km / h 7 s

Suspension (front): Öhlins fully adjustable inverted telescopic fork

Suspension (rear): Öhlins fully adjustable shock absorber

Brakes (front): 2 carbon discs, radially mounted 4-piston Brembo caliper

Brakes (rear): Steel ventilated coil, 2-piston Brembo jaws

Wheel (front): 3, 50 × 17, magnesium, Marchesini

Wheel (enter): 6, 50 × 17, magnesium, Marchesini

Chewing gum: Michelin

Head / Ancestor Frame Angle: 22-23 degrees

Wheelbase: 1400 +/- 20 mm

Fuel tank: 32 liters

Weight: 131 kg (without fuel)

Roland Brown

PHOTO: Gold & Goose, Samo Gustinčič

• Technical information

  engine: Liquid-cooled, V-shaped, four-cylinder, two-stroke

  Torque: 315 km / h

  Energy transfer: 6 gears

  brakes: Steel ventilated coil, 2-piston Brembo jaws

  Suspension: Öhlins fully adjustable telescopic fork / Öhlins fully adjustable shock absorber

  Fuel tank: 32 liters

  Wheelbase: 1400 +/- 20 mm

  Weight: 131 kg (without fuel)