The XV750 was made up of many aspects of previous Yamaha models all wrapped around a seemingly all-new air-cooled V twin power plant.High bars and forward placed footrests arent my usual cup of tea either but, the XV is a well designed and thought out beast, the riding position is easy on the body while controls and levers fall to hand very easily.The ride is both smooth and reassuringly sure footed with handling not in any way like you might have expected for a soft and lardy cruise mobile.The weight is centrally placed, with the large machine feeling many times smaller than it actually is, while several little touches around the frame and cycle parts make the job of moving the big twin just that little bit easier.
The placing of the wheel spindle an inch or so in front of the forks centre line so it reduces the trail and speeds up the steering, for instance, is a good example of this thinking. Only the narrowness of the engine gives the game away, a feature that, where it not for the wide bars, would enable you to sip unnoticed through the busiest of traffic jams. For the most part, once on the move, top gear can be left alone such is the width and power of the torque curve. The engine willingly pulls from way down in the rev range while the shaft drive gives no a hint of snatch should the revs be too low like a chain would. With so many aspects performing so well it comes as some shock that many other important features dont. The brakes are verging on the pathetic with a single floating caliper grabbing a solitary small diameter disc up front, although some face is saved with the large, single leading shoe, drum stopper hanging off the rear end. The weight of the bike can soon overwhelm the front disc in heavy use and equal amounts of rear brake are required to get the plot stopping before something else makes you. Of course experienced riders will throw the engine into the stopping process and by doing this you can really haul the V twin up in double quick time. OK the brakes arent ever going to bend the forks, not unless they completely fail anyway, and the motor, with barely 50bhp to play with after the engine has transmitted its power through the shaft drive, is hardly going to spin the rear wheel out from underneath you in a moment of heavy handed madness, and yet, the ride is superb. The laid back style is effortless and the chassis holds it all in line and true throughout. You must take your time to set the suspension up to your liking, not so much the front as that is pretty good straight out of the crate but the rear has a multitude of settings enabling the exact ride you desire to be set up quite easily. The spring can be jacked up or down with the large knob situated below the right hand side panel while a Schrader valve, also in this area, allows the air pressure within the single shock to be adjusted too. This makes long distance travelling an exercise in planning and logistics, rather than an enjoyable experience. The real reason lay in Yamahas choice of carburetion and valve sizes, choosing to keep the 40mm Mikuni instruments found on the 920cc TR1 models as well as the large diameter inlet and exhaust valves. This leads to a very heavy breathing 750cc engine that goes well thanks to the extra fuel being thrown in to each pot but, in return, yields a heavy appetite and a liking for garage forecourts. The birth of the custom versions of established models had been a great success especially in the US, and Yamaha Americas planning manager, Ed Burke, built upon this idea. He found that most owners would like to chance to go one stage further and have a V twin machine as the basis for their custom motorcycle. Yamaha didnt like the idea at first and considered the design to be fraught with technical difficulties, especially if the Harley Davidson was to be used as the design model. The research team in Japan found that if they offset the cylinders, unlike the inline HD power plant, that they could maintain efficient cylinder cooling and make an engine worthy of the tuning fork badge. The concept was indeed new to the Japanese but the technology wasnt.
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