Tiny Tzm Tees It Up Against Honda

TINY TZM TEES IT UP AGAINST HONDA

YAMAHA'S TZM50R is more than Yamaha's answer to Japan's miniclass conquering Honda NSR50R, it could pave another route to roadracing world championships. Tetsuya Harada, 1993 250cc Gran Prix title holder, started in mini racing, as did Norifumi Abe, teenaged winner of the Japanese 500cc championship. If racers advance no farther than the 50cc class, they'll likely have a great time on the sharp-handling, well-developed machine. A liquid-cooled, two-stroke engine makes 7.2 horsepower at 10,000 rpm, with a top speed approaching 50 mph. That is downright crawling by most racing standards, but going full out on the little Yamaha poses relatively little risk of injury. The wallet, however, does take a serious hit. Yamaha’s smallest racer costs about S2500, or about twice the price of Yamaha's YSR5O mini sportbike.

Yasushi Ichikawa