25 Years Ago July 1984

25 YEARS AGO JULY 1984

ROUNDUP

I'm a big fan of two-strokes and an owner of a Yamaha RZ500 V-Four, so this issue, chock full of smokers, really piqued my interest. Gracing the cover was the then-brand-new Yamaha RZ350 in Kenny Roberts' bumble-bee yellow and black, his signature on the upper fairing tack-sharp in the Rich Chenet photograph.

After cracking open the 25-year-old CW, I thumbed my way straight to the RZ's road test. Having spent ample time aboard one of these liquid-cooled, 347cc two-strokes, I have to agree with the line in the opening paragraph that read, "Sometimes, a spec sheet needs yet another number, one that indicates how much fun a bike is to ride. Andonafunscaleofoneto 10, Yamaha's RZ350 rates a perfect 10."

• It only got better a few pages on, as John Ulrich's "Tiger by the Tail" featured a ride on King Kenny's 1983 Daytona 200-win ning, 695cc, square-Four two-stroke Yamaha 0W69. "Fast" was an understatement. Roberts himself estimated he hit almost 200 mph before backing off for Turn 1 at Daytona. He was officially clocked at 182 mph in the radar trap but was holding the throttle wide-open an additional 1000 rpm before he initi ated braking!

•If Yamaha two-strokes were your thing but dirt was your preferred riding surface, a full test on the YZ490 surely satisfied. As the story stated, "If you had to sum up Open class motocross bikes in just one word, it would be power-dirt-roost ing, arm-stretching, wheel-spinning power." At the time, editors declared the YZ the fastest motocross bike ever built.

Blake Conner