Yamaha TR 1

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Yamaha
Yamaha TR1-1.jpg
Yamaha TR 1 (1981), retrofitted with Krauser case set, crash bars and windshield
TR 1
Manufacturer Yamaha engine
Production period 1981 to 1983
class motorcycle
design type Sports Tourer
Motor data
V2 - 4-stroke
Displacement  (cm³) 981 cc
Power  (kW / PS ) 51-52 kW at 6500 rpm
Torque  ( N m ) 80 Nm at 5500 rpm
Top speed (  km / h) 190 km / h
transmission 5-speed
drive Chain
successor Yamaha BT 1100 Bulldog (from 2001)
US version XV920 with retrofit cockpit fairing

The Yamaha TR 1 (in changing official spellings also TR-1 , TR 1. or TR1 ) was a touring motorcycle built between 1981 and 1983 by the Japanese motorcycle manufacturer Yamaha and offered until 1985 .

Outside Europe, the Yamaha TR 1 was marketed as the XV1000 and in the USA - slightly modified - as the XV920 . The machine, which was presented as a sports tourer at the IFMA trade fair in Cologne in the fall of 1980 , had the special features of a 981 cm³, air-cooled two-cylinder V-motor with a 75  degree cylinder angle , a cantilever rocker with a central spring strut and a drive chain in a closed box with lithium grease . The cessation of production after a good two years was the consequence of the lack of market success. In Germany, for example - including the sluggish sale of stocks after 1983 - only around 2,800 copies were sold. According to the Federal Motor Transport Authority, 1,298 of these were still approved for road traffic on January 1, 2007.

Model history and technology

According to the company, the starting point for the development of TR 1 was the sharp rise in the cost of material and fuel at the end of the 1970s, general global inflation and the presumed need for individualization among motorcyclists. Since Yamaha already had a large range of four-cylinder models in the touring and sports touring segment, a sensationally new, but inexpensive and relatively light model, an air-cooled two-cylinder machine as a reminiscence of classic Harley motorcycles of the 1940s and 1950s -Davidson or Vincent . With their large-volume V-engines, the high torque at low revs and their specific sound, they had achieved cult status with some motorcyclists.

Model year 1981 engine block

In principle, two-cylinders are considered cheaper to develop and produce, and more economical in terms of fuel consumption. The engine developers Kunihiko Morinaga and Hajime Ueno did not rely on the traditional cylinder angle of 90 degrees for the TR 1 , but instead designed an engine with cylinders rotated 180 degrees against each other and positioned one behind the other at an angle of 75 degrees. This design should keep the width and length as small as possible and thus also enable a shorter wheelbase . In addition, with this design , the transverse and reverse crankshaft rotates without any additional deflection in the direction required to drive the clutch . The two cylinders are the same and therefore interchangeable, which simplifies the supply of spare parts. One overhead camshaft , driven by a timing chain designed as a toothed chain , controls two valves in the cylinder head ; one spark plug is supplied by a contactless transistor ignition . The engine concept "survived" the construction of the TR 1 in the offered from 1981 to 2003 with different displacement sizes Virago - Chopper - and Cruiser -Modellbaureihen and, from 2001 in the " Naked Bike " BT1100 Bulldog .

In the TR 1 , the engine is the supporting part of the chassis , which is designed as a monocoque made of two pressed sheet steel parts; it is supplemented by a subframe in the rear. The motorcycle can be completely dismantled into two parts by loosening the screw connections of the main frame on the engine, in order to facilitate access for major maintenance work and to change the chain. There is no frame support.

The cantilever swing arm, which holds the rear wheel and is supported against the frame by a central spring strut with an integrated shock absorber, was already known from other Yamaha models . A new development, on the other hand, is the closed chain case, in which a conventional roller chain (without O-rings ) runs in a lithium grease bath. This construction enables low wear and thus long service life of the drive chain, which, according to the works recommendation, should only be retightened every 6,000 km and only changed after around 50,000 km. In practice, considerably longer maintenance and replacement intervals were possible. This seemed to be an inexpensive and less power- consuming alternative to cardan or belt drives . However, this concept did not catch on with production motorcycles.

Design and comfort

The cockpit of the TR 1 with retrofit windshield

The design of the TR 1 , designed under the direction of chief developer Takehiko Hasegawa, was based, like the engine concept, on classic British models and is similar to the styling of the Yamaha XS model series, which was introduced in 1969, and the soft chopper XV750, which was also responsible for Hasegawa . The main features were a large, round headlight with chrome surrounds, classic round instruments, a slightly tiered, relatively low double bench seat with a seat height of around 78 cm, a narrow tank with good knee-length, a wide and high touring handlebars and the lack of trim parts.

Italic - cast aluminum spoked wheels and the swing arm with central spring strut were added as modern design and technology ingredients . Spring rate and damping can be changed in six stages with a handwheel. In addition, an additional air support is possible via a valve, with which a heavier load can be compensated. The front telescopic fork is also air-assisted, but both fork legs have to be filled separately, which makes the absolutely even support required more difficult.

The seating position for driver and front passenger was rated as “comfortable” and “suitable for touring” by the trade press, and the maneuverability and handiness of the machine were praised. At high speeds, however, the vibrations typical of the engine concept, which were particularly noticeable on the footrests and handlebars, were a problem.

Prices and Marketing

When it was presented at IFMA 1980, a price of DM 7,900 was promised. When the first series appeared in 1981, however, the list price was 8,158 DM. This was later reduced in several steps to around 8,050 DM, but ultimately increased again to 8,878 DM. Already in the first year of production it became clear that the model was not a success. Only just under 1,250 copies could be sold. By the end of production in 1983, around 2,200 machines had been sold in Germany; the rest of the stocks were offered by Yamaha dealers until the beginning of 1985 with discounts of over DM 2,500 in some cases. The main causes for this "flop" were seen by the trade press in the initially incorrect positioning as a "sports motorcycle" with too little performance and too high price, with some "teething problems" of the first model year (see practicality ) and the lack of recognition of the technical features and of the "retro" design for the target group. The official performance figures, which fluctuated between 69 and 71 hp over the course of time, could not inspire sporty motorcyclists either.

Especially the later popularity of the machine as a used motorcycle was commented by specialist journalists with the suspicion that the TR 1 was probably not a bad product, but was a “ marketing misunderstanding”. As recently as 1979, Yamaha had planned to enter road racing with a twin racer to be developed (German: "two-cylinder racing motorcycle", abbreviated to: TR ). Various V-2 engines with 900, 920 and 981 cm³ were designed, of which the second stage of development was later used for the US series version XV920 and the last as supposedly the sportiest for Europe. The racing project had meanwhile been given up prematurely and the sporty approach was carried over to the production model. Yamaha wanted to position the TR 1 as a competitor to the Honda CBX (105 PS) or the Kawasaki Z1000 (around 85 PS). However, the driving performance of the first production year allowed the journalists to conclude that the engine was at most 65 hp and the chassis produced pendulum movements in fast corners with both the Bridgestone tires from the first delivery and with later retrofitted Metzeler tires. The cause was apparently an imprecise fit of the needle bearings in the rear swing arm, which gave the swing arm too much play . Larger lean angles were prevented both by the relatively hard tires and by the low ground clearance; Especially with the passenger and luggage, footrests and main stand hit the ground early. Even with the hardest level of suspension and damping as well as additional air support, this behavior could only be improved slightly.

The curb weight of around 200 kg originally envisaged by the developers was clearly exceeded in the series at 241 kg, so that the power-to-weight ratio was considerably less favorable than that of the 1,000 cc four-cylinder sports machines in the same price class. The marketing promise made by Yamaha in 1980 of a light, competitive and sporty one-liter motorcycle at the price of a 750cc machine could not even begin to be fulfilled.

Practicality

TR-1 front with retrofit accessories windshield and crash bar

Only gradually did some touring riders discover the suitability of the TR 1 for travel and expedition purposes; Numerous copies were privately converted for this purpose or supplemented with products from the accessory manufacturers. Specially developed suitcase sets (mainly from Krauser ) or windshields were particularly popular here . In this group of motorcyclists, the priority was not the maximum performance, but the reliability of the machine. However, this was only partially given in the first model year; professional testers and owners consistently reported by several weaknesses: So often were asbestos - head gasket and the two valves leaking of the thermally highly loaded rear cylinder, the intake of lying between the cylinders carburettors jumped when starting by misfiring, the chain case showed leaks , the rear central spring strut tended to bottom out, the motorcycle could not be reliably held by the side stand, the first gear was sometimes perceived as too long and the 19 liter petrol tank too small. On the other hand, the pulling power of the high-torque, but still relatively economical and durable engine, the touring-suitable seating position for driver and front passenger, the good straight-line stability due to the long wheelbase of 1,540 mm and the maintenance-friendly structure due to the closed chain case, which also made changing wheels easier, were praised. Yamaha responded to the weak points from 1982 with a facelifted series and more precise maintenance specifications (for example, for exactly synchronous setting of the two Hitachi carburettors), with which the error rate could be reduced. This model series is externally recognizable by a modern designed rear end with a plastic rump and a slightly modified bench seat.

Construction period and successor

There are different details about the production period of TR 1 . While Yamaha officially speaks of the year of construction 1981 for the first model series and from 1982 to 1983 for the facelifted version, some trade journalists later reported that production had already been stopped at the end of 1982 due to the lack of demand. From 1983 onwards, among others, the “new vehicles” offered by Mitsui Maschinen GmbH as the German general importer were in reality stock copies from 1982 production.

In the years that followed, Yamaha decided against a new version of the TR-1 concept and only used two-cylinder V-engines in its chopper , soft chopper and cruiser model series. From 1991, the company again offered a sporty two-cylinder touring model series called the Yamaha TDM , but with a parallel twin . The successor model, the TRX from 1995, also retained this in- line engine design. Sporty fans of V2 engines were meanwhile served by Ducati ( Paso , 851 , Monster and 916 ), Moto Guzzi and Cagiva . From 1997 the Japanese competition reacted to the success of these Italian models with the Honda VTR 1000 and the Suzuki TL1000 ; both with around 1000 cm³ V2 engines. It was not until 2001 that a “ naked bike ” from Yamaha appeared again with the BT 1100 Bulldog with the now more than 20-year-old TR-1 engine concept; slightly modified and with increased displacement to 1063 cm³. Here, too, despite the sporty- looking design, no value was placed on special sports suitability : the machine was positioned as a fun bike or super roadster and only developed 65 hp (48 kW). The successor model MT-01 , which appeared in 2005, had a size of 1670 cm³ and 90 hp (66 kW), but it was completely redesigned. Until then, this size was only common for choppers, but here it was combined with a sporty chassis.

Motorsport

Private sports conversion of a TR 1 with open chain drive

Sports enthusiasts of two-cylinder engines began shortly after the TR 1 was released to convert the machine privately or on a commercial basis for motorcycle racing . Sometimes only the engine was used to install it in other frame constructions after an increase in performance . The Dutchman Ton van Heugten about combined the engine with a British Wasp - trailer chassis and took with it in 1982 at the Paris-Dakar rally and later at the Motocross World Championship in part. By then, the engine had been upgraded to around 95 hp. In the road racing series Battle of the Twins (BoT) , the German private racing driver Klaus Caspers was able to win a run for the German championship on the airport circuit in Speyer in April 1989 ; the first win for a Japanese-powered motorcycle in the series. Caspers had built a roughly 108 hp TR-1 engine into a central tubular chassis made by the Swiss designer Fritz Egli and won the BoT championship with it in the same year . The Yamton TR 1 developed by master plumber and amateur racing driver Sepp Koch has around 100 hp ; a combination of the TR-1 engine with a modified Norton chassis weighing around 175 kg . This racing motorcycle is currently used in the Classic Twins Only series and won, among other things, the race on the Schleizer Dreieck in 2007 . Former stunt driver Thomas Thöring has been successfully driving a heavily modified Tr1 (Tr1-R Skinny Beast) in the eighth-mile sprint races at Glemseck 101 in the Classic and International Class since 2014 : first place in 2014 and 2015. In 2016 he left the company due to clutch defects. The engine of the Tr1-R Skinny Beast has been upgraded by Sepp Koch and is charged with laughing gas if necessary during the races. The chassis was modified for use and provided with a dragster slick.

Technical specifications

engine air-cooled two-cylinder V-engine, 75 degree cylinder angle, two constant pressure carburetors
Displacement 981 cc
Performance (factory specification) 51-52 kW (69-71 hp) at 6500 min -1
Max. Torque 80 Nm at 5500 min -1
Power transmission 7-disc oil bath clutch, claw-shift five-speed gearbox, closed chain drive
Top speed approx. 190 km / h
Acceleration 0-100 km / h 5.3 seconds
Thrust 80–130 km / h in 5th gear 8.5 seconds
Fuel consumption, regular gasoline
(according to tests) 		Country road: 5.8 l / 100 km
Mixed: 8.0 l / 100 km
Maximum: 8.9 l / 100 km
length 2.3 meters
Wheelbase / caster 1540/126 mm
Brakes front / rear Double disc floating caliper brake 270 mm diameter / drum brake 170 mm
List price 1984 8,878 DM

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "Yamaha.Story" (www.winni-scheibe.com, text archive, undated)
  2. ↑ "Why V-Engines Sound Better" (Helmut Heusler in Die Welt , undated)
  3. ↑ "Yamaha TR 1: Slow moving by mistake?" ( Touring driver , issue 3/1984)
  4. ↑ "Kraft-Protz" ( Oldtimer Praxis , edition 10/2004, page 65)
  5. ↑ "A special offer" (model presentation in Motorrad , 21/1980, page 6 ff.)
  6. ↑ "25,000 kilometers with the Yamaha TR 1" ( motorcycle , issue 2/1982)
  7. ^ "Model history" ( Oldtimer-Praxis , issue 10/2004, page 66)
  8. ↑ "Wüstenschiff" ( motorcycle , edition 9/1982)
  9. ↑ "Start of the BoT season: The Japanese are coming!" ( Motorradfahrer , issue 3/1989)
  10. ↑ "Yamton TR 1" (presented on motoport.de on May 6, 2002)
  11. ↑ Glemseck 101 Winners 2015 . Retrieved September 10, 2016.

literature

  • Andreas Seiler: Yamaha XV - From the TR 1 to Vmax and Drag Star. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 978-3-613-01886-0 .

Web links

This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on November 10, 2007 .