Yamaha XZ 550

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Yamaha
Yamaha XZ550.jpg
Yamaha XZ 550
XZ 550
Manufacturer Yamaha
Production period 1982 to 1985
class motorcycle
design type Naked bike , tourer
Motor data
water-cooled two-cylinder V-engine
Displacement  (cm³) 552
Power  (kW / PS ) 47/64 9,500 min -1
Torque  ( N m ) 50.1 at 8,500 min -1
Top speed (  km / h) 195
transmission 5 courses
drive Cardan drive
Brakes Double disc brake front Ø 267 mm
Simplex drum brake rear Ø 180 mm
Wheelbase  (mm) 1450
Dimensions (L × W × H, mm): 2210 × 750 × 1110
Seat height (cm) 77.5
Empty weight  (kg) 215

The XZ 550 is a mid-range motorcycle from the Japanese motorcycle manufacturer Yamaha , which was offered in Germany from 1982 to 1985.

history

In the 1970s, Yamaha had a market share of 37% in motorcycle construction, while its competitor and world market leader Honda had a share of 38%. Yamaha was successfully entered into the four-stroke business, had in the years to good results in other sectors and brought in 1980 its first motorcycles with a two-cylinder - V engine out.

In order to achieve the top position, a competitor product to the Honda CX 500 was to be developed in the early 1980s , which was then the best-selling motorcycle in the world. The basic concept was a water-cooled two-cylinder V-engine, around 500 cm³ displacement, cardan drive and a significantly better chassis than the CX. At the same time, as a sports motorcycle, it should be significantly more powerful than the CX 500 and Kawasaki's GPZ 550, which was presented in 1980.

The Yamaha advertising strategists targeted the sports motorcycle market and attacked the four-cylinder competition as "multi-cylinder" in their brochures . The first tests in the trade press seemed to confirm this, Motorrad (edition 1/1982) certified the XZ 550:

“Because the 64 hp of the water-cooled V-engine are not just on paper. ... The established competition in the half-liter class would do well to take the newcomer seriously. "

According to the magazine PS (edition 2/1982) under the title "gloss number", the "ample speed reserves" characterize the engine "... completely as sporty", the Auto Zeitung (edition 2/1982) wrote enthusiastically:

"The sports motorcycle of the future should look like the XZ 550"

The newspaper Sonntag Aktuell wrote under the heading "Top-class technology":

"Rather, this new XZ 550 is a super sporty middleweight motorcycle, extremely handy and in a new, angular Yamaha design."

What was impressive at first glance, however, was not confirmed in practical comparison tests. The XZ 550 engine could not outperform its (sports) rivals despite complex technology. The performance was generally praised, but the chassis was criticized as not being adapted.

Even if Honda's CX 500 had a very idiosyncratic design, the Yamaha design of the XZ 550, with its mixture of corners and curves that took some getting used to and was tailored to the American market, had a hard time in Europe. Yamaha reacted to the failure immediately: Off the super sports car became a mid-range tourer that was presented at IFMA 1982. For this purpose, the motorcycle was provided as the XZ 550 S with a full fairing in the design of the XJ 650 Turbo , the original models could be retrofitted.

The fairing itself was very effective for the time, at the same time it concealed the criticized design, especially the engine. However, Yamaha was never able to regain the lost lead. In 1983 sales of new motorcycles fell in general and all manufacturers reduced prices for the 1982/1983 models for the 1984 season. When the new models such as the XJ 600 and the FZ 750 Genesis were presented at the end of 1984 , the short time of the XZ 550 was already over. The model was officially offered for the last time in Germany in 1985.

Technical data XZ 550

Engine:

  • Two-cylinder V-engine, crankshaft transverse to the direction of travel
  • 70 ° cylinder angle
  • Balance shaft for mass balancing
  • Water cooling
  • two camshafts per cylinder head ( DOHC ), tooth chain driven
  • four valves per cylinder head, controlled directly via bucket tappets
  • Displacement: 552 cm³
  • Bore: 80 mm
  • Stroke: 55 mm
  • Stroke ratio : 1.45 (very short stroke)
  • Compression 10.5: 1
  • Rated power 47 kW (64 HP) at 9,500 min -1 (for the German market with 37 kW / 50 PS)
  • Max. Torque 50.1 Nm at 8,500 min -1
  • contactless transistor ignition TCI
  • YICS

Lubrication: wet sump pressure circulation lubrication

Mixture preparation: 2 Mikuni BD34 downdraft carburetors with accelerator pump

Electrical system:

  • Voltage 12 V
  • Three-phase alternator with 260 watts, nine-diode rectifier and electronic voltage control
  • 14 Ah battery

Power transmission:

  • Primary drive via straight-toothed spur gears
  • Multi-disc clutch in an oil bath
  • Claw-shifted five-speed transmission
  • Cardan drive

Landing gear:

  • Double loop tubular frame with high beams
  • Telescopic fork with set back axle, spring travel 140 mm
  • Cantilever swing arm with central spring strut, spring travel 90 mm
  • Wheelbase 1450 mm
  • Trail 118 mm, 26 ° 40 '
  • Steering angle 62 °
  • Light alloy cast wheels, front 1.85 × 18, rear 2.18 × 18
  • Front tires 90 / 90-18-51 H, rear 110 / 90-18-51 H
  • Double disc brake at the front (hydraulically operated, disc diameter 267 mm, American version with single disc brake)
  • Simplex drum brake at the rear (mechanically operated, drum diameter 180 mm)

Dimensions and weights

  • Total length 2210 mm
  • Total width 750 mm
  • Seat height 775 mm
  • Empty weight (full tank) 215 kg (XZ 550 S: 228 kg)
  • permissible total weight 410 kg
  • Tank capacity 17 liters (of which 2.7 liters reserve)
  • Top speed 195 km / h (XZ 550 S: 185 km / h)

Situation today

The Yamaha XZ550 achieved a certain level of approval among enthusiasts; on January 1, 2015, the Federal Motor Transport Authority in Germany counted 65 approvals for the 47 kW version (type 172) and 196 approvals for the 37 kW version (type 173), in total 261 motorcycles; compared to January 2013, however, a decrease of around 50 percent.

The supply of spare parts is no longer optimal for this model. Used, the 550 is sometimes offered at low prices, as original parts, if available at all, are sometimes expensive. Since 2000 there has been an annual meeting of XZ friends at different locations. Information on repairs and the procurement of spare parts is also exchanged there.

The engine concept itself was promising, so Yamaha continued to use the basic concept for other models: initially as a V4 in the Yamaha XVZ 12/13 Venture , which from 1984 to 1992 was to compete with the Honda Gold Wing as a luxury tourer . This originally 90 hp engine was then the basis for the power unit of the V-Max , in which this engine achieved an output of 145 hp after a fundamental revision of the cylinder head. The V-Max was produced from 1984 to 2006. And the engine of the Yamaha cruiser XVZ1300A Royal Star, which has been built since 1996, is also based on the engine of the XZ550.

Bibliography

  • Joachim Kuch: Yamaha type compass, motorcycles since 1970 . Motorbuch-Verlag Stuttgart, 2005, ISBN 3-613-02267-2
  • Georg Mühlbacher: Yamaha Type Book - The Complete Model History . Verlag Geramond, 2007, ISBN 3-7654-7702-8

Web links