Yamaha's YZF Superbike was into it's second revision by now and the competition had overtaken it in the performance stakes. Kawasaki's ZXR 7 R, and Suzuki's GSXR 750 were both ahead of the Yam when it came down to a power shoot-out, and Honda's Fireblade was beyond these again. The only thing the YZF had left going for it was its impeccable handling, an engine that would endure the worst of abuse dished out and a loyal following of riders who wanted to prove that the "Blade", was only any good for straight line speed, and that the majority of the "Blades" riders, were incapable of going round corners.
The revisions that had reached this model were notably, an Ohlins rear shock with preload/rebound/compression damping adjustment. Revalved 41mm USD forks with preload/rebound/compression damping adjustment. A larger surface area, curved radiator. Throttle and gear position sensors, linked to a digitally mapped ignition system. A refined fairing to reduce drag and increase cold air flow around the engine and radiator. The engine has remained largely unchanged, but again revisions to the EXUP have been made.
1996 saw another, and ultimately final, revision to the YZF, as Yamaha announced that they were stopping the production of the UK model. This was really bad timing, as the domestic Superbike series was about to be white-washed by the Yamaha "Cadbury's Boost" team, with Niall Mackenzie taking first place and team mate Jamie Witham, taking second. The same thing happened the next year, Niall taking first place and his new team mate, Chris Walker, had a very good finish to the season. And this was to continue into the 1998 season, again with a new team mate, Steve Hislop, both Niall and Steve dominated the British Superbike series.
As I said we can expect to see the new model this year though. Lets face it, with Edwards and Russell both on the YZF in the World Superbike series, and Niall Mackenzie making monkeys out of both of them in the Brands Hatch round in `97, they won't be too happy about the situation.
Who knows what the model will be called, but my money is on either "YZF 7 RR" or "OW02". Then again with the countless revisions the FZR1000 went through in its life, chances are they will just call it "YZF 750 R (98)". Guess we'll just have to wait and see.
