The Yamaha YX600S Radian

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1986 Yamaha YX600S Radian
1986 Yamaha YX600S Radian
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1986 Honda CB700SC Nighthawk
1986 Honda CB700SC Nighthawk
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1986 Kawasaki ZL600 Eliminator
1986 Kawasaki ZL600 Eliminator

Years produced: 1986-1990 
Claimed power: 66hp @ 9,500rpm (56hp @ 9,500rpm/period test)
Top speed: 125mph (period test)
Engine type: 598cc DOHC, air-cooled inline four
Transmission: 6-speed/chain final drive
Weight: 436lb (wet)
Price then: $2,399 (1986)
Price now: $750-$1,850
MPG: 45-55

The mid-1980s were challenging times for the motorcycle industry. After years of double-digit growth, motorcycle manufacturers everywhere found themselves fighting a steep slide in sales, with little hope of a quick rebound. Faced with a changing and constricting market, Yamaha, like every company, took a long look at its products and considered how it should adapt to a new reality. Shedding the bikes that had carried it into the 1980s, the Hamamatsu-based company redefined its image with a new range of machines including the V-twin Viragos, the Maxim series, the Vision and the FJ series. In 1985, Yamaha hit two major home runs when it introduced the 5-valve FZ750 sport bike and the V-Max, a liquid-cooled, 1,200cc V-4 adrenalin rush that quickly became the new king of the strip and the street.

The new standard
It was in this environment that Yamaha rolled out the apparently all new (more on that in a moment) YX600 Radian for 1986. Although hailed as a new standard, stylistically it was sort of a Mini-Me to Mr. Max, with Max-like touches including chromed tops on its CV carbs, chromed plastic “velocity stacks,” chromed instrument pods, and 7-piece plastic bodywork (excepting the metal gas tank) clipped to a relatively low-slung chassis. Power came from an air-cooled, 598cc inline four exhausting through a stubby, chromed 4-into-2 exhaust system. A 6-speed transmission took care of shifting duties, while a chain delivered the Radian’s claimed 66hp to the rear wheel.

So what made it an “apparently” all new motorcycle? In as much as the Radian was a new model and something of a new look for Yamaha, there was very little on the YX that hadn’t already seen service on another Yamaha. For all its newness, the Radian was a parts room special, created by raiding the corporate parts bin and deftly combining bits and pieces until Yamaha’s engineers and stylists ended up with their desired result.

Using existing parts to create something new was hardly a fresh concept; manufacturers have been doing it forever, and still do. For one, it’s economical, enabling a manufacturer to use proven and — more importantly — paid for pieces. For another, it cuts development time enormously, since most of the bike already exists, its parts just waiting to get reassigned to a new whole.

  • Published on Jun 3, 2009
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