9/9/2023 0 Comments Yamaha scramblerHandling is nimble, but the pegs touch down early. Read our first ride review of the 2015 Yamaha Bolt and Bolt R-Spec With its 942cc V-twin designed for cruiser duty, the SCR950 prefers to be short-shifted to ride the wave of low-end torque. And belt drive is an odd choice for a scrambler, though, understandably, converting the Bolt platform to chain final would have been expensive. An old-school analog speedometer with an LCD inset would have added more retro appeal. There are a few miscues, however, such as the round LED taillight and all-digital meter, both of which look better on the Bolt from which they were lifted. A round headlight, a flangeless steel fuel tank with retro graphics, side covers resembling racing number plates, round mirrors on skinny chrome stalks, rubber fork gaiters, spoked aluminum rims and a 2-into-1 exhaust with (slightly) upswept muffler round out a tidy styling package. With styling inspired by Yamaha’s bygone Big Bear 305 scrambler and XT500 dual-sport, the SCR950 nails the scrambler look and is a more convincing Bolt variant than the café-racer-ish C-Spec.ĭesigned in-house by Yamaha Motor USA, the SCR950 draws inspiration from the tuning-fork company’s own historical lineup, such as its Big Bear 305 scrambler from the ’60s and its XT500 dual-sport from the ’70s. Even now, as I write this, I can see Editor-in-Chief Tuttle out in the parking lot admiring the SCR950’s details. I ride around town on dozens of different bikes every year, but the SCR950 has elicited more double-takes and praise-from guys at the gas station, my neighbors, a dude at my gym, heck, even my wife-than any bike in recent memory. The SCR950, on the other hand, is a heartwarming classic, with a knockabout profile burgeoning with the allure of possibility. While the YZF-R1 supersport-based FZ-10 is certainly exciting to ride ( click here to read our first ride review), its edgy, Transformers-ish styling is severe, menacing and cold. When Yamaha pulled the covers off its SCR950, a scrambler based on the Bolt cruiser platform, last June, there was a palpable sense of excitement in the room full of jaded motojournalists, and it seemed to overshadow the cutting-edge, high-performance FZ-10 that was unveiled soon after. Triumph has had a scrambler in its lineup for years, but only recently has competition begun to heat up with Ducati introducing its family of highly customizable scramblers for 2015 and BMW and Yamaha launching models for 2017. Scramblers, with their stripped-down simplicity and do-it-all ruggedness, inspire a potent blend of carefree playfulness and unencumbered freedom. The SCR950 talks the talk and mostly walks the walk as a scrambler, though it has some built-in limitations. And on the trend-setting custom scene, as the chopper craze crashed and burned, café racers and scramblers rose from the ashes-yet all are rehashes of styles that were popular decades ago. When Triumph revived the iconic Bonneville in 2000, it immediately became a bestseller and still tops Hinckley’s sales charts. Cruisers, with their styling orthodoxy dating back to the 1930s, dominate on-road motorcycle sales here in the U.S. We buy lawnmowers and paper towels to get the job done we buy motorcycles to add excitement to our lives.Īlthough there’s no shortage of motorcycles with state-of-the-art design and performance-sexy bodywork and blistering acceleration have a long history of igniting passions and emptying bank accounts-we’re drawn most heavily toward bikes rooted in the past. And since they’re recreational vehicles, we’re more likely to choose motorcycles for sentimental reasons rather than practical ones. Sure, there’s a dedicated minority who use their motorcycles for commuting and grocery getting, but the majority of us ride on weekends as an escape from the daily grind. Nelson)Īmericans use their motorcycles mostly for recreation, not primary transportation. Yamaha’s new-for-2017 SCR950 is a scrambler based on the Bolt cruiser platform, with retro styling wrapped around a proven V-twin and a solid chassis.
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