From the saddle, such minor styling quirks aren't too intrusive. The Zeal could be a touch narrower around the back of the tank and have some more knee room, but bars and pegs are sensibly touring orientated rather than senselessly replica inspired. The bike feels much bulkier than it is in reality. A mere 320lbs for a water-cooled DOHC four is close to miraculous, although all of the other Jap companies have similar offerings, this being the most competitive sector in Japan.
The Yamaha further benefits from its lowly slung motor, which is also relatively narrow. Once on the move the bike’s easier to flick around than a 250 Superdream with much less of a top heavy feel. The bike feels so neutrally balanced that it immediately inspires throttle madness. No learning curve here!
The engine’s also easier going than shorter stroke offerings from rival manufacturers and has the kind of silky smoothness that comes from top quality design and engineering. The Japanese really know how to pare the reciprocating masses down to the bare minimum, which gives less stress and vibration right throughout the engine.
Although not full of massive torque below 7000 revs, it wasn't as flat as expected and would pull reasonably in third or fourth gear. The gearbox was the weakest part of the bike (with 8500 miles on the clock), having a mild dose of clunking and clicking if used at less than 10,000 revs (thereafter slickness was superb!).
Stock engines are limited to 40 horses at 12000 revs but there are illegally modified ignition boxes that let it peak out at about 50 horses at 14000rpm! Luckily, this mod didn’t ruin the low end friendliness, just gave the motor an extra kick. The stocker peaked at 110mph in neutral conditions but modified more than a 120mph was put on the clock. You understand that in Japan they lock you away for a long time for such antisocial indulgences - it’s much better to get hold of the fastest possible version, so you can get away more easily.
The Zeal runs relatively primitive suspension, mere twin shocks out back. Bumpy roads taken at high speed have it shuffling around a little, more down to a lack of damping finesse that particularly poorly sprung suspension. The front end goes down on the stops when braking becomes harsh, though the disc brakes are quite sensitive, easy enough to gauge the necessary pressure even in the wet. It's just that some of the Jap cagers go certifiably insane once placed behind the wheel of some blandly inadequate auto. They react to a badly ridden, speeding projectile wobbling around on two wheels by trundling into its path, full on the horn with spastic gestures of total disbelief at my antics. They were worse than Belgians!
The Yam was also a bit limited in the way it would hustle through the cages when locked up on the brakes. Sometimes the thing went way out of line, a borderline case that suggested loss of control was just about to go down. I found, for instance, a CB-1 rather more amenable to highway insanity. To be fair to the Yamaha, I only had a brief tenure and a tightened up front end would doubtless have removed all my complaints.
Fuel was another area that didn’t impress. OK, I thrashed the balls off the thing but the equivalent of 35mpg was worse than most autos. I can only guess that all the frictional forces involved in moving four pistons and associated bearings undermined its high technology and advanced design elements. Ridden mildly, better than 50mpg is probably possible but that’s rather a large misuse of this kind of machine, though the Japs seem to do more mild posing than hard riding.
Rust hadn't got a hold after a year’s abuse, though bits of the engine alloy had a fur of white corrosion. The only element of real wear was the rubber, down to about 3mm on OE tyres, but these were way ahead of the old Jap rubber and still keen at keeping a grip on slippery tarmac.
The only time I almost came a cropper was down to the lack of adhesion on my own boots (which looked like I'd walked around the world in them). Touching down on a slippery bit of road, whose camber was running away from the bike, my foot shot away and only after a massive bit of juggling did I stop us both sliding away. Had the bike been top heavier I would've been a goner.
Another amusing moment was when some thick cager tried to reverse into my forward path. Hit the brakes in a frenzy and jerk the jumping Yamaha into a gap between two cars. Unfortunately, one of the drivers was a psychopath built like a Sumo wrestler. Armed with a baseball bat, he shuffled out of his cage, threatening to flatten my lid if I didn’t get out of his way pronto.
My poor old heart nearly had a seizure, but I managed a rear wheel skid combined with chronic clutch slip to do a disappearing act. Luckily, he was too fat to run after me. I tried for a wheelie but ended up with a series of jerks that threatened to take out the clutch if not the back wheel’s cush drive.
The Yam soon calmed down again, but I found Tokyo traffic always left me on edge. At the end of each ride I had shaking hands and a madly fluttering heart, from a combination of the sheer, almost impenetrable density of the traffic and the insane antics of the terminally frustrated drivers.
On almost every ride I saw an accident. Usually dented cages but occasionally a flattened motorcycle... manufacturers of commuter bikes should be on to a huge earner as the whole world becomes clogged up with excessive cages - the small bikes are the only way left to weave and wallow through the traffic.
The Yamaha Zeal wouldn't be my first choice for serious commuting as it’s lacking in frugally and despite being small and light for a 250 four, it’s still a bit on the hefty side compared with step-thrus, commuter bikes and scooters. Where it excels is as a flash set of wheels with an interesting line in top end acceleration, easy handling and fairly versatile.
It all comes down to how cheap they are, really nice used ones going for £1800 to £2000 in Japan (which translates to £3500 in the UK). For that kind of money there are better buys in the import market but if the looks get to you then it's worth going for. There were also quite a few crashed and bashed Zeals on offer, best to check them over carefully if they turn up cheap in the UK.
Mike Prescotte