16 Honda NX125

Just what a beginner needs—a non-threatening

footer that soaks up abuse.

23 Yamaha FZR400 EXUP

In the name of purer air, higher performance for California.

36 The 1000-Mile Day

Honda GL1500/6 Gold Wing, Kawasaki XII Voyager.

Yamaha XVZ1300 Venture, and Suzuki 1400 Calvalcade:

How they stack up after a 1000-mile day and a

2100-mile weekend. Yes. there is a winner.

48 Side Shots

All roads lead to Lottaburger.

14 Product Evaluation: Held Road-Racing Gloves

I wanna Held your hand1

30 Fast By Ferracci

Whatever this man touches really gets up to speed.

By Kevin Cameron

56 Celebrations: The Homecoming

Harley 's 85th Anniversary Hide: Good will and good works.

61 Celebrations:

On The Road Of The True Believers

Up the mountain with the Italian gang.

By Matt Miles

77 Ducati 750 Sport

Part Paso, part F1, from Bologna, with love.

By Bruno de Prato

7 EditoriaNMusic /Phil Schilling

8 Letters/More

12 Head On/Perfect/Chip Furlong

64 T D CI Useful Fear/Ke vin Cameron

67 Bits/En^/ne On A StickfHm Carrithers

75 Road Test Index

Californians get the

EX UP version of Yamaha’s

FZR400 and discover

there can be better

performance in purer air.

□ Straight from the better-late-than-

never file comes the FZR400 EXUP, the

California-only version of Yamaha’s

sporty derringer. The Golden State’s

good fortune can be traced to CARB

(California Air Resources Board), which

required that the FZR incorporate new

technology to meet emission require-

ments. One surprising side benefit of

that technology—called EXUP (Exhaust

Ultimate Power Valve)—is more power,

and that’s an entirely new twist in per-

formance history.

Generally, California's tighter emis-

sion standards result in models that pro-

duce less horsepower than their 49-state

counterparts. Last year Cycle docu-

mented that fact by dyno testing three

models (Yamaha's FZR1000 and

Honda’s CBR600 and CBR1000) in both

California-spec and 49-state tune. The...