We thought we’d let you hear straight from the horse’s mouth what our two test riders had to say about the 2022 Yamaha YZ85 and YZ85LW. Raw. No editing. This is what our kids wrote up when asked to write a “First Impression” on the newest bikes from the bLU cRU.
Jett Lessing / Age: 15 / Ht: 5’2 / Wt. 95lbs
Hi I’m Jett Lessing with dirtbiketest.com and I got the chance to ride the all new 2022 Yamaha yz85 small and big wheel. Overall I enjoyed riding the bike and here’s what I thought. To start, the updated brakes are very strong. The bike is very light and nimble in the air and easy to control over the jumps. The bike was also easy to maneuver in the corners and could be put where you want it. I also noticed the bike pulls out of the corners and has a good bottom end. As the track got rougher towards the end of the day I thought the bike would’ve handled differently. I didn’t receive any headshake or negative feedback from the bike. The stock suspension was very comfortable. After a few sag changes the bike felt really good and was taking the roughness really well. The suspension was on the softer side but I wasn’t bottoming out much, and it held up throughout the day. The stock seat was comfortable and grippy. I could sit up on the tank when taking corners and I wouldn’t slide back. The clutch was very different from my other experiences. It had very little midrange and had to be used aggressively, causing me to shift more and use the clutch less. The bike also likes being high in the rpm’s. Too low of rpm’s will cause it to bog a bit coming out of corners or tight sections. I had some problems with the shifter. On the first couple of laps I noticed that the stock placement was a little low and made it hard to shift up, but after a small adjustment it was feeling much better. I also noticed that it was slippery and made it common for short-shifting and getting caught in between gears, but it wasn’t too noticeable. Overall I really enjoyed the bike and had fun spending the day with Dirtbiketest.com testing the new 2022 Yamaha yz85 small and big wheel bikes.
Pros:
- Brakes
- Easy to maneuver
- Light in the air
- Good bottom end or midrange
- No headshake
- Good stock suspension (not too soft but plush)
- Good stock seat grippy in turns, didn’t slide back
Cons:
- Clutch (has to be used aggressively)
- Needs to be shifted a lot
- Winds out early (needs a bit more top end)
- Shifter (was really low at the beginning so we moved it up one notch) (shortshifted a lot) (kinda slippery and hard to shift up
Other:
- Small handlebars (close together)
- One side is radiator other is gas tank
- Footpegs felt high on the bike but made it easy to stand up over the rough stuff; ktm footpegs are low so when going over the bumps the seat sometimes kicks
Kai Hunter / Age: 13 / Ht: 5’0 / Wt. 98lbs
For the 2022 yamaha yz85 there are some brand new features to it. For the features it is brakes, plastics, subframe, swingarm one price, and the chassi. There are two 85 models and one is the small wheel and the other is the lw (large wheel). Today we were able to test out the bike and we liked how the bike performed. Right when I hopped on the bike I could tell right away that the acceleration is way quicker than my bike and the throttle was really responsive. Coming out of the corners it was an immediate take off but when riding it felt like it would rev out really quick and too much. With the throttle being very snappy you would give it gas and you’re on the power just like that.
Suspension was a little bit more on the softer side. Even though it was soft it was able to charge through the big bumps no problem. When riding the bike I never got bucked over the bars and the bike was able to stay in the corners no problem. Going into the sand corners though the front end would just sink into the sand and not stay up on top of it.
The bike handles really well. When in a rut the bike would just stay in it and not try and jump out of it. One of the problems for me though was the bars felt low compared to what I run and sometimes I would hit my knees on the bars. When in the braking bumps accelerating i didn’t have any head shake with this bike and even when i landed in the braking bumps. In the air if you got a little sideways you would be able to correct it with how light the bike is.
Overall the bike is really well and has the power you need to do a lot of things. The acceleration is phenomenal and with the bike being very light it is easy to move around and you can flow through the whole track. The bike sounds really good and feels good and I think that it has the potential to win many races with that bike.
First Impression Video:
