Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125867
'iOver the • aground ; lightly :~with >-5UZU ki' IS 2, Exacta trialer & Riding • • Impression By Lane Campbe ll We've spenr a long time watching prototypes of this bike being ridden at So Cal trials meets by Jeff Koskie, Gordon Farley, and more lately, Gustav Hermelin and Joe 1ge, as the machines finally became available on the West Coast in production quantities - a • 30 long time waiting to ride it. During this time of watching the prototypes in competition (be ing ridden to consistent high placings, though never winning), and waiting. two questions seemed uppermost : Has Suzuki really made a solid-state ignition work in a trials bike? An d, ho w good is it compared to the Spanish bikes? When Campbell Suzuki of Whittier, CA made a demo available fresh o ut of th e box , we go t a chance to fin d ou t at least a few things in a short tes t session at Valley Cycle Park. Overall, the visual impression is that someone has done their homewor k well . The Suzuki Exacta is a fully-deve loped tr ials mot or cycle that, while we were waiting for it, was engineered and styled into a very handsome pro d uction package. As a sales package, it has incorporated many niceties, like a chain tensioner, an automatic chai n oiler using the sw ing arm as an oil reservoir, and primary kickstarting. As a co mpetitive trials bike that was intended as such, there are a couple of things it does without - like oil injection and any pretense of a lighting system on U.S .-bound models. There is also a little placard on it that says, in effect, "intended for trials use only. Engaging in any other type of competition may damage the frame or engine." That has some significance . As a production-line article that of necessity must share some parts with o ther bikes in the Suzuki product line, there's a couple things it's st uck with. The lower end of the engine is developed fro m the same cas tings as the MX and enduro 250's, which is a m ixed b lessing. Su zuki has created a two str o ke 25 0 single wi th about the mo st compact cran kcase area there is. It's so co mpact that co mpared to it, th e cI ut ch housing is an o bscene bulge. Th e compact part is good , but the lack of fly whe el effect is so me thing th at , un fortunately , carried over from other Su zu ki models. Suz uki also appears to have ada p te d the full -width h ubs from one of the sma ller bikes, rather than develop special trials hubs an d brakes. All these parts ta ken together resu lt in a bike that weighs a clai med 199 po unds dry and ac tually feels lighter. It is a first kick starte r, in ge ar or o ut, and once up o n the pe gs it feel s as slim as an arrow bet ween your knees. Yo u have all sorts of room to body-English it about under you, and the bike encourages you to do so. The seat you don't notice, because you seldom sit on it. It 's there and that's about it. Even though the designers ben t and co n torted the kickstarter, even putting a little ding in the exhaust pipe for it to tuck into. you can still hook it with a boot or a leg while c1aV'0ering about on the bike. At worst, it's merely a nuisance. T hat first question is answered immediately - the solid state ignition works very well . There is absolutely no lumpiness to the idle, no tcndency for the ignition to "hunt" for its firing point at low cranking speeds, never does it want to run backwards when you grunt down to a near-standstill in a tight, climbing tum. It pulls cleanly and strongly, with (after a seat-of-the-pants testers' poll) more power than say, a 250 Sherpa T, less than a Yamaha TY-250, and quicker throttle response than either. That quickness, largely due to the lack of flywheel effect, is deceptive. While it allows you to pick the fron t end up any time, any place, in any gear first through third, and set it down where you want, it also becomes possible to generate great gobs of wheelspin at times and places you least want it. The power comes on too quickly for the tire to ho ld on loose, scrabbly surfaces. Fortunately, the problem is common enough that there are already kits to add flywheel weight to Suzukis. The extra weight will soften the power and slow the throttle response, but it's a reasonable compromise that has to be made fo r serious trials rid ing on marginal traction. Question is, ho w many will be serious enough to bother since ou t of the box the bike is better than most riders? We fo und the best way to ride it was using the highest gear it wo uld pull at the speed we chose to a ttack a section, then keep rnornen tum high to avo id bogging or wheelspinning in the lo ose stuff. (Agai n, t he lack of goo d old sticky m ud in Sou thern Califo rn ia m a k e s trials tes ting a sor ta o ne-d ime nsional affair here.) I n setting up the gearbox ratios, Suzuki has chosen to put the first three close togeth er for section rid ing with a long step to fourth, and another, sligh tly less rad ical gap to fif th. T his gearspacing is near ideal for riding the loop at a trials event, as well as fo r the casua l cowt railing it will be used fo r o n off weekends. Out of the bo x, first seems almost too low. We foun d