Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

, - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - ----,W,J O ne tester ou t of th ree called th e brakes grab by, and opinion spli t three ways about the prec isio n of th e steering, wh ich seems t o ind icat e that you either adapt to th e ma ch in e 's resp o nses or you don' t. A llowing for th e lac k of flywheel eff ect and using the Ex ac ta's re sponsiveness and light weight to best effect, it can be ridden predic tably an d enj o yably o ver terrain so cab by th e average desert rider refuse s to lo a k while you're d oing it. Let's talk abou t t ha t " tri als only " pla card . A t 199 p ounds ad ve rt ised, th e Exact a is o ne of the lightest 25 0 's around. (We'd swear it feels even lighter). Weight 's been cu t seriously to make it co m pe ti ti ve , and the frame is .... • Ready for a good swift Dl:II 2 kick en the can? New Klotz 40 , I concentrated oil comes in a 16 oz . zip-top con (we wonted you suds d rinkers to feel at homeland mixes with five gallons of ga s or a lcohol. And talk a bout a kick! New Klotz 40' 1 helps deliver the some kind of extra po wer over o rd inary oils that you've come to expect from Klotz . And Klotz-power is a proven fa ct. (' See the test of 35 pop ular oils in a recent issue of DIRT BIKE" Magazine.) New Klotz 40 ' 1 has the other Klotz features too. Like no plug fouling. Minimal exha ust smoke. A cleaner eng ine. Easier starting. And superior film streng th Dl:II .... =g And there's more . L more. We 'd like to ots send you our new new 16 pa ge Klotz brochure. It ha s the full story an a ll of the Klotz-"Power To Go" product s. 'We'll a lso send alo ng a 6" Klotz decal and a repr int of the DIRT BIKE" Magazine oil test article. Just send us your nome and add ress a long with 25~ to cove" posta ge a nd hand ling. If you include 50¢ we'll send a II of the above plus a Klotz sew-on pat ch. g ~ r0'1 ....... Dea ler inq uiries a re a Iwoys welcome . Klo tz Special Fo rmula Prod ucts, Inc. Box 1343. Dept e N 74 Ft. Wayne, Indiana 468 0 1 !JfIJ(j}JffPllWEllIOGO protect ion . J: u c: .J :> Z J: """".............._-,Q Practica lly not h ing sticks o ut bey o nd t he forks. .. . ( 4 '. • • .J .J UJ al a. :; « u UJ z ,5 1-o urselves using second an d third almo st ex cl usively fo r section- ty pe wo rk, It 's d ifficul t to co mmen t on the sus pens io n , _ b ec a use th e su spen sion seld om in truded itse lf o n the riders' co nscio us ness . It is very soft front and re ar . The o nly " trick" fea tu re on an otherwise straigh tforward sus pension J: o II: .J :> z J: o , Some of the cu stomer niceties: Sw ing arm chain o iler. chain tensioner, two-stage rear shock spri nging. system is th e co mp o un d springing o n the rea r shocks, which w as inc o r po ra t ed on the product ion bikes after Jeff Ko sk ie told them ho w bad the single -wou nd spri ngs on t he p ro to ty pe shoc ks were. On e o f o ur teste rs felt the fr o nt end had to o much ten dency to " h un t, " an other fe lt th e rear en d didn' t stay put under power. Taken as a wh o le, yo u'd have to be better trials ride rs than we to poke hol e s in the sus pension 's per formance. chrome mo ly steel A tri als bike is stressed fo r far less impact lo ad in g than , say, a mo t oc rosser or a desert sled by designer 's intent. Chro me m oly doesn't bend , it's bri t tle an d it breaks. And it 's expensive. Word t o th e wise an ' a ir t hat. They also men tion the engine. Set u p as it is, it 's likely t o lean out a t sustain ed high cra nk spe eds. We also have a sneaking h unc h about th e ign iti o n ci rc u itry, based o n an adm itt edl y s ketc hy e lect ro n ics b ackground. All previous pointless igniti on s have an aut omati c ad vance curve buil t into t he circ uit ry, and nearly al l o f them get a lit tl e unstable at ex tremely lo w cran king speeds . T he spar k's there, bu t it doesn't alw ays occ ur a t the same ti me . As suc h , t hat's a nu isan ce o n an yt hing bu t a tr ials bike. So Suzuki has specified (we suspec t) di ff eren t discr et e co mpo ne nts in the igni t ion which " tu ne " it for stable resp o n se at low speeds, an d it wor ks slicker'n greased owl poop. Troub le is, wit h ele ct ro nics, yo u seldom get a free lu nch, so we suspect that t im in g inst ability m ay creep in at the high end of the R PM scale, wh ich would be instant disaster , li enee th e w arning placard. Is it as good as t he Spanish tri als bikes? That's a bi t of a hooker, since o ne staffer owns a Sh erpa T and is admittedly prej ud iced . At $1125 suggested re tai l p ri ce, le t 's say it 's ab o ut $200 less good. Wh ich is a snide way o f say ing t hat fo r t he mo n ey, it's a b o u t as good a trialer as yo u can buy . The differ en ces between t he Suzuki an d th e Sp ani sh b ikes wo uld be less signi fican t th an th e differences in most rid ers ' ab iliti es , which is probab ly what S uzu ki is co unti ng o n in se lling t he RL to the Novice ride r. Fo r a tr ialer t hat is, in • addi tio n, so handsome, it 's a steal. KLOTZ 40:1 If you're replacing your leathers more than once a year, you're not wearing Bill Walters Leathers. BILL WALTERS LEATHERS Suggested Retail (West Coastl . . Wheelbase Handlebar Width . $1125 . 53 in. 33 .5 in. Ground Clearance l' C. (') 'C f.: <. ~O n ,, 't,,-, 't, c.) l"c C' t l.O T'&O 199 lb. Engi ne Displacement . . ..•... . . . .•. 246cc Bore x Stroke . . . . . . .. • ... .. . . 70 x 64mm HP [ctaimed. SAE Net l . .. . . 18 @ 6000 RPM Torque (ctaimed) . . , .16.6 h- Ib @ 4500 RPM COmpression 6.7:1 Tran smission 5-spd .• const. mes h Tires: Fron t 2.75 ·21 4PR Tires: Rear 4.00 ·18 4PR Fuel Capacity 1.3 gal. NOTE: The RL250 L Model is expressly excluded f rom an y Suzu k i warranty . ore." TI;- T'I:" or,,, rvo \1;."("I;" nc.n t, " 0 tf!~ ~ NGK STANDARD PLUGS ~ regu lar pr ice . . . . . .. .. .. . . . . . .• . . .. . . . . . .. . . . $1 .10 sale price $ .6 9 CHAM PION GO LD PLUGS regu lar price $2.50 sale price $1.50 24020 Narbo n ne Ave.• Lomita, CA . 907 17 . Phone (213) 534 ·23 11 11.4 in. Dry Weight Iclaimedl f'I:" 445 So . Victory Blvd. Burba nk. Californio 91502 f, !~~THe~t'MAHA , Specifications ,W n,' ~l;" BW 0 t & 0 t & 0 't"l;C,)'t£Cl T'& O 't"l;(,)'t£Cl r z o "(, COMPETITION SHOCK ABSORBERS • • • • • FIVE WA Y ADJUSTABLE CHROMED & POLISHED DOUBLE DAMPENING REBUILDABLE STREET OR R ACI NG DISTRIBUTED BY Sammy T an n er Distributing 17213 Roseton Ave n ue Ar te sia, CA 90701 213/924-2111 Betor Forks and Shocks Make the Difference 31

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