Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

pat ien t , you can ri de it to your favorite din, even if it's a two-h our run o n the free way. T aking yo ur stock-geared , trials-tired DT400 o ff -road, you can expect to have fun a n d co ver beau coup ground if you pick you r way with a little care and ride wi thin th e m ach in e's limitations. Of th ese , th er e are several. Tires firs t. There's just not enough lug on a tri als tire for m aking speed o n soft , sandy, or mudd y soil with a tractor like th is. Mind you, it is a tractor. Traction permitting, it will grunt up humongous hill s a t 2 0 0 0 RPM in third gear with th e rid er cl im b in g th e gasca p to keep the front end d own . Ridden in this mode, it has th e st eering preci sion and the torque t o pi ck its way uphill among the co b bies t o f ro cks. But th e traction was th e bi g limiter on o u r t est bi ke a nd most h illclimbing be cam e a m atter o f m omen tum m angem ent , be cause th e engine was ca pab le o f digging a hole in a hills ide in the firs t three gears, once m omen tum was lo st . N or are th e stock tires very co n tr o lla b le slid ers on hardpan and powder dust. Wher e traction is go od, the bik e likes to be motocrossed off ruts and berms , a nd th e front wheel stays under good co n tro l, pro vided you_ co n scio us ly shi ft wei gh t to keep it o n the ground. That 's good , because the rear do esn 't al wa ys wan t to fo llo w . It 's a tremend ous d o ugh n ut-cutter, if you ca n han g o n to it. . The o ther lim it er "is the rear s us pe ns io n . Harsh a nd see m ingly underdamped, wh en yo u h it the kin d o f rocks yo u ca n' t bulld oze o ut of the way, th er e 's air un d er the fear wheel more often th an not. If y o u " banzai" a rough secti on, yo u so metimes ac tually lo se mo me n tu m b ecause o f lo ss of rear tractio n. Better to slo w d own a nd let her grunt, With all this wheel hop and rear-end pi tch in g going o n , th e mach in e stays fairly st raigh t. Since early DT· l d a ys, bo th swi ngarm len gth and overa ll wheelbase have in cr ea sed , which o n ' analysis is kind o f a sto ne-ax e way o f coping wi t h inad equat e suspens ion un its, b ut it does the jo b. Tail-wagging is minimal under power , and tracking in sand or mud is good under p ower. Throttle-o ff , it d em ands a bit m ore co ncen t ratio n to stay straigh r, Mud and water don't st o p th e DT400 un less th e goo ge ts deep eno ugh fo r the rear t ire to st art suc kin g the tail under. Aside from th at , th e m achine is watertigh t , has a well -pr otected airbox and alm o st limitless power; . given adeq ua te tires. The o ne time we did get it st uck, another quirk sh o we d u p . When th e clu tc h is real ly bru t al ized , the al loy clutch cage expa nd s fro m th e hea t a nd th e cl utch adjustment go es away. No t the clutch itself, it is a p parently fry-proof. As it h eats u p , lever slac k increases un til yo u're back aga inst th e grip wi th it. When th e cl u tc h co o ls down, it goes back to normal agai n . The am oun t of expa ns io n /co ntraction is equivalen t to four o r more turns with th e c a b le a dj us ter. I n end uro co m petitio n, this co uld b e dam ne d a n noyi ng, if n o t di s astrous at bottlenecks. At 272 pounds, it 's not the so rt of m o u n t you'll pack out of the woods o n yo u r shoulders. A second q uirk was e ngine surge at part-thro ttle o r less, wh ich became especially a n noying wh en trying to pla y trials ride r. It 's a com b ina tio n o f huge pist on, ind iffere n t scave nging a t lo w crankcase pressures, an d (p o ssibly ) a tendency fo r th e solid-sta te ignitio n to "hunt." for it s firing poin t a t very lo w cranking speeds. The su rg e is m o st noticea bl e on th e s tr eet , a nd m o st ann oy in g wh en trying to e x ecute.a very tight lo w-speed turn , only to h ave th e engi n e sto p dead when yo u least exp ec t ed it. . mu ch fo r th e DT400 ' s So weaknesses. It s streng ths are ex tre me g r unt, h igh -speed stability , precise steeri ng a nd reas onab ly p re dic ta b le responses. It is fun to rid e, e ven in stock fo rm , fun to di al it on a nd feel a ll th a t urge , fu n to grunt u p hills, fu n to t rav e rse sandwashes, st reams , a nd sh all ow mud. It co uld be m ore fun on d o w nh ill s with a hand-con trolled co m p ressio n release . We don't th in k th e rear b rake is as grabby as oth er testers h ave sa id. Clu tch in , th e d ownh ill b ra king is precise, b al a n c e d f or wei ght shi f t , a nd contro llab le at bo th e nds. Clutch engaged, it 's the engin e th at gra bs th at rear wh eel and sn at ch es it to a st an d still , no t t he b rake. Pity ab o ut th a t . co m p ressio n rel ease. . . . The pegs and fo ot controls are agres sivdy toothed and relieved for mud, plus the pegs ar e adju stab le for height. Peg-sea t-bar rela tion is good fo r stand up or sitdown ridin g (in th e rough , yo u 11 st an d - th e re ar shocks insist) but th e grip s a re instant blisters. Copy Ourys , pl eas e, honorable facto ry , Rims are sh o ulderless st eel with rimlo ck s front and rear - good stout peasant virtues. Plastic fenders, likewise. T o ols , o iltan k fill er and battery tuc k under a lockable seat. 'The air cle aner is accessibl e fr om th e sid e. The exhaus t , derived fro m earlier mo to cr os sers , t uck s ou t of sight and mind excep t fo r th e sile ncer bulb, which is vu lnera b le to th e more sp ec tacular kinds o f cr ash es . T u m signals ar e rubber mounted .a t th e rear, slung o n th e handlebars at the • • rI.I S PECI A L N O T E : I f o u r p ric es look hi g h er. you 're ri g h t. We d id not ra ise o u r Mikuni K i t price s for f our ye ars. bu t beca use tee c o st of e v e ry t hi ng has gone up so m uch . w e 've ha d to adj ust o u r p r ice to y o u We hope y o u w ill u nd e rst a nd Ja Ja ...:I g ..... g If yo u ride a Husky. CZ or Pento n. ther e 's a Va,lerian 's Mikun i Ca rbu re to r Convers ion Kit for yo u. Ou r kits are te sted . The y work.The y lit. We ha ve fo und the y su bsta ntia lly impro ve gas mileage . hor se pow e r an d to rque . Vale rian's Mikuno kits re du ce loading up. Ease startup s And Clive more do c ibility. The y co me With a comple te ra nge of jets good from sea leve l to 8.00 0 fe e l. The y ca n be bolt e d o n in le s s than a n hc ur: The y look like they're facto ry-insta lle d. O rder a whole kit and kaboooie. O r just the pa rts you need . (Inc lUd ing o ur very own ma nifo ld k its.) Just fill out an d mail the coupo n be low, Or give us a call at (2 13 ) 4 75-454 1. "Speclatmsteuanon m st rucn on s I(IT : I 2 3 .. " 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 ' ,..3, ,, 16 DESCRIPTION 250Cl32mm 250 CZ 34m m 360- 400 Cl 34m m 36Q-400Cl36mm 250 H usky 3210 re place 32 250 H usk y 34 to re place 36 250 H usky 32 10 re orace 36 360 H usky 321 0 rc ntace 3 2 360 H usky 34 10 replace 36.. 36 0 H usky 32 1 recra ce ae 0 400 Husky 34 to repl ace 32 40 0 Husky 34 to eectace 36 250 H usky MJ +M K32mm 250 Hu sky MJ + M K 3 4mm 400H uSky MJ -+- MK 3 4mm 450H uSky MJ + 'MK 34 mm PRICE 5 7595 S8 1 95 S8 1 9 5 s a6 95 S77 9!) S8095 S '7795 5 7795 S8095 5 7795 SBO 9 5 sao 9 5 S7795 S80 95 58 0 95 S80 95 KIT :: 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 DESCR IPTION 125 Penl on 3 2mm 125 Penton 30mm 125 Penton 28mm 175 Penlon 32mm 175 Penton 34mm 125 CZ 32 mm 125 Husky 32mm 360 H usky 36 1 re place 36 0 360 H usky 38 1 rep lace 36 0 400 H usky 36 1 repla ce 36 , 0 400 Husk y 38 to rep lace 3 6 400 Hu sev MJ + MK 36mm 400 H uskyMJ -+-M K 38mm 450 Husky MJ -+- MK 36mm 450 H uSky MJ -+- MK 38mm 400 CZ 38mm 2 ~ CZ 36mm O'l ...... ...... C'J >.... ro ;:l I: ro ~ be In cluded for. Ki ts 17. 18 & 19 W Ill lC') r- PRICE 5 73 95 56 9 95 56895 $ 7795 5B0 9 5 S76.9 5 5 7895 589 95 59395 589 95 $9 3 95 SB995 59395 S8995 59395 59095 586 95 . Special su per teflon smooth c ables are av a ita ble for $ 425 and a M lk u n i tu n i ng info r m at ion boo k let fo r $2 20 P le ase Inc l ud e a ~ 3 00 s h ip p ing & han d ling t e e cetno rnta res id e nt s ad d 6% sa le s t a x Pri c e s subject t o c ha nge Without notic e Ple ase shi p C .O D 0 Please c harge t o 0 B a n kAm e n c ard M y acco un t n um be r i s 0 Mast er C ha rge E x pi ra ti on da t e B Ik e Make/Mode l Yr._ _ F ra m e N o _ NAM E , _ ADDRESS _ ClTy MA il TO: STATE ~ , tIl" 'II rf)) ~(('ef(( VU ZIP TELEPHON E-;::::::-:= -=:;:-; tuse area coc e ) _ _ ~~p~~~!a~-~:!?~ Ltd. Los Angeles. Call iorn ia 9006 4 - Tetepncn e : (213) 4i5-4541 Sales - Serv ice - Acc esso ries - Parts - leathers H U S Q VA R N A . CZ . SUZ U KI . PE NTON . MIK UNI C A R B U R ET O R K ITS - i, (Contin ued on page 34 ) - ~"e .1I ~ {t)\,... CYCLE PART S __ • ,uQ !!liP a \15 ~'I- ~O e fo r in f o contact : Apache Ltd. \'!4I ~J'O u f O Bo. 6422 San Fernando Road G lenda le. CA 91201 12131 246-824 1 WATCH FOR OUR NEXT BIG 8ALE IN TH IS PAPER 21

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