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/125981
The spring stiffness of the rear suspension and its t end ency t o bottom o~t under less than full racing conditions Was the only real complaint. suspension imposes. The en gine mounts to the swi ngarm pivot to become an integal part of th e fr ame and save wei gh t. Shocks are gas ch arged Girlings. Nitrogen gas is pre-foamed into the sho ck 's oil to prevent fade due to oil foamin g while the shoc ks are workin g. The frame h as he avier duty fork stops with rubber ends. The rear bra ke pedal is adj usta b le for p osit ion. The cha in guide is now free floatin g. Plastic A.B.S. fenders are flexible rubber mounted. Th e seat is mu c h lower n ow. and tape rs sm oothly up ove r th e aluminum fuel tank wh ich is j us t large eno ugh to get you thro ugh a 45 min ute moto . At the rear of the b ike, a shoulderless Akront alloy rim lies nestled inside of a 4.50 Trelleborg 4 ply motocross tire. Up front, th er e 's another shoulderless Akront rim inside an other Trelleborg , but this rim is laced up to a larger diameter front b rake than las t yea r. The front brake weighs less th ough , as well as the o ne at th e b ack, be cau se both now have magnesium ba ck ing plates. Fro nt forks hav e new , stro nger low er c a stings a nd i m p r o ve d in t ern al dampening. ' There arc also a num ber -of rhinor deta il improv ements , among the m being ny lo n lo ck nuts on th e swi ng a rm p ivot axle , wiring for a ki ll bu tto n sw itc h, nylon cable s, an d le ve r co ve rs. Performance , Sitt ing o n th e new 25 0 CR Gr an d Prix, t he feeling and rel ati onship of co n tro ls see ms similar to last ye ar's M K series b ike excep t for the seat. Due to the inc re ased rear wh eel t ravel , t he back section o f th e cantilever fram e p ut s the firml y padded sea t up high . Gon e is t he old Husky " feci" o f si tt ing in side o f, and feeling a part o f th e bike. We d id o ur testing o f th e Hu sk y at Orl ando Sports Stadium , wh ich has been used yearly fo r the Trans-Al\IA and Winter-AMA Series eve nts. T he course hadn 't be en touch ed since last fall's Trans-AMA race, so the no rmally dem and in g s and track was in its toughest s ha pe e ver , wit h sand whoop-de-des approachi ng p ro p o rti o ns of 3 feet high and 3 fee t apa rt ou t on th e b ack sectio n of the track. Even with th e 4 .50 rear Trelleb org . tire, th e 25 0 CR wo uld spin t he back wh eel effortlessly when a ccelerated off tile line in 2 nd gea r, with no slipping of th e clut ch required to keep t he en gin e fr om b ogging. By the time th e b ike was half wa y down th e fr ont st raigh t it wanted to be in 5 t h gea r b ecau se it rev s up fast, and ea ch up sh ift o f the sh ort travel lever seemed to still leav e the engine screa ming fo r a higher gear. The bike is definitel y fast because t he 6 speed Close Ratio gearbox won't let th e engine get anywhere near falling off o f peak power . Even t ho ugh it puts out no mo re ho r sepower t han last year's engine . in the hands of an experien ced rider who can use th e gearbox prop erl y, this year's 6 spe ed CR is faster. In the handling dep artment , the new front forks dampen beautifully. At the rear though , the ca ntilev er susp en sio n behaves quite differently from convential swi ng arm systems. In o rd er to ride the Grand Prix replica, and have the 'r e ar suspension work at all. yo u're goi ng to have to learn very q uick ly to ride like a Gr and Pri x ride r. If yo u do n' t , yo u ' ll end up o n you r head in no ti me at all. With th e sta ndard 12 5 lb . springs, the bike requires that 'th e t hrottle be full on, fo rcing t he rear suspe nsion into t he ground as it tackles a rough sectio n. Co mbined with full thrott le, you lean way back, pushing yourself away fro m the handlebars, and your feet forward into the pegs. That extra long seat co mes in ha ndy about now. If you shut the throttle off, or don't lean back , the rear of the bike will stan to pogo wildly and probably co me aro und sid eway s on y o u if the track is rough. If you don't ride the GP Husky fast, then the suspension won't work properly. The Orlando Sports Stadium track has some pretty mean jumps, but even on some of the smaller ones ; the rear suspension would sometimes bottom o ut with a hard " c1an k ." Husqvarna of Sweden had a d iffi cult time getting springs for the new Girling sh ocks , and perhaps t he standard springs th at the GP Husky co mes with co u ld be improved . It seems at a stra igh t wind o f 12 5 lbs., th ey 'r e too st iff fo r bumpy entrances into a turn when th e th rottle is o ff, y et too so ft for m ed ium jumps. Perhaps a p ro gressive spring in t he 11 5 /1 35 lb . r an ge would so lve th e only re al co mp lain t we have with the bike. Even t urning th e GI' Hu sky requires a good amo un t o f skill. It's so light , wi th suc h a low cen ter of gravity , th at it reacts q uickl y to any imput th e rider feeds it. The steering is a lso quick , and it 's easy to find yoursel f turning it to o sha rp fo r a t urn, especia lly wh en yo ur using a berm to help yo u cha nge di rection. T he b rakes are- just a no ther area in whic h th e GP Hu sk y exce ls. Bot h front and rear unit s are smooth in operatio n, ex tr emely p ro gre ssive and easy to fee l. The la rger co nical fro n t brake requires o nly one finger o pe ratio n to loc k it up if need ed . No w you're probably exp ect ing us to sum up t his test b y saying the 250 CR Gra nd Prix Husk y is the be st mo to cro ss bike we've eve r tes ted , but we w on 't. An y co nclusio ns will have to b e made by y o urs elf. We will re mind yo u t hat out o f th e crate . stock , the 25 0 and 360 C Rs are the o nly true producti on Grand Prix bi kes in th e world . Also , if winning Trans -AMA an d World Ch ampionships mean anyt h ing , th en th ey're th e best b ikes. But rem ember, a bike like the 250 CR Gr and Prix is an ex pert 's bike on ly . and it mak es no co mprom ise s o n the tr ack for th ose wh o aren't. _ New fork stops protect aluminum tank from dents. Twin Air filter snuggles inside new magnesium air box. The 250 Radial Mag eng ine sits 2 inch es lo wer in t he cantilever frame necessitating the ra ising of the shift lever an equal amount. Specifications List Price $1.750 Engine single cylinder 2-str oke Displacement Bore & Stroke 245cc " .69.50mm x 64.50mm Comp ression rati o T ransmissio n . . " Clutch Chain 12 .3 :1 6 speed 6 disc alloy 5/S" x 1/4" Carburetor Electrics Shoeks " Bing 36mm , Motoplat COl gas-charged Girlings Forks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Husqvarna Weight 206 Ibs. 7