Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

' \\1, ;'1' needs to be ch an ged? Nearly every thing, it seems: Footpegs, front and rear springs, cen te red kill switch, imp roved p e g- t o- b a r- t o -c o n t r o l rel ationship t o suit the individual ride r, ad ded flywheel wei ght, and of co u rse, removal of lights and o the r un ne cessary bits. Matt Prit c har d has done m any of th ese things to his own KT 250 and h as gotten several go o d ATA Am ateu r class rides on it. Our test b ik e also took well to water, withstanding repeated ch ar ges at varying sp eeds, an d the brakes wo r ked wet o r d ry . Overall co ncl us ion : Ho w well th e KT 250 wi ll sell depends on how quickly Kawasaki can 'r e tro fit it with th e proper co mponen ts and crank the changes into on go ing p ro du ction . The basi cs are there. - Suzuki RL250 Exacta Most improved bike in the test group, though still not spot-on. w· Dimension or specification I Dwg. key I Kawasaki KT 250 I Honda TL 250 I Yam aha TY 250 I Yamaha TY 175 I Su zu ki RL 250 Seat He ight (load ed l-in . A 28 28Y. 2 7:v.. 26% 2 7:v.. Steer ing head he igh t (Ioadedl - in . B 3 6% 3 7% 36~ 36 37 Y. G rou nd Clearance (Ioad edl - in . C 9 Sw inga rm leng t h (effectivel - in . 0 16 -5 /8 17Y. Hori z. d ista nce, swarm . pivot to footpeg-in . (neg. sign ind icates pe g t o rear) E -1% -2% 0 Footpeg hei gh t - in. (loaded} F 13 -7/8 13 % 14 % 14 % 1 4~ 4~ 4~ 6% 43 % 42 ~ 5~ 5% Counte rsh aft to swa rm . pivot in . 6% 8 -3 /8 3 -5 / 8 9~ 15 -1/8 9% 9~ 15Y , 15 % .:y.. 0 43 ~ 4 1Y , 6 7 Fo o tpeg w idth-in . 1 6~ 17 % 1 6~ 15 ~ 16 ~ Case w id th -i n . 12 ~ 12 ~ 13 11 % 12 % 2 6 .5 2 6 .5 26 .5 27 .5 27 3 .8 3 49.8 53 Bar he ight- in. (lo ad ed) H Waist w idth (na rro west po int )-in . - Ra ke- d eg rees R T rail- in. T 3.1 3 .4 Whe e lba se-in . W 51 .4 52.2 Bor e x stroke-mm 69 .5 x64 .9 Displacernent -scc 246 Fuel cap .- US gal. 1.5 Weight (wet )- Ib . 2 10 74 .0 x5 7 .8 248 2(est.) 3.46 51 66 x5 5 24 6 17 1 246 1.6 NA 1.3 70 .1 x63 223 2 15 180 4 6/54 42 .5/ 57.5 $965 $1 145 Weigh t d ist . ( F/ R)percent 4 4 /56 45/ 55 Suggest ed Reta iI (West Coast ) 26 5 70x65 42/ 58 _ $ 1 18 5 $1 0 5 8 $11 23 co m ple te ly co il-bo und at t he sligh tes t p rov o cation. 11, e e ngi ne is strong and to rq uey in its re sponses. yet in actual sec tio n riding the powe r was d ifficult to co n tro l. m ostl y d ue to lack of flywheel inertia. . Jerky engine resp on ses co mbined wit h co t t om e d-o u t rear susp en sion to m ake th e bike nea rly unmanageabl e. The fo otpegs were the wor st o f the lot - slip pe ry when we t (n o thing except a few little nubs o n a flat peg fo r grip) and no t spring-loaded fo r return . The 43 -5 /8 brake pe dal was well tu ck ed in , t o o well, acco rdi n g to Boyd , who had to co nstan tl y b reak concen tra tion t o fish fo r it . On th e o ther side, t he ch ain tensioner was not tu ck ed in tightly enoug h as a roc k to ok aw ay its retaining circlip earl y in th e rid e . This circlip-re ta in c d tens ioner was a much -di slik ed feat u re o n al l th e test bi kes. Boy d an d Bern ie bot h exp lai ned th at circlips are far to o vlu ne rab le to ro cks, and Califo rnia tr ials sections are usu all y wall-to -wa ll ro c ks. Q.E.D. 11,e 2 02 Kawasaki 's tension er h appen ed to stic k ou t wo rse th an the ot he rs. Fu rther com m en ts on the Kaw asa ki: Bern ie : It 's je rky in th e tight turns. Always feel s smoo ther in secon d gear. The Kaw h as a n ice ap pearance . it's fin ishe d n icel y, but it d oesn 't wo rk. Boyd : Thin g I lik ed least a bo u t th e Kawasak i was th e br ake pedal pl acemen t. The fo otpegs are th e wo rst thin g I've seen . .. It has a badly -p lace d kill swi tc h . I slid fo rwa rd on it a lot, and the se al was very un comfor tab le. The early RL 250s we re a m ixed bag ligh twei gh t , slim an d handsome in appearance, so-so sh ocks, so-so brakes, b u t most ly flawed by t ha t see ming hallmark o f J apan ese t wo-stro ke trialers , lac k of fly wh eel wei ght le adi n g to u neven an d often u ncontro llable th rottle respo nse . Where sudden ness was called for, th e Su zuki had (st ill has) abo u t the m ost su d de n . resp onse of all. Mos t noticea bl e abo u t o ur te st bike in th is session was a dras tical ly smoo thed-o ut engine, ye t with n o discernible lo ss o f steady -state torque. Though it still can 't touch , say, a Mo n tesa, fo r slow, eve n powe r del ive ry , the Suzuki's imp rovemen t was one big su rprise. What detracted from th e RL 250 's general controllability was a feel in g of excessive height (o r t op-hamper ) felt by riders, an d a general all the un willin gn ess t o st ee r. The fro nt en d o f the Exac ta was always ligh t , and st ill is. It requir ed a conscious shift of weight to load t he fro nt end so it would steer p recisely. Bernie , be ing th e rider he is, foun d the precision to ta c kle an angled led ge scarcely as wide as the t ire to traverse a ro ck fac e, then de liberately wheel straigh t o ut fro m it to tap just the righ t ro c k across a t wo foo t gap . The rest o f us just watche d an d m arvell ed . While Bern ie was wor king out with t he Suz uki, we no ticed he was usin g t he engine m o re aggessivcIy t han with t he o t he rs , and th a t the rear susp ension had th e leas t tendency of the lo t to kick the rear end badl y on one particularly nasty ro ck led ge. Late r, Bernie comm en ted : Biggest problem is fly wh eel a nd the front end doesn't want to work. Wants t o go straight; th e fro nttire ju st doesn 't ge t a grip on the gro u n d. Boyd : 11, e co n tro ls on the Su zuki are pretty go o d . Rear brake is eas ie r to find. eve n tho ugh it 's set . up simil ar to the Ka wasa ki. Yo ur spark a rrestor wi ll rail off after a wh ile, it st icks o ut t oo far . The T Vs feel cen tered low, while th is seem s to hav e mo re to p hamper. Steering ha s a d istinctio n o f its own. J eff : I th ought it was rough and sq uirrelly co m pare d to the Yamah a. The brakes get pretty va gue wh e n wet. Ch ris: Seemed a wfu lly hi gh to me ... On th e po sit ive sid e, the Suzuki took to water well, asid e fro m th e brakes . \Vi th w ater comi ng o ver th e seat , it never s kip pe d a stroke. It is also . at 202 pounds wet, the ligh te st of t he 25 0s. With gea r prim ary , primary kic kstart , chain tensioner an d swin ga rm chai n oi ler . it shares m an y o f th e sa me good ies wi th th e Ka wasaki , but seems to h ave th em ar range d better . Th er e '5 no preten se a t ligh tin g, o r at o il inj ec ti on. Th e late series b ikes co me with a pain te d , rat he r than brushed allo y tan k. No t as tri ck , but ap pare n tly m or e practical. Pointless CO l ignition is sta ndard. Th ere 's n o to olkit . Overall. th e Suzu ki sta rted o~ t a yea r

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