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/126267
B ....ley.DavldsoD ProdaclloD liZ 250 ~ t r-... r-... O'l ........ IAbovel The new Harley-Davidson is a beautiful bike. (Below) The rear worked so well that M ike Bell wheelied around the entire Dunlap track . wo years ago, would you have believe that , . Harley-Da vidson could build a decent produc. tion motocrosser? Simply putvHa rlcy-Davidson - th e company that builds the four-stroke vee -tw ins that dom inat e Gra nd Nati onal dirt t racks , th e co m p a ny whose two-stroke road racers ~on bo th the 250cc and 350cc World Championships in 1976 - has done it agai n in th e horsepower d epartment. The new , production model MX250 is powerfu l enough to win in any class , and is an impressive first effort - wit h a few flaws. American Machine arid Foundary (AMF) /Harley-Davidson has lo ng rea lized the large market potential for off- road competition !r.C;.'.f~;:ycies, particularl~"" ~ui.ocross mach ines . Wit h the MX250. the ' co mpa ny has firm ly com mitted itself to t he motocross m a rk et. T his, however , is not a race test. We only had the motorcy..<:!c-for two d ays of testing, o ne at Dunlap Cycle Park :lear I- resno, Ca lifornia, the other at Sadd le bac k Pa r k ncar Orange, Ca liforn ia . What follows is o ur impression of the machine . One of the hassles with ra ce bikes has been sett ing them up to your part icu lar racing tastes . Off came things like junk levers. tras h grips, shocks that were a joke, followed by the dollars invol ved in engi ne work . Not so wit h t he H -D bike. T he lever s are Tomasel lis. made of 2024 a luminum a lloy . The rea r suspension is handled by gas- charged KYB shocks with six inches of shock travel. which translat es into about nine inches at the rear tire . T he power plant reminds us of the song " Power to the People." All the free -running gears in the tra nsmission have need le bearings which should last a lmost forever. Some of th e best plastic fenders we've ever seen take care of mud and water. The chrome-moly doub le-tube frame holds a five -speed , fire -breat hing engine. Bui lt in Ita ly, the M X250 has all the visual appea l of any Europea n bike on the ' market. Wit h matching competition orange ta nk, frame, and fenders the cycle's appearance is striking. Made of he a t trea ted ·' a luminum. t he tank holds slightly eVer two gallons, and ~ ~~ !~ i~ p~d;:e by a leat her st ra p . Gas is fe d in to the b ridged-in take, five-port engine throug h a massive 38m m Dell 'Orto ca rb uretor. T he over-the-engine and thruughthe-frame ex pansion cha m ber looks ~~H t~ C~i:d · in . Tra nsmission gears are nice and close - perfect. The littl e r ubber sleeve on the kic k starter shou ld la st about two days before becoming traction on some track. T he air box is fla wless, m a de of p las tic with a massive dual foa m fil ter ins ide. Air r ea ch es t he box by traveling under the seat and over the fender. It 's obvious t hat there was a lot of ti me spent in the design of the ai r bo x. After ridi ng th e MX 250 on Du nl ap cycle Park's ma nic ured track . Cycle News test racer Mi ke Bell said (Contin ue d on page 14)