Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

in a new spark plug, operations that even th e neophyte mechanic sho u ld be a ble to tackl e with little difficulty. The XL2 50 has a number of features that we lik ed . It was th e o n ly test bike to have an in tegra l fork/ign it ion lock ; a definite plus. It was a lso th e on ly one to have a grease fitting o n th e swi ng-a rm pivot a nd shock linkage. Th e ta pered ro ller bea ri ngs in th e steeri ng head a nd needl e bearings in the sw in garm a re a nice to uc h al so. On a wh o le, th e bik e d isplays H onda 's typi call y close a ttention to detail a nd finish . 1 Kawasakj KL250 Kawasaki ha s been in th e dualpurpose 250cc market for as long, or nearly as long, as any o f the manufacturers. Early Kawasakis were short o n com fort a nd ha ndling , but wi th th eir rotary-valv einducted two-stroke engi nes . they put ou t good power. Kaw asaki made an upda ted 250 with a piston port engine, a modified version of th e fir st Kaw a saki 250cc factory mot ocrosser . Oddly enough, Kawasaki went back to a ro ta ry-valve en gine in a 1977 update. That wa s a new bike. It u sed laydown shocks, a nd wh eel s and a fork that loo ked lik e they were lifted directly from a 1976 KX250 motocrosser. That bike eithe r died from a lack of recognition, or wa s killed by th e EPA. Which ever the ca se, th e result was th e four-stroke KL250. Th e KL su rvived in it s fir st form with the same front end as its p redecesso r, but with a two-valv e sin g lecylinder four-stroke en gine. The early KL ga ined some popularit y and a rep u ta tio n a s a reli abl e machine. After two years, the present KL fra me wa s developed a nd built. It was at horou gh ly modern design a t the rime, with forward -m ounted gas shocks a nd long-travel , leading-axl e fork legs. The bike had clean, dirtbike -like lin es. Un fort u n a tely, we did n 't get to test it th en . T oda y it remains th e o n ly dual shock dual-purpose bike. Most o f o ur crew liked th e look s o f the Kawasaki , but one th ought the a p peara nce was da ted. In ac tua l use, th e sus pe ns io n is on par with most of th e com pe titio n, or bett er. The bike got high marks for it s handling in th e dirt. Part o f th e cred it goes to th e frame, but most shou ld go to th e dirt bend bars and th e exce lle nt tires th at come stoc k on th e KL. T he KL uses th e sa me 17/21 tir e com bo that th e o ther rising-sun DP bikes use, but the tread pattern is kn obbier a nd clea rly bett er in th e dirt. Our biggest su rp rise wa s h ow well they handled in th e stree t. They were no bett er than the stree t manners di spla yed by th e o the rs, but every bit as good. We co u ld n ' t tell if it was a fault o f the tires o r steep fork a ng le, but th e KL wiggled mor e in freewa y rain g rooves than th e o th er bikes. The handl ing in th e street wa s good, excellent in tigh t canyons, and around town . In the human com forts department, the KL is a mixture. The sea t is long, with lots of room to move about. It came with a seat stra p that we removed a t th e first rest sto p o n our lon g ride, but it was not a bother around town . The bars, grips a nd sea tin g position a re fairl y good for both street and di rt . The bars were not as good in stree t use a s so me that were bad in th e dirt, so it is a decent com p ro m ise. On the minus side is a fair amount of vibration, d espite th e new-for-I 983 counterbalancer. Another thing that bothered some o f the testers was th e ,lack o f low-end power. The KL wa s as fast as other DP250s in im prom p tu drag races, but it felt like it n eeded to be revved a lo t. T op spe ed was some wh ere in the neighborhood o f80 mph. Passen ger pegs co me standard o n th e Kaw asaki a nd make it more com fortable on a long rid e. Though o ur tall est tester thought th e KL was th e most com for ta ble, that was because th e long, flat sea t and rear pe gs gave so me a lterna te perch es. With the longest front travel of th e DP cro p , at 8.67 in ch es, an d decent 7.72-inch rear wh eel tra vel, th e Kawasaki shou ld have been sitt ing p re tty in that department. While it did have good suspe nsio n, the KL suffered from too-sof t sp rings in th e front fork th at required us to put 15 pounds of a ir in them . The rear shocks were a little under -sprung a n d o ver-compression-dam ped.The design is there, and for a little money, the bike co u ld have excelle n t sus pens ion, but as delivered the KL is somew ha t h ar sh . One tester looped th e bik e o ut in the stree t o n the morning o f th e long ride. H e threw th e bike aw ay from h im self, wipin g o u t the taill ig h t (j us t th e len s a nd bul b) a nd scra tchi ng th e exha us t pipe up a bit. Wh at we wer e impressed with was th e fact that th e turn sig na l protrudes severa l inc hes o u t pa st th e pipe. It had a little abra sio n o n it , but no real damage. The rest o f the bike was fin e. The in cident d id bend th e front brake lever, which mad e th e fro nt brake feel a little vague, but we shou ld have had th e lever mounts loosen ed up slig h tly in" case o f falls. The brakes o n th e KL were good. Like th e others, th ey were n ot for roa d racing , but th ey get th e job done on th e stree t without being una cceptably stro ng or hea vy in th e d irt. The Kaw asaki wa s th e only o ne o f th e four bikes th at was not avai la ble in Cal ifornia. The othe r three had a little vapor co llector can n ister mounted some whe re on th e bike to pa ss cu rrent regulati ons. We don 't see how th e can n ister mak es a differen ce, but th e o ther bikes wa rme d up a lot quicker than th e KL.1f th e choke was left on a nd th e bike ridden as soon as it started , th e bike would warm u p . Longer periods o f warm-up seemed to help only a little. Until th ere was a little lo ad on the engine, it wa s co ld. The KL sta rte d an d ran better a t slightly higher altitudes, so lean jet- tin g is probably th e cu lp ri t. We would have to say that mo st o f us lik ed th e bike. Am ong our tes ters, opinions were eithe r for or aga ins t it. There were no fen ce sitters. Only th e tallest tester a lways chose it for th e stree t. Th e good tires meant that most everyo ne was pretty will ing to ride it in the d irt. With a little money for some budget shocks a nd a fork kit , the KL would m ak e an exce lle nt tra il bike. For th e rider who spends more time in th e di rt th an the averagedual purpose bike o wne r (an d doesn 't live in Ca lifo rnia), the KLwould be a good ch o ice. SuzukjSP250 Suzuki's entry into the 250cc dual-purpose field is a secondyear refurbishing of a year-old design , th e newest in geneology th at stre tches ba ck 15 yea rs. Mos t of the SP's forerunn ers were of th e anti-valve and cam persuasion. The SP is some th in g like the modern da y worker. It does a lot more work with it s head, a nd half as much with its heart. In addi tion to th e compact fourvalve engine th at replaces th e dated two- stroke of yore , the SP sports a Full Floater single shoc k set-up. Other th an th at, th e SP is fai rl y straigh tforward. With gold-anodized rim s, a blue sea t and tool bag , the SP looks smart ly a ppoi nted. Tools are ac tua lly carried in a ca n n is ter- type tool kit with a bogus slip -o n rubber cap, rath er than in th e tool bag. The tool s are easy to get a t for both the rid er a nd th e thief. T h at seem s odd, since th e gas ca p is lo cking, as a re th e forks an d helmet hook. Pl astic fenders a re used front a nd rear, but th e rear h a s a steel inner fender for su p port . Side panels are molded from plasti c al so . Though it looks nice, th e seat doe s keep a tall, even medi urn- sized rider in one position. For sho rter riders, the Suzuki would bea best bet. T he sea t height is low and the riding position is compact. A full-en ough assort me n t of lights an d cont ro ls to make th e SP legal in all 50 stat es are attached here an d there. Turn signa l flashers are mounted o n rubber sta lks in th e rear, a nd to th e bars in front. Th e taill ight is large a nd has good visibi lity , yet posed n o p roblem for the rider , either while riding or while climbing on or off . The headlight is bright eno ugh, but goes dark .l or frightening frac- 19

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