Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

tions o f a seco nd while switchi n g from h igh to low beam. Foot and hand controls will feel sma ll to tall riders , but, again, shou ld a p pea l to th e shorter set. Suzuki ha s chosen to retai n a handlebar-mounted co m p ress io n relea se to aid in sta rt in g, and it d oes a ll ow th e rider to kick the engine through with a minimum o f effort . The SP doesn 't mind telling you h ow fast yo u're traveling, but other than name, rank a nd odome ter n u m ber, yo u' ll have to wait for a n id io t ligh t to ge t anyth in g else from th e SP. Idi ot ligh ts are good for neu tral , hi gh beam a nd low o il. Suspension numbers a nd execu tio n promise good things, but in actua lity, su spen sion wa s not th e best. It also wasn ' t bad. L ike ot her semilong-travel bikes, the Suzuki did no t respond well to sma ll , choppy bumps. It d id , how ever, wo rk well o n rolling wh oops a t moderate speeds. The suspe ns io n seemed fairl y compliant with a passen ger. As del ivered, the front fork was softly sp ru ng, and when su bjected to to ug h trai l whoops we encou ntered wh ich were n ot unlike stai rs, the fro nt fork rebo u nded m uch too quickl y. T he same can be said, however, abo u t th eSP's com pe tition . Rolling stoc k o n th e SP is fai rl y sta nda rd fare; a 17-inch new generation tri al s tire transmits go-power, a nd a 21-in ch er o f the same genre provi des steeri ng a nd whoa -power. The rear hub is a full -width unit a nd th e front is co nical. The rea r anc hor is good, bu t for stree t use th e fro nt brake is o n ly good wh en sq ueezed hard and adjusted correctly . It ap peared th at Suzu ki was the only manufa cturer that a ttempted to bal ance th e wheels before del iveri ng th e test un it , a nd each whee l sported 20 .l ... up to three big lead weights a ttached to th e spokes. Ironically, it was th e Suzuki that o ur MX Pro was on wh en he hit two big rain ruts a t about 45 mph, putting a big ding in th e rear rim and kn ocking out one spoke. Despite having all th e features an engine co u ld want , th e SP, like th e other dual purpose 250s, put o u t she tland ponies in less tha n ala rming quanti ties com pa red to the average MX bik e or serio us en duro iro n . Power d elivery is electri c-motorish, which is good for street and trai l rid ing . T he re is enough acceleration o n tap to ou td is ta nce most tra ffic a nd to get onto the freeway with no tro ub le. Passin g a t freeway speeds is easy p rovid ed a little planning is used . The Suzuki is not so slow th at it is n ot fun . Quite th e co n tra ry, it makes ru n ni ng to th e store o r schoo l a blast. We m ight n ot feel the same way if it was th e on lv bik e we owned or if we had a long commute each day . Cau tio n must be exercised, however, if th e ow ner is a d irt rider or:rac er. Fu n thi ngs li ke doing wheelies around corners a nd up h ill s, or' j u mping .speed bumps carry heavy tines for as frivolo us as th ey feel on the SP . G as mil ea ge was in the 60-70 mpg ra nge o n our big weekend, so everyday rid in g sho u ld im prove on that some what. The Su zuk i had a smooth engi ne a t street-lega l speeds; and th e handling isquite impressive in nearly a ll situations, but especia lly so o n tight, twisty roa ds . In su m ma tio n, we wo u ld: have to say that the SP was enjoya ble wit h in its limits o n the stree t a nd d irt . The Suzu ki was exce llent fo r shorter peopl e, a nd worked well for taller folks on rides of 50 miles o r less. The handl ebars were fin e for th e street, but poor wh ile sta nd ing in th e dirt. The SP sta rt ed a nd sh ifted eas ily, a nd lik e the rest of th e bikes, wa s miserly with the ga s. Yamalla X.,250 The latest version of the XT Yamaha features white paint, a n d a carburetor ventilation boule to satisfy the lords of th e EP A, bu t little else has been changed si nce th e model wa s first introduced in 1980. The engine is th e fam il iar two valve 249cc SO H C single, wh ich is fed its a ir/ fue l mix ture via a 28mm Mikuni with accelerator pump.Th ere is a gear-dri ven co u n ter ba la nce r ru nn in g off th e cra n k to min imize vibra tion, but o u r numbed fin gers felt that it had mi ni ma l effect. In actua l opera tion , the motor d isplayed lo w- a nd m id-range o utpu t, with somewha t of paucit y up top . Muc h of the smoo th ness o f opera tion at th e low er rpm range may be traced to th e carbur etor's acce lera tor pump. How ever , there was a carbu re tio n p robl em encou ntered at hi gher a ltitudes. Above 4000 feet, th e engine rich en ed up and would not tol era te mor e tha n half throttle in th e taller gea rs. An y kind of an uphill gr ad e a t those a lt itudes com p letely el im ina ted the use of fifth gear beacause of th e too-rich running. As mentioned, th e XT features a five-speed tra ns mission . Most of th e testers found th e sh ifting to be somewha t not ch y, a ltho ug h th ere were no big problems gett ing th e gear o ne wanted. The tip o n th e Yamaha shi ft lever is non-folding. T he clutch was qu ite light in the pull ca tego ry, and th e engageme nt wa s p rogressi ve and smooth . Wh en the bike got good and warm, however, there was a slight hint of clutch dr ag, making it a real pain to try and find neutral. While neutral was some times hard to find, the brak es wer e quite easy to find, an d especially up front, d id a fin e job o f reducing spe ed . Neither brake was at all touchy. If the re were a ny com p laints, th ey m ight be centered arou nd the rear brake pedal , wh ich is easy to find in street riding, but ma y be a little vulnerabl e in th e dirt. Th e brak es did th eir job, but the suspe ns ion seemed to be th e weakestpart o f th e Yamaha, particularly in th e dirt. T he Monoshock a nd swi nga rm date back to 1977 a t lea st, a nd the lack of a risin g rate rear suspe ns ion rea lly shows up. While th e Yam aha wa s one of the most pl easant bik es on th e street in terms o f suspens ion com plia nce, sharp ruts a t mild speeds bo ttomed th e suspe nsion so har shly th a t one tester is no longer troubled by falle n a rches. To be fai r , we reall y di dn't have time to p lay with preload adj us tme nt on the shock. There is no p rovision for air assis tance on the forks, so we would have to reccom end heavier fork sp rings if the user pl ans to spend much tim e in the rough. While th e suspe ns io n was subject to sudde n bottom ing, th e fram e held up its end a nd th e Yamaha a lways stay ed stra ig h t through th e rough goi ng. In the handling depart me nt the XT shared a trai t wi th most o f its co ntemporaries in th e fro nt end skat in g th rough loose co rners. H owever , th is may be a functi on o f tires, arid the Yamaha 's Bridgestones received

• Cover