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/126644
~ -IDlRression: 1983 Kawasaki KDX200A- ~ ~ By Da n McCauley For 1983, Kawasaki has focused on fulfilling the needs and wants of the woods rider by unleashing the KDX200A. This is the kind of serious machine the off-road competitor has been waiting for. Th e KDX200 is all the things the '1 it popu 1ar KDXI75 b Ul tIS reputation on, plus much more, in 26 a ll departments. As Kawasaki states in one o f its sales brochures. "If you 're competing in the 200cc cl ass, rid e a full 200 instead of just a 175." Now. th at makes sense . But don't th ink th at 25cc's is a ll that separates the new KDX200 from last year's 175. The 200 has received improvements that even the 175 rider may be surprised co u ld be made in a single year. The Cycle N ews test pilot was a ble to co m p ete on th e KDX200 two times during the testing. The first at th e Foggy Mountain ISDE One Da y Qualifier and then a t a local hare scrambles. Both rid es proved very rewarding. A gold med al in the 200cc A cl ass, follow ed by th e clas s win a t th e hare scra m bles were earned . These two events shou ld be a fair in dica tio n of th e mach in e's ca pa bili ties in basically stock form. It 's not lik e we ar e th e o n ly o nes gelling good results o n th e 200. J eff Fredett e has won th e 200cc AA class a t th e first four ro u n ds o f th e AMA Nat ion al C h amp ion ship Endu ro Seri es, a n d has fou r gold medal s in as man y tries in th e ISD E Qual ifier Series. Just for th e record, since th ere isn 't a '200cc cl ass in th e qualifiers, the gold m edals were earned in the 250ct Intent class. Don't think Fredeue i sridingsom esup.erlrick one- ?fff~ c- tory wor~s ma chm.e. Sure,. ~IS bl.ke has been tinkered with , but illS basica llv stoc k. T o prep ar e th e KDX for combat required o n ly a few minor m odifications. First, th e handlebar s were cu t down to 30\2" (p ersona l preference) . Although co nsidered by m any to be unsafe, th e balls were chop p ed off th e en ds of th e dog-leg lever s to prevent them from snagging on trees. A Mon tee Pro-Ring (O -rin g) cha in was substituted for th e stock unit. The Montee requires far less adj ustm ent. After two full days of break-in, the stock Dunlop rear tire, a sports K490, showed a fair a mou nt of wear. Dunlop's Frank Stacy recommended th e use of a 4.00 x 18 K88 HT. We found it necessary to add one a n d a half ounces o f 5-w eightfork oil to th e fork to eliminate harsh bottom ing. And that was a bo u t it, as far as set-up went. The reed val ved . six speed engi ne is in credibl y stro ng co m pa red to the o the r bik es in its class. In fact, man y rid er s wh o have been acc us to me d to zip p ing d own th e trail o n th eir 175s may be in for quite a shoc k. " Isn' t it reall y a 250cc a nd Kawasaki mad e a mi stak e and printed 200 o n th e sea t?" some ma y as k. Alt hough no act ua l horsep ow er figures are ava ila ble, it woul d be interest in g to ma tch nu rnbers with o ther bikes in th e class. The power produ ced by the 198cc powerplant comes on more abruptly than did the KDXI75. This is not necessarily a plus, as th e200 may be a bit more th an a n inexperienced guy wh o wants to go trail riding, m ay desir e. H ow ever , th e eng ine's muscle shou ld pu t a grin o n th e face of th e co m m itted end uro or h ar e scra m bles co m pe titor. Numerous reports pertaining to pi ston/ cylinder seizure problems by owners of th e KDX200 hav e been heard. Whether by luck o r whatever, we were fortunat e in that we did not ha ve a probl em with seizing. Early on in o ur testing, we rais ed the clip one notch o n th e needle in the carb which leaned out the mid-range slightly. But this was enough. as while riding quite hard practicing for th e upcomi ng qualifier. the engine on our bike seized slig h tl y. After th e en gine coo led off , we returned the needle to its stock selling, and were off a nd flying once again. Although th e jelling is a factor which cannot be overlooked, it is believed that the seizures are caused because th e piston/ cylinde r clearance is just too tight from th e factory. With proper breakin a n d running a h igh oc ta ne (a t least 94) ga s, ch a nces o f seizure rna y be reduced. We ran Hi-Point concentrate, one 12 oz. boule with five gallons of gas. As with a ll th e KDX and KX models. th e 200 uses a n electro-fusion type cylinder. We put over 2,500 m iles o n a KDXI75 last year a nd never had to replace th e cylinder. We did go through eigh t pi stons. The 32m m Mikuni ca rburetor dr aws a ir from a much im p ro ved a ir filt er / airbox co m bina tion. Identi cal to th at wh ich is found o n th e KX mod el s. the air bo x a llows increase d a ir flow to the foa m filt er. T h'e expa nsion cham ber is co n structed of thin-walled steel and hangs down quite a bit in front of the single downtube frame, making it vulner- able. Our pipe got bent sometime during the qualifier, but no substantial loss of power was noticed . Say bye-bye to th e plastic skid plate of th e p ast, as new case-saver bars a re now mounted underneath th e engine. This is an improvem ent a s th e steel tube protectors will not collect mud th e way skid plates do , yet should provide excellent protection. Patterned after the 1983 KXl25 unit, the high-tensile steel frame of the KDX200 is claimed to be both lighter and stro nger than previous frames made of chrome-moly. A healthy box section aluminum swingarm has replaced the steel unit found on the 175. This is a major weight savings. Speaking of weight, the KDX200 tips the scales at207 pounds, dr y. No wonder it feels so nimble in th e woods. The suspension has received some welcome refining for '83. Both ends now have 10.2 inches of travel, which should be ideal under most circumstances. The biggest change in the suspension department is the use of th e new single strut Uni-Trak which now has a rising rate design. This provides smooth response over its ent ire stroke. Unlike last year 's KDXl75 sh ock, the 200 shock has a large rem ot e reservoir which helps prevent fading. Our 150 p ound rid er was pleased with th e overa ll ac tion o f th e rear sus pe ns io n in its stoc k form , but th ought th e rebound o f th e shoc k was a little slow. Th e fork is once a gain a ir adjusta ble, alth ou gh it isn't necessar y to run a ny a ir pressure to ac h ieve excellent results. After in crea sing th e fork oil by a n o u nce a nd a half, th e 36mm fork works quite well. The on ly bike in the KDX 's class th at has superior suspension is the Husqvarna 175XC. The a lloy rims aren 't go ld ano-