Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

dized as o n th e KX mod els, bu t th ey are fairly strong . Onl y one rim lock, ra ther th an last year's two , is used in th e rea r wh eel. No rim lock is used up front. The spokes req uired tightenin g a fter ini tia l break -in as well as after each 'event. As far as tir es went, we stuck with the stock front tir e, a' Dunlop SpOTtS K490, throughout ou r testing of th e bike, as it was more th an a deq ua te. Before the qualifier, we mounted up a Dunlop K88 HT on th e rear. We' liked the K88 so well, we used a second one in the hare scrambles. The K88 worked ver y well under a wid e variety of terrain ranging from rocks a nd mud to hard-packed conditions. The rear brake is no longer of the full floating type. The vulnerable brake-torque rod used on the KDXI75 has been done away with totally for '83. This is great, as the long braketorque rod was easily bent or even broken due to hitting rocks, etc. under end uro conditions. By del eting the rod, there are also two less joints which become worn and a weight savings too boot. The rear backing plate now slips onto a tongue on the aluminum swingarm. No tools are needed to adjus t the rear brake as a wing nut is used. The brake rod disconnects easily, and the rear wheel is of the quick-change variety. Following th e qualifier, the rear brake shoes were still in pretty good shape, but the adjustment was almost entirely spent. After moving the brake cam lever back one spline on the cam, all the adjustment was regained. All in all , the performance of the rear brake was quite good. There was a considerable lack of front brake adjustment when the bike was brand new. The front brake has adequate stopping power, but felt rather spongy. One of the few improvements the bike could receive for 84, would be the ad d ition o f a disc brak e u p front. Preferr ed by ma ny end uro riders , sna il cams make quick, acc ura te chai n adjustment poss ible. One minor p ro blem th at should be correc ted is the alu m in u m a nd plas tic chai n g ui de. Directing th e cha in o n to th e rea r sp roc ket a nd helping to keep th e chain from dera iling, th e g u ide is too narrow. Thus, th e chain ru bs th e outer cha in guide plate. Eventuall y a master-link clip will become quit e thin and weakened. The plastic mud guard, wh ich keeps mud off the chain, broke underneath th e swingarm during our testing. This is no big deal as its only purpose is to help keep mud from flying off th e rear wh eel onto the chain. We removed the guard entirely. Perhaps the onl y thing we found annoying about the KDX200 is that if you hit something hard with the foot pegs , they will sometimes become stuck " u p " against theIrame. The rider may have to get off the bike to pry the peg back down. The relationship between the footpegs , seat and handlebars seemed comfortable. Kawasaki has made cable driven odometers a thing of the past. Both the KDX200 and its bigger brother, the KDX250 come equipped with an electronic digital odometer/chronometer. It will read OUt mileage to the hundredth of a mile or will, with a touch of the mode switch, read off your key time. Pretty neat. The only way it could be made better is if both were displayed simultaneously. The mileage is reseuable either forward or backward with little effort and no knobs to turn, just push a button. The new electronic odometer/ chronometer weighs more than previous mechanical odometers, but then again , it also does a lot more. The cosmetics of the KDX have been tota lly reworked. T he 2.9 ga llon gas tan k is more na rr ow and a stylish ta ill ight is mo u nted o n th e sleek rea r fender. A rectangu la r headl igh t is housed in a n a ttractive p las tic u nit which also incorporates the fro nt num ber pl at e. If the fro nt n umber pl at e is hit with the for ce of a hi ghpressure jet sp ra y was h, th e whi te paint will flak e off. New for '83 KDX s are the nicely styled com bina tio n side number pl ate / side covers. The add ition of th ese number plates not only en hances th e a p peara nce of th e mach ine, but also reflects th e seriousness of the woods weapon, as side number plates are required for competition in qualifiers, as well as some hare scrambles. The tool pack which is mounted behind th e seat on the rear fender is not very practical u n less you have whatever you carry in it wrapped up, just a spark p lu g wrench bouncing arou nd in th e pack will tear it a ll to hell. T he stoc k grips felt fine a nd th e thrott le has a smooth ac tio n . New type adj uste rs a llow the dog-leg levers to be adj us ted quickl y. The fina l feature to be mentioned is th e a dd itio n of th e foldi ng tip on th e shi fter. After putting nearl y 500 mil es on th e bike, the only th ing we replaced was one spark plug a nd a cou ple of rea r tir es - that's all. In conclusion, whether yo u' re a rider who is into collecting trophies or just enjoys good times on th e trail , you ca n' t go wrong with the Kawasaki KDX200 . • 27

• Cover