Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

While not as agile in the extremely tight woods as the Husky WR. the WRX still gets the job done efficently. 12 in Europe whil e the WR's co m e from Nipponden so in J apan . W ith th e excep tio n o f th e head light/number pl a te a n d th e rear fender , all o f th e plasti c is straigh t from th e XC an d is much mor e rak ish th an th at used o n th e WR . The m o st o bvio us differ en ce is th e tank ; th e ca paci ty has been bumped up to 3.2 ga llons from th e 2.8 used on the WR , an d is desig ned to tak e full ad vantage o f a sa fety seat. The tank looks co n ventional enough from th e left side, but wh en viewed from th e right th e huge exten de d lobe domin at es th e p icture. T he tank is actuall y an integ ral part of a new a ir box system , necessitated by th e sing le-shoc k chassis. The o uter co ver of th e box .co mes off without to ol s by unsnap ping a pair of ca tches , and reveals a large p an cak e-type, o blo ng Twin Air filte r . Th e filt er , too , co mes off in a j iffy withou t tools by slid ing th e retentio n arm a way . Th e rearward . porti on of the extended tank lobe forms the front of the air box and when the cove r is sn a pped into place, th e bo x is sea led . The br eather is located at the fro n t, but sh o u ld be higher to keep water out in su bmarine-type water crossings. You sh o u ld have no problems w ith dirt sneaking around th e edges of the filter; during in stallation (assuming yo u use a layer of grease on ~h e perimeter of th e sealing surface), yo u can ea sily see th e entire mating surface. For extra safety, wrap a p iece of safet y wire around the front catch of the reten tio n arm. O ver all, a. very , slick system . T o keep th e end uro crowd happy . (a nd to dra w th em to th e m achin e) the WRX co mes w ith a speedome ter! odometer from Ni pponden so . Wh il e the odo me ter o n o ur tester co u n ted backward (the bike was one o f o n ly a h andful in th e U.S .). th e next sh ipment will have a fun ctional odome ter. So much for th e techni cal stu ff. How does th e WRX stac k u p agai n st the WR? We took th e WRX an d a stock 1985 WR ou t to o ur favorit e riding area an d did so me sea t-o f-the pants co m parison testing. The first th in g we not iced o n th e WRX was -a lack of th e tractor-t y pe pulling p ow er th e WR ha s beco me noted for. When yo u crac k th e throttle in th e tighter woods, th e WRX doesn 't have th e smooth flow o f horsepower on th e bottom of the p ower band th at the WR has. The WRX co mes o n slig h tly quicker an d harder, but wasn 't what we would ca ll unmanageable in th e woods, and ca lls fo r a sli g h tly a ltered riding style over the WR. Once yo u jet into th e mid-range a n d head toward th e upper reaches o f th e power band, the WRX is th e winner - hands-down . It a lmos t feels like Husky secre tly added so me displacem ent to th e 245cc motor while th ey wer e redesi gning th e exha ust port layout - th er e' s that much differen ce. The WRX has been transformed into m or e of a muscl ebike than th e WR , and we loved it. And th e performa nce factor has been helped a lo n g by ano ther diff eren ce - th e WRX weighs seven pounds less than the WR - 23 1 pounds versu s 238. Less weight means a ny en g ine cha nges ar e a m p lified, a nd tha t's no doubt th e case her e. With a to ta lly cha nged chassis, new rear sus pe nsion a nd a steepe r steeri ng head an g le (27 degrees versus 28.5) , you would ex pect th e WRX 's handling m ann ers to be very different fro m th e WR, and we found that to be ver y tru e. A fter spending time ' on the WRX an d gettin g used to its steering, we ge nera lly preferred it over th e WR. The WRX turn s wi th much more p recisio n , but reacts more slowl y between th e tr ees th an th e WR , proba bly because of th e lon ger wh eelbas e and more su spension. The WR , on the o the r hand. would m ore easil y knife around the trees with o n ly a slig h t togg le o n th e bars. In pred ominatel y tree-cover ed terrain, we'd pi ck th e WR , but th e WRX was still ri gh t in th er e. Into m ore o p en terr ai n , the WRX was our clear choice. In situa tio n s wh ere sectio ns o f tight woods are co n nected by hi gh -speed fire road s or st re tche s o f deep sa n d wh oops, the WRX is ri ght a t h ome a nd will pull a way from th e WR . Any seco nds lost in th e woods are soon mad e up; the slower ha ndlin g a nd m or e su p p le sus pe ns io n, co m bined with a mo re will in g m otor, spell success for th e WRX h ere. Whi le both ends of th e WRX suspen sion d id th eir job well. th e rea r wo rk ed so well th at th e usu all y excellent Husk y fork felt so me wha t in ad equat e. Ou r o n ly fault with th e rear sus pe ns io n was a t very low trai l speeds , wh er e we felt m or e shoc k was tr an smi tted to the rider th an o n the WR . We enjo yed hav in g th e WRX rea r sus pe nsion soa k u p th e bigger stu ff in str ide , bu t th e front for k - a hol dover from H usk ys o f the pas t seve ra l years - was n ' I up to the sa me standa rd , T here isn' t eno ug h dis harmon y here to p revent us fro m bu yin g a WRX, bu t th ings wo u ld be better if t he fo rk wer e a bi t more p lus h . Sha rp-edged bum p s were a breeze o n th e WRX , whe reas th e WR had mor e o l a ten de ncy to kick up an d jolt th e rider. An d whil e rh e damping ca n be cha nged in the WR to a lle via te so me o f th e p ro blem , th e shocks must be d isassembl ed 10 do it ; th e WRX has a kn ob to do the tr ick. If yo u get th e idea we ha ve li ttl e to co m p lain a bo u t wi th th e WRX, you' re ri ght. As a package, it works extreme ly well in th e woods as well as in th e w ide o pe n spaces. Brakes at both ends wer e strong, and we never felt we needed th e extra sto pp ing power o f th e XC dis c br ak e. And making o u r lif e eve n ni cer in th e sadd le wer e a n ew for ged a lu m in u m brak e p edal (with replacea hie steel toe co n tac t). as we ll as a forged a lu m in u m kickstarter th at tu cked itself hack in afte r lakin g a da b. T he re is still th e questi on of wheth er to p ic k th e WRX or th e WR for en d u ro wo rk ; we'd bu y th e WRX. Then if yo u want to run so me o f th e hi gh er-speed events , you 're all set. Wh ere does th e 250WR X Iit into the marketplace? Basicall y, it creat es a new ni ch e wh ich it sha res with i ts bigger brother , th e 400WRX. And the ret ai l pri ce o f $3 ,095 - whi le a high pri ce tag for a ny dirt bik e - is a barga in wh en you co ns ide r th e WR sells fo r $100 less. In o u r minds, $100 is a sma ll price to pay to ge l a premium blend - th e best o f both worlds. • Specifications Engine t ype Wa t er- c ool ed reed valve, t w o- stro ke single Bo re x stroke . .. 69 .5 x 64.5mm Displacement .. . . .. •. .. . 245c c 1 5. 0: 1 Compression rat io Carburetion ..•... 38mm M ik un i Ignition M otoplat COl Lubrica ti on ... .... ... •.. Pre-mi x Gear ra t io s 2 .630: 1 Primary Final 4 .000: 1 6th 0 .740:1 5th 0 .880: 1 4th 1 .043:1 3rd . . . • . . . . . .. . . .. .. . • . 1 .3 0 0:1 2 nd 1.70 5:1 1st 2 .35 1 : 1 Frame . . • Single downtube. split crad le Rake .. . . . . ... • •. ... • • . . . . . . 2 7° Trail •• ... •. . . . . . . .. . . . . 4 .72 in . Fro nt su spensio n . .. . Telesc opi c fork Fork tube d ia meter 40mm Front w hee l travel 11 .8 in . Rear suspension Single shock. swin ga rm Rear w hee l t ravel . . • : .• • 13.0 in . Front bra ke . .. . . . . • . . . . • . D rum Rear brake D rum 2 1 in. Fro nt w hee l diameter Rea r wheel di ameter .• •... 1 8 in. Fr ont t ire . .• . 3 .00-2 1 Trell eborg Rea r tire .. .. 5 :00-18 Tre lleborg Dry weight (cl aimed) . • . 231 Ibs. Wheelbase 59.5 i n. Fuel ca pacity ... .. . . . • •. 3 .2 gal. Groun d clea rance .. . . • . 14.4 in. Seat hei ght 29.3 in. White Co lors Retail price . . •. • • . . . , : . • $3.095

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