Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

.--- - -- - - - - - - - -- - - - - -- - - - -- - - - :-l ;;j z '" < II: u, Z w '" ~ ~ a ::t: 0. Wayne Gardner waits for the start of the Formula One class at Suzuka; Gardner went on to win both the F-1 and 500cc classes. Suzuka 200km Kawasaki hasjumped into the power-valve wars w ith the Kawasaki Integrated Power-valve System (K.I.P.S.,. Radiators are 2 .12 inches lower. to rise up too soon. After riding it around . for a whi le. we fou nd ourselves searchi ng fo r berms whenever enteri ng a turn ; it likes to be leaned wav ove r an d stuffed into th e berms wi t'h a strong twi st o f th e thrott le added. Hairpin turns wi thou t berms isn't o ne of the Kawasaki 's favorite sit uatio ns, but wh en there is n o cho ice. it handles itself ad m ira bly. Slow ing fo r turns is a cinc h on th e KX ; th e from br ak e is su per strong a nd smoo th. whil e the rear sto p pe r does th e job withou t locking up the rea r wheel. T he fro n t brak e, however , wasn' t perfect. T he firs t few tim es o ut o n the bi ke, we h ad just th e rig h t a mo u nt o f pla y in th e lever, but th e m or e we rode it. m or e pl a y devel oped. Air wa s so me how snea king into th e h ydra uli c syste m , whi ch is a problem many Kawasa ki owners have h ad . T he disc brake, i t seems, must be bled after abo u t every five or so ra ces, acco rding to most KX ow ners we' ve talk to . . Even th ough we h ad some p ro blems with th e cl u tch a nd fro nt brake (nei the r o f wh ich wo ul d ' ve ca used a D N F in a moto ) we di d n ' t have any m aj or fail ures with th e KX, even after tak i ng so me h eav y a buse. T he new KX250 is by far th e best 250cc m ot ocrosser Kaw asaki has eve r released a n d is o ne o f the best o n th e marke t toda y. The 250, like its bigger brother, th e KX500. is designed as a serious weapo n for th e privateer MX er. Win n in g races is th e KX250's o n ly goal a goa l th a t can easi ly be reach ed . • 1985 Kawasaki KX250 Engine type .... • Uquid-cooled, two-stroke single Bore x stroke 70x64.9mm Displacement .... .. .•• • 249cc Compression ratio . .. .• •• 9 .1: 1 Carburetion • • . . . Mikuni 40mm Horsepower ..• . .. . 47.3 bhp @ B500 rpm Torque . .•. . .. . . . 30.2 lb .-ft. @ 7500 rpm Ignition • .• . ... .•.• • . ••••• COl Lub rication Pre-mix 32:1 Gear ratios Primary • . • • . . . .. . . . . . 2 .750:1 Fina l 3 .500:1 5th 1.000:1 4th 1.136:1 3rd 1.388:1 2nd 1.764:1 1st . . • . . • .. .. . • . . . . . 2 .133:1 Frame • . . . . . . Single downtube, double cradle Rake .• . . .• . . . . . .•.. . .. . . 28 0 TraiL 4.7 inches 26 Fron t suspension type .. . . Telescopic fork Fork tube diameter 43mm Front wheel travel 1 1.8 in. Rear suspension type Sing le shock, swingarm Rear wheel travel .. 12.6 inches Fron t brakes . • •. • . • .. 8 .7-inch hydraulic disc Rear brakes 5 .1 x1 .1 -inch mechanical drum Fron t wheel . .... 21x1.6 inches Rear wheel .. • .. 18x2.15 inches Front tire 90/90-21 4PR M37 Bridgestone Rear t ire 130/80-1 B 4PR . M38 Bridgestone Dry weight 212.7 pounds Wheelbase 57.7 inches Fuel capacity 2 .1 gallons Ground clearance . . 14.B inches Seat height 34 inches Colors .. • . . . .. • • .. . Ume green Retail price . . • . .. . • . . . . $2499 I Gardner takes double at Suzuka By Ken Frankel SUZU KA CIRC UI T , JAPAN, J U N E 9 / Au stra lian Wayn e Gardner, riding for a com binatio n of HRC and Rothmans-Honda Britain , turneda cloudy day wi th scattered sh owers into a double victory at a pre-Suzuka Eigh t-H our race in Ja pa n. T exan Kevin Schwantz, meanwhile, · . . Id b rna d e h ls ~n terna u o na. e u t at Suzuka with a second In the TT F-3 class, but ended h is weekend with a crash in th e'ITF-1 race . G ardner easi ly won th e. TT F-I race o n h is R VF750cc H onda after h is main co mpeti tio n , th e n ew Yamaha FZR750 o f Shi n ichi U neo, crash ed a t the ha irpin. The Yamaha recorded th e fastest la p of th e rac e a t 2.20.96 to Gardner 's 2.21.50 . After the Yamaha wen t out, T eam Yoshimura-M otu! secu red the second spot with a Suzuki GSX R7 50 ridden by ex- Ka wasaki test rider Shosuke Kit a followed by Moriwaki Ra cing's Shunji Yatsushiro o n the h ighly co rnpe u u ve but o ld ai rcooled CBX750. The tw o batt led for . the second spot, bu tthe Suzuki sho wed its sup erio rity and began to close th e ga p o n Gardner while stretch i ng a lead over Yatsus hiro. Fourth place went to the Honda R VF750 o f polep osit ion winner Masak i T o ku no of Tea m H RC. .Schwantz's race ended o n th e 12th la p of th e 34 lap 'IT F-I w hen , after holding fifth p lace , he wa s di cing with T o ku no . G oi ng into th e esses (tu rn four ), Tokuno cu t from th e outside and closed the apex door and side-swiped Schwantz's front wheel. T h e 20-year-old cras hed hard and reinj u red h is left collarbone he had bro ken at Sears Point. Sch wa ntz, h ow ever , did get a race under hI Sbelt bef~re th.e ~ras h an d he made th e best o f It. Rid ing a Team Yoshim ura-M o tul GSXR400 whi ch was do wn some five h orsepower on . th e 80+ horsepower H RC sponsored R VF 40 0 o f Yoi chi Yamamot o , Sch wa n tzcarne Irom behind to finish seco n d to th e H onda in wha t wa s h is internat ional debut. The cra sh wa sn 't th e onl y problem Sch wantz h ad on th e weekend. In a practice sessio n o n th e F-I bike, he re-injured hi s co llarbo ne after a tankslapper ca used an off-trac k exc ursio n . Schwantz will team with New leala nd 's Graeme Crosby for the upco min g Suzuka Eight-Hour. A seco nd Am eri can, R icky O rlando, finished 12th in the 'IT F- I class on a badly underpowered RS7 50R Honda sp o ns o red by Team Pol e Position . O rl a ndo is set to return to Suzuka to tea m with Ca nadian R ueben McM urter in the Eight -Hour race. . G ardner al so too k th e top spot in th e 500cc rac e ah ead of National Champion Tadahi ko Taira on th e ' YZR 500cc Yamaha . T h ird place wen i to Ma saru Mizuta ni o n the Suzu ki R G -Ga m ma . • Results TT F-3 : 1. Yoich i Yamamoto (Hon); 2. Kevi n Schwantz (Suz); 3. Satoshi Tsuji moto (Suz). TT F-1: 1. Wayne Gardner (Hon); 2. Shosuke Kita (Suz); 3. Shun j i Vatsush iro (Hon). GP 500: 1. Gardn ar (Hon); 2. Tadahiko Taira (Yam); 3. Maseru Mizuta ni (Suzl.

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