Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

........ (A bove) The rougher t he t rack, the better the Suzuki works. (Below ) Int ern all y, the new YZ is almost all new for '85 . Good turning abilities and excellent suspension highlight the 1985 Suzuki RM250, but it still needs more low-end. JaRanese 250cc MX comRaris,on Finding the true Champ By Kit Palmer Honda 's CR250R; Yamaha 's YZ250N; Kawasaki 's KX250D-I ; Suzuki 's RM250N. They're all good, but w hich one is best? Every yea r the battle to produce the best Japa n ese 250cc motocrosser gets tighter and tighter, and this year's fig ht is the closest ever. But o nly one can claim King of th e Hill honors. After four months of testing and racing against th e stopwatch , we have found the true ch ampion. 8 Motor La st yea r it was th e H onda that rei gn ed supreme in this department, but n ow it 's th e Yamaha that shi n es abo ve th e rest. La st year 's YZ made good horsepower o ff the bottom and a t mid-range but co uld n' t match th e H onda o n top; no longer is thi s th e case. Th e engineer s a t H ond a de.. ( ! : I ._n E J 1.1 • r • ~ ' J ". ' ~ I: u cided to tame down th e C R by giving it more low-end power, but too much power off th e top was sa craficed . Even if Honda didn 't make any modifications , the Yama ha wo u ld 've . been tough to beat. Not only does the YZ have even more pow er off th e bottom than it did last year, but has more than en o ug h grunt on to p to keep most Expert riders pl eased. The Kawa sa ki rates a safe and sou nd second to th e Ya maha - it, too, has plenty o f horsepower from mid-range o n up , but la ck s that needed p unch off the bottom to stay even with th e Yamaha through th e gears. The clutch must be fann ed a few tim es wh en exi ting tight turns, while th e Yamaha 's th rottle ca n be , _ r( 11. ; I r• . f" ~ ~ j r J • 1. I '" :; ~ I I rolled on smooth ly witho ut the aid o f the clutch in most situa tio ns. Suzuki 's problems are th e sa me as last yea r's but on ly less dramatic. It still doesn't h ave enough power off th e bottom to exit turns q uic kly , but it does hit much harder in the middle than it did before, with a smoother transition . Unfortunately , it st i ll doesn 't have the pea k power to match the Yamaha or Kawasaki o n top; the Suzuki d o es h a ve enough to sta y a head of th e Honda. Even though the Honda is co nsider a b ly s lower t han the others, a smoot h po werband and clutch makes the C R a good starter - unless th e straight to the first turn isn 't too lo n g . On a tight practice track, we timed all four bikes wi th a stopwa tch from a start, u p a h ill to th e first turn , which was about 250 feet away. After eight runs, (throw ing out the best and worst times on each bike), the H o n da h ad the bes t average time-barely-oat 5.63 seco n ds, edging the Yamaha's 5.64 seconds . The Ya m ah a did, ho wever, have the best single run of the four at 5.45 seconds vs. the Honda 's best o f 5.46 seconds. Since th e Honda doesn't ha ve a lo t of power, it is easier to ma intain a straight line on the H onda without wasting time spi nning the rear wheel. A lo t of th is has to do wit h the su per-smooth actio n o f th e cl utch , wh ich is by far the best of the bu nch. T he Yamaha has a slightl y gra bby clutch , and with its incredibly-strong powerband, getting it off the line is sometimes tr icky. About th e time the Yamaha hits fo urt h gear, though , it starts hooking up a nd ga ining any lo st time. The Honda is easier to get co ns is ten tly -go o d st arts on , co m> ;, I I 1 s :1 ' , ; I '1'[' . (( I I·, I ' r 1 6' pared to the Yamaha , but the lon ger the straight, th e more chance the Yamaha has at being first to the fir st tu rn . The Suzuki had the third-best average time to th e first turn at 5.75 seconds, bu t th e Suzuki's lack o f lowend power made good sta rts difficult to get. Its single best time was a low 5.48--a decent cl utch and smoo th power delivery h elp . Trailing the field with a 5.8 1seco nd a verge time wa s th e Kawa saki; it didn't have a single good time - it had two passes at 5.66 seco n ds. T he Kawasa ki's lack of low-en d a nd a terrible clutch are d iffcult to deal with. T he Kawasaki bogs off the line no matter how much the clutch is slipped and is very d ifficu lt to keep in a st ra ight lin e. T he more we rode the Ka wa saki the worse th e' cl utch be came - it got more a nd more grabby and made grinding noices. H o le shots o n the Kawasa ki a re h ardro co me by. Suspension For the second year in a row , the Suzuki out-shi nes the res t with its Full-Flo a ter rea r sus pens io n a nd Kayaba forks. Even though the Suzuki 's rea r suspension was the best last year, it has gotten even better for '85; mi nor valving a nd spring changes ha ve i t mo re sensi tive to sma ller bu mps for a smoother ride without lo si n g h i gh- sp eed sta bilit y o ver bigger bumps. The back end rarely bo tto ms, and when it does , it 's hardly noticeable. Up front , th e fork s are the smoothest of th e bu n ch in every situation; th e superiority of th e Suzuki 's forks is especi a lly evident wh en braking over bumps, because th e Suzuki's III I ) H t

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