Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

a 2j ,' ~ front en d doesn 't wander back a nd forth . The Kaw a sak i a n d Yamaha a re close, bu t can 't match the Suzuki 's strai g h t-line sta bili ty. Both th e Ka wasa ki a nd Yamaha have good suspen sio n, but right O U I th e cra te, we gi ve the n od 10 th e Kawa saki o ver the Yamaha; the Yamah a isgood over smaller bumps, but, b ecause it 's too so ft in th e rear, it bottoms hard, swaps, a n d see-s aw s d own r o ugh straights. The Kawasaki is more sta ble than the Yamaha in n a st y whoops and over big bumps, but is a littl e harsh and s k i tt e ry over th e smaller bumps. Stiffer fork s prin g are a must for the Yamaha , a nd m ake a 100% change for the better . We -never liked the Honda 's sus pension; so m eti mes we hated it. The back end kicks and swa ps n o matter what the damping or preload se ttings. Man y CR o wners feel the sa me way a nd tr ash the stock shock for a n afterm arke t on e. Th e s toc k shoc k can 't be pushed a t a ll; th e back en d kicks drasticall y in all d irect ion s-owe didn 't have much confid ence riding the H onda , because we never knew which wa y th e back wheel was goi ng to k ick . Som et im es it boun ces stra igh t u p , o r o u t to t he side, or, worst o f all , up a n d to the side a ll a t once. T he fo rk d oes a decent job, but it, too , twitches a t ti mes , es pecia lly wh en brak in g over bumps . Th e H on da is more at home on super cross-type tra c ks with even ly-spac ed bum ps and more predi ctab le terra in. T he H o nda 's front a nd rear suspe n sion does an ad m ira ble job a bso r bing hard impacts off big jumps. Hand ling T he H onda is th e easiest bike to r id e beca use i t h a s a co mforta b le , neutral ri di ng p ositi on co m pa red to th e o the r three. All th e H onda 's co ntrols are easy to reach a nd have better feel , m ak ing t he H onda si m p le to turn , brake and throw arou nd in the air. The Yamaha , on the o the r hand, ha s a strange bar/peg /seat rel ationsh i p th at tak es so m e tim e getting used to. The Yamaha 's sea t is fairly wid e a n d soft, a n d the h andlebars have a bend we didn 't like. The Su zuki still feels like a Suzuki , with its stink-bug-like (ass i n th e a ir) seating position - high in th e rear, a n d low up front . U n like th e others, th e Kawa saki feels big and long with a comfortable bar/peg/ seat relationship . The Yamah a is th e be st of th e bunch in turn s no m atter if a berm is u sed or no t; t he fr ont e n d t ra ck s reall y well a n d goes wh ere i t 's pointed . With i ts exce llent low end, th e Yamaha ho ok s up ni cel y a n d smooth ly in th e turns without th rowing th e rid er o rr cou rse. T he Suzuki hugs a ti g ht tu rn we ll , but doesn 't handle th e berm s as we ll as th e Yamaha ; it so meti mes d rifts wide a nd rises up too soon . Even though th e Kawa saki h a s th at long feel i ng , i t, too , turn s exceptionally well , but it prefers berm ed turns. T he KX ca n be pl owed in to ber m s wi th co n fidence; i t d oesn 't stan d u p 100 soo n . The H onda tu rn s p recisel y in a lmos t a n y si t u a tio n . bu t ha s th e te n d e n cy to drift wide in h airpin turns. Th e H on d a h a s t h e st rongest bra kes of the four , bu t the Yama ha' s Bra ke Actuated Suspens ion System (B. A .S. S.) h as th e adva n tage o n rough er tra cks; th e sys te m reduces rea r- wheel hop. Th e Ka wa sa ki h a s The Honda has more punch off the bottom this year. but too much power was sacrificed on the top. stro ng b rak es , but th e fr ont di sc brake on o ur test bike kept getting air in th e h ydraulic sys tem , increas ing lever pla y. The Suzuki 's brakes aren 't in credibl y strong, but are much better than in 1984, a n d the Suzuki ' s brakes a re very sm ooth, progressiv e a nd controllable, so there isn' t much rear end hop over th e bumps. On the track We rode a ll fo ur bikes o n va riety of track su rfaces, ranging from sa n d to lo amy dirt to mud to hard-packed. But when it ca me time to co llec t lap times, we took a ll four bikes on our fa vorit e test track, a h a rd-packed , so mewh at-slip p ery co u rse in so u thern California. Ev en though th e Yamah a ranked o vera ll o n d ifferent types o f track co n d i tio ns - ra tes a bove the othe rs because o f its exce llent moto r a n d decent sus pension, o u r lowest overa ll lap time on o u t test tra ck was o n the Suzu ki. We timed each bik e from a sta rt a n d di d fi ve hard la p s. The Su zu ki ha d the lo west start -a n dfive -la p tim e at 7 m in utes , 24 se co nds , w h ile th e Yamaha 's best time was 7:26. The Ka wa sak i tu rned 7:29, while the H o nda brough t up the rear at 7:34. Th e track is fairl y rough w ith a co u p le of lon g straigh taways . wh ich favors bikes wit h th e best suspen sio n a n d mid- through top- end h ors ep o wer. Bu t becau se t h e ground is slic k a nd d ry. the Suzu ki , - which bogs when there's good tra ction - perform s very well ; w heelspin ca n be used to keep it in its powerband; th at 's wh y i t h ad a better lap time than th e rest of the four .on th is particular track . The Yamaha still felt better than th e Suzu ki because o f it s smo o th a nd powerful powerband a nd excellent turning abil it ie s; those attributes made it eas y to run fast laps on the Yamaha for a longer period of time. If ther e h ad be en a bit more traction , t he Yama h a wo u ld h a ve turned the best lap times. The Kawasaki had a decent time despite its brake problems, grabby clutch and slow steering - its strong pull a t high rpm made up for so me of th e handicaps. The lack of low-end hindered th e Kaw asaki when exi ting a couple of tight turns , but th e Kaw asa ki was sta ble in a straigh t line o ver ' th e bumps and felt co m fo rt able. The H onda ' s big gest p roblem was sus pe nsi o n - w ith th e throttl e wide o pen o u t of a bumpy turn , th e H onda 's back en d hops a nd kick s so much tha t the rid er has to back orr the throttle a nd loses va luab le time. This sort o f s t u ff rea lly wears o u t a ri de r quickl y; th e com bi n a tion of being d ow n on h o rse p o w e r a nd h a vin g su spen sion p r o bl e m s means the H o n da just isn 't the h o t set-up in sto c k form o n r o u gh , wid e-open tracks . But o n supercross -type track s, the H o n d a wo rks because it turn s w ell. is ligh t a n d easy 10 thr ow aro u nd . jumps well a nd has enoug h power for short straightawa ys. Th e ca tch is tha t the Yam aha doe s 9

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