Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

foam padding, and softer hand leb ar grip s round o u t the new crea tu re co m forts . T h e a ir bo x has al so been co mp letel y redesign ed , all owin g for si m p ler m aintenance, a n d th e a ir p assages to th e filter a re o f a la byrint h (baffled) design. Th 200 ASE , wh ich was boosted to 199cc in 1984. is set to do battl e with th e new Kawasak i KDX 200 as well as th e Yamah a IT 2'00. As wi th all ASEs, the 200 h ad a sma ller 2.7gallon tank (do w n fr om th e 2.0gallon number used in '85), a ir scoops, compact odometer, full lighting, sna il cam cha i n adjusters a nd an al um in um Answer silencer/spark a rres tor. The cylinde r has been redesig ne d . and th e cl aimed dry weight is 222 pounds. Th e rot ary-va lved Rot ax engine in th e 250 ASE has been pretty much left a lone; th ere have been som e m ateri al changes in th e gea rbox to in crea se rel iability, an d th e ignition system is no w provided by Motoplat i ns tead o. Bosch . The 227-pound-dry machine a lso ha s 14.0 inches of ground clearance a nd a heat-treated a lu m in u m swingarm. Can-Am's answer to th e KT M 350 MXC is the 350 ASE . As in th e cas e of i ts KT M counterpart, th e ASE is based on a 250cc engine. Th e 248cc en gi ne o f th e 250 ASE had its bore in cr eased from 72mm to 76mm , whi ch , when mated with the sa me 61mm stro ke, ra ises th e di splacem ent to 277cc. Accordi ng to Can-Am. their own 500 ASE en gine is o ften too much for man y.p eople to handl e. a nd for th em the 350 is a n easier bike to handl e a nd ca n still be ridd en in th e Open class. Probabl y th e best feature is th e 350 wei gh s just o ne p ound more th an th e 250 ASE - 228 versu s 227 - and 18 pounds less than th e 500 ASE. T h e 500 ASE , ho wever . is in its seco n d year a nd boasts so me exha us t pipe a nd ca rburetor modifi ca tions to make it more docile in the bo ttom en d o f th e power ba n d . T h e bike has a fi ve-speed tran sm issi on (a ll o th er ASE s h ave six speeds) a n d a 40m m Bin g ca r bo • Ca n- Am has dropped its 125 MX LC model after o n ly o ne year o n the ma r ket. a nd the 250 MX LC is the sma lles t motocross mod el th ey o ffer. Th e 250. th e on ly wat er-cool ed Ca nAm , has a new in let man ifo ld designed to g ive a " do wnd ra ft" for bett er flow. an d th e ex ha ust p ipe has been ext en sively rew ork ed t6 produce a wider sp rea d of pow er in conjunction with th e R .A.V.E . (R o ta x Automa tic Vari able Exhaust) system . R.A.V.E . made its debut in '85, and automaticall y changes th e exhaust port timing in relation to the speed a nd output of th e engine. Carburetor a nd exhaust cha n ges have al so been made to th e a ir-coo led 500 MX , whi ch Can-Am claims en ables th e en gin e to rev hi gh er to reduce sh ifting . Th e four-stroke 560 Sonic ha s received a new earn design, which all ow s lor slight ly more valv e o verla p . CanAm sa ys the cha nge makes th e engi n e easier to start whi le increasing pow er at th e top o f th e ran ge. A 38mm flat· slide Mikuni ca r b u reto r does th e mixing chor es. On the tri al s en d, th e 350 Tri al has been dropped from th e line-up a nd repl aced by th e 300 T rial, a ma chin e with a 276cc Rorax pow er pl an t. Both th e 300 a nd 240 Tri al have a new sing le-shock frame a nd a slig h tly shorte r w heelbas e than th e '8S mo dels th ey repl ace (5 1.2 inc hes vers us 52.5 ) to prov ide tighter turnin g . T he ground cleara nce h as been upped to 13.6 in ch es. an in crea se o f 1.4 in ch es over '85. Both bikes have M ich elin X tiresandRegina cha ins.; __: '.,. . ',. ------. ----- r --=~- ~ ,~ -'-tlla ~~ TV's All New Motorcycle News Magazine With Your Host Larry Maiers _. Next New Show .. t\,..C\~G 1t"\E.~S Ut\E.S .. \~1E: .. fE.,..1 Brought to you by ... ~ Tuesday. November 26:7:00pm P.T. Wednesday. November 27. 2:00am P.T. (R) Thursday. November 28. 1 0 :30pm P.T. (R) Consult Your Local Listings Castrol HONDA ..

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