Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Cycle News 1985 12 11

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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...... ...... The EX250 Ninja features chrome-moly connecting rods, li ght w eight pistons and 16-inch, three-spoke cast aluminum wheels The ZL600 is Kawasaki 's middleweight muscle bike for 1986; the engine is based on the 16-valve, Ninja 600 only with smaller ca rburetors. The shaft-driven Kawasakis come with a new deceleration-torq ue-limiting clutch des igned to prevent rear wheel hop. The fu lly-dressed 1200cc Voyager XII comes w ith fa iring , trave l trun k, detachable saddlebags, AM /FM stereo and a cassette deck. Kawasaki p-ress intro The new Kawasakis By Paul Carruthers GA R DE NA. CA, NO V . 22 New machines in Kawasaki's 1986 lineup for the U. S. market include a 250cc Ninja; a 1200cc, four-cylinder tourer to augment the company's long-standing 1300cc, six-cylinder touring machine; a 600cc dragster-styled Eliminator ba sed on · · 600 I d t Iie N mj a ; a n en a rge Vulcan V-twin cruiser; and a 10 IOOOcc. sport-touring Concours. Kawa saki has added a fourth entrv into its selection o f sportbikes witil th e EX250 Ninj a , targeted a t buy ers entering or re-entering th e moto rcycle market. Th e liquid-co ol ed . DOHC, eig h t-va lve, 248cc verticaltwin EX250 Ni nja h as a six-speed transmission a nd a round-tube. steel Irarn e. Th e EX250 co m p lime nts th e ZX600 Ninja, th e ZX900 Ninja a nd th e ZXIOOO Ninja to complete Kawasa ki's sportbi ke lineup. T he a ll -new engi ne has chromemol y con nec ting rods a nd lightweight p istons with internall y-tapered wri st pins to reduce reciprocating weight a nd a llow h ig h- rp m reli ability. The valves a re opene d by rock er arms with the ca m lobes riding on a pad between th e roc ker arm l?i\"Ot an d th e valve s ~em; a. co nventiona l scr.ewtype adjuster I S located at the P ivot en d o f th e roc ker. T he bike is styled in th e same Cashion as its big bro thers w.ilh halffairing a nd m ol ded seat des ign . The little Ninj a a lso fea tures whi t~ . 16inc h, three- spok e cas t a lu m.mu m wh eels sty led Sim ilar .to l\~arvlc raeing wh eel s; Kawasaki cla ims a dry wei ght of 304 pounds C th e EX250. or La st year Kawasaki introduced th e dragster-st yled Elimi na tor muscl e bike and in 1986 th e design h as led to th e ZL600, a m iddlewei gh t muscle bike. Based o n th e DOHC. 16-valve Ninja 600 m ot or. th e ZL600 mot or featu res sma ller ca rbu retors a nd a redesigned exha ust system; the 30m m ca rbure to rs are 2mm sma l.ler t.ha n those o n th e N inj a. resu lting 111 a h ig her inta ke veloci ty a nd stronger midrange. The Iiqu id-cool ed . six -spced . bszcc m o to r a lso incorpora tes a decelera tio n -to rq ue- lim iting cl ut ch , designed to prevent rear wh eel h op during d ece leration ; th e clutch a ll ows a limited degree of slippage during severe engi ne braking a nd d ownshiftin g . Th e clai m ed dry weight o f th e ZL600 is 427 pounds. In the to u rin g department, Kaw asaki has introduced th e [ull y-dr cssed Voya ger XII with fairin g , trave l trunk, de tacha ble sadd lebags, AM/FM stereo a nd casse tte deck. An a ll -ne w, wat ercoo led , 1 196cc, Iou r- va lv es-percylinder DOHC four-cyl inder engi ne wa s -devel oped for th e Vo yager XII, dual d ynam ic bal ancer s a nd h ydraulic va lve la sh adj us ters; th e adj us ters were introduced last year on th e Vu lcan line a nd virtual ly elim ina te valve mainten ance. A new chassis o n the Voyager XII features a fra me with a remova ble downtube and rear su bfrarne for ease orks a nd rear o f mainten ance. The C shocks are a ir assis ted a nd feature a n eq ua lizer a nd remote air valves. T he Vo ya ger XII a lso features handl ebar-m ounted co nt ro ls Cor th e ra dio /casset te pl ayer. Th e opera tor 's a udio co n tro ls a re located o n th e left handl ebar while th e passen ger 's co n tro ls are below th e backrest o n th e left hand side. Both operator and passenger ca n co nt ro l auto seek, cassette prog rdm , mu te, vo lu me a nd radiol . cassette select ion. In a dd ition, the Vo yager XII features an a u to ma tic volume co ntrol th at a u to ma tica lly increases or d ecr ea ses th e 'a ud io vo lume to co mpensa te Cor speed a nd wind noi se. Kaw a saki will a lso co n tinue to sell th e origi na l, six-cy li nde r ZN1300 Vo yager in 1986. Kawa saki is entering a new seg - rnent o f the market with th e introduction of th e a ll-new Conco urs span touring bike Cor 1986. The 997cc, liquid-cooled , four-cylinder, 16-val ve DOHC, sha h -d riven Concours is designed Cor go ing long distances at high speeds . Th e en g ine in th e Concours is a variation o f th e one used in th e Ninja 1000R, but with sma ller ca rburetors and milder cams ha ft profiles to compliment th e low-maintenance shaft drive. The sport Ieatures o n th e Conco u rs in cl ud es the U n i-T ra k rear suspension a nd large-di ameter fork tubes. The tourin g features include a large full fa iring , sha h drive, radial tir es a n d detachable saddle bags. A unique feature o n th e Concours is a hidden lu ggage rac k exposed by removing a section o f th e rear tail sectio n . A larger , 749cc m o tor, silver engine treatment a nd n ew gra p h ics a re th e big changes to Kaw asaki's V-twin Vulcan C 1986. The high handleor bars, low sea t and teardrop gas tank styling was a ma rketing success last or yea r C Kawasaki a nd th e performance shou ld be boosted by th e extra di splacemen t Crom increasin g cylinder bore diameter by 2.9mm, to 84.9mm. Kaw asaki will co nt in ue to produce its 454L TD in 1986. The liquidcooled , eig h t-va lve, in-line vertical twin with stree t cruiser sty ling and belt dr ive features a six-speed transm ission. T he 454cc motor is basically half o f a 908cc N inj a a nd sha res many o f th e sa me engine fea tures a nd com p onen ts suc h as valv e train , carb u retion, internal co unterba la ncc r and a u to ma tic ca m ten sioner . Kawa sak i will pu t three bik es in its dual-pu rpo se lin e C 1986 - th e or

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