Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Motor: Poor Suspension : Fro nt Rear Fair Good Fair VZ Good RM Low end M id range To p end - Pow er band Transmiss io n Poor '" V . good Exc. VZ . . KX CR R M . KX VZ . CR RM . KX . CR . V Z RM . . KX .VZ CR VZ .KX RM .C R CR V . good Exc. RM .KX CR VZ RM . KX Handling : Wet Weight in Ibs. (cert if ied ): (Above) The lat est YZ125 is a 101 % im provem ent over last year's YZ . (Below) The eR 's motor is t he best of the bunch. stiff a nd requ ires a long break -in per iod. We imm ed iat el y went 10 th e soh co m p ressio n damping sellin g and made sure no a ir was in rhe forks. Thai mad e it beuer , bUI we were never reall y happy w ith th e Ka yaba 's pe rfo rma nce. Th e harsh ride m ad e th e rid er 's arms pump u p durin g a fairl y long rn oto, Falling in belween th e H onda and rhe Yamaha in terms of front suspensio n performance a re th e Suzuki a nd Ka wa sa ki. Th e Suzuki 's and Ka wa sa ki's fork s are th e mos t evenly ma tched o f th e four, but the Kawasa ki 's forks so aked up the flat-fa ced bumps and sha rp, sq uared-o ff bumps slighll y smooth er . The Suzuki had less h eadshak e th an th e Kawasaki wh en brak ing from a high-speed stra ig h t. Of the four bikes, th e H onda had th e m ost n eutral sca ling position , which makes the Honda easv 10 throw around . It docs feel a litll e cra m pe d for a rider over si x feel. because th e hand leb ars a re a liul e low a nd th e Ioo tpeg h ei ght feels hi gh er th an th e o thers. It s sea t is a liu l« o n th e soft side . Th e Kawasaki feels th e light est o f th e bunch , a lmost to o li gh t. Wh en slo win g down for turn s o ver bump s, or coas ting o ver bumps wi th th e throttle off, th e Ka wasa ki dances around , sometimes mak in g h oldin g a strai g h t li ne difficult. T he Kawasa ki ca n be tossed aro u nd in the turns and in th e ai r sligh lly eas ier th an th e Ho n da , but th e H onda is more sta b le and its steering is m o re precise. We didn 't ca re much for the Yamaha 's sea ting p osition . bUI m uc h of th at ha s 10 do with th e ta ll, un com forta ble h andl ebars with a stra nge bend. Other th an th ai , th e Yamaha is easy 10 gel used 10. Th e Suzu ki is co mfortable 10 ride; it feels mu ch thinn er a nd is much eas ier 10 fling a ro u n d co m pa red 10 lasI vea r's R M. All th e co n trols are in easy' reach , and work smoo th ly. Ou r o n ly co m p la i nt is a sluggis h -feel ing fro nt br ak e lever : th e Suzu ki 's pl astic hyd raul ic brake hose flex es (Suzu ki does o ffer a n o p tio n a l steel- bra ided h ose ). All th ese bikes turn well , bUI th e H o n da tu rn s quick ly a nd maintains its li ne in th e berms or o n [lat ground. Th e Suzuki and Kawasaki a lso tu rn well, sligh rlv be tter th a n the Ya maha . , T~ ~ Ya ma ha I,i ~<;s torise up h alf wa y throug h th e turn s, a nd it la kes ti me ge u ing used 10 . C IUlCh engageme nt is smoot h, precise a nd p ro gr essive o n th e H onda . Suzuki and Ka wasaki, while th e clutch o n th e Yamaha is ro ug h . gra bby a nd unplea sant. The Yamaha 's clu tch has 10 be u sed qu ickl y, or fa nned wh ile m o vin g a t a fa irl y high rai l' of spe ed befor e il sta r ts working sm oothl y. At slo w spe eds, th e ride r ca n' t gi nger ly slip th e cl u tch without it g ra bbing or mak ing g rind ing noises. Despite a ll th e n oi ses, th e clu tch never gave up o r slipped wh en under a load. All bi kes have a light clutch -lever p u ll , and o ne finger is a ll thar' s needed . Braking is strong on all bikes, a nd we had no co m p lain ts o th er than th e previ ousl y-mentioned feel o f the Suzuki's front brak e. The rear d isc brak e o n th e Ka wa saki worked excellent ly and performed far bet ter th an the o th ers. Sligh t pressure o n the brak e peda l slow ed th e Ka wasak i down in a hurry, co ntro lla bly, with no worry a bo u t lock in g u p the rea r wh eel. T he Suzuki 's an d H onda 's rear br ak es work well bUI a re n't a s stro ng as th e Kawa saki . We di sli ked th e rear brake o n th e Yamaha . Th e brak e itself is strong, bUI th e rea r tire locks easily; man y limes it felt as th ough th e brak es weren ' t working a t a ll, bu t a qu ick gl a nce down would reveal the rear wh eel locked up. \\'e a lso d id n ' l liked th e wa y rhe Yam ah a h o pped over stu tte r bumps under braking : if th e rider sta nds o n th e foot pe g s a nd uses hi s legs as shock a bsorbers, th e Yama ha is very co ntrolla ble brak ing o ver bu m p s. BUI as 'soo n as the ride r si ts down th e Yamaha kicks a nd swa ps while braking o ver bumps, kn ock in g th e rider o ff co urse. After co mpa ri ng th ese bi kes ba ck to-hack o n th e sa me tra ck. we co ncl uded th a t a ll fo ur bik es can p roduce co mpara ble lap times, and th e stop wat ch p ro ved it. So what ir boils dow n 10 is, wh ich o ne is the ea siest to ride fast? Th e H onda is. The C R is more fo rgivin g w ith its smoot h bUI po we rfu l motor, excellen t fo rk s, pr ecise handling a nd co mfort . R iding th e H onda lakes less energy a nd stre ngth to go just as fast , if not faste r th an th e oth ers, and thai ca n ma ke th e difference between winning a nd losin g, especia lly in a lo ng mota . The Ya ma ha ca n hang right up ~~e!e ~ ilh the Honda o n most tracks, but the ex p lodin g- type p o werban d , so h rear sus pe nsion, harsh fo rks a nd uncom fo rta b le h an dl ebars m a kes thin g s more d ifficu lt a nd ca n p ump u p a rider 's a rms in a h urry as we ll as th e res I of th e body. Even th ou gh th e Kawasaki a n d Su zuk i hav e th e best suspens io ns of the four, thei r dow n on- ho rsepower-motors force th e riders 10 wor k m uch ha rder in the tu rns . o ver the bumps a nd j um ps 10 ma ke up lost lime in th e stra ig h ts, We wo u ld n' t fi nd it difficu lt 10 live w ith any of th ese mo to rcyc les . bUI we do fee l that o ne wo uld be th e easies t. Suzuk i has prod uced yet another decent mo tocrosser , bUIo ne fla w keeps it fro m being th e best - it lack s lowend a nd ha s a slow-revvin g mol or. T his is 10 0 bad because th e RM ba s su fficien t horsep ower midrange o n up, bUI it's n o t enough 10 m ak e up for its o the r flaws . H owever, suspen sio n is ver y good , handl ing is SPOI o n, a nd it h as striking styling . The Kawasaki 's on ly problem thi s yea r is pl ain ly - lack of horsepower. Alth ough it has m or e low -end, it j USI isn 't as Ia st as it u sed 10 be. It pulls stro ng off th e bo ttom bUI Hauens o ut o n top. H andl i ng is better, i t's easier 10 ride. a nd th e new rear suspen sio n works flawl essl y. Th e Ka wasaki's l ighr feeli ng mak es il easy to th row aro u nd in the tu rns and of f j um ps, bUI th e m a lar does n ' I have th e traditional KX punch th a t mad e it fam ous. H orsepower is wha t th e Yam ah a is a ll a bo u t. It h as one o f th e stronges t m ot ors of rh e bunch (m a in ly o n to p ), but is ha rder to ma nage co m pared 10 th e Honda . Rear suspension is decent . bu t co m bi ne d wi th the ha rsh for ks a nd un comfortahl e handleb ars , rhe YZ ca n be a h an dfu l o n a ro ugh track . T he powerful. yet smooth. power, excelle n t forks, fir st-rar e h and lin g , co mfort an d precise co ntrol mak es th e H o nda just 100 hard to pa ss up. T he H o nda CR 125R is, wi th out a doubt. the best 1986 I25cc motocrosser fromJapa!l, -, ." _.. , ,, ~ !. ~ 17

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