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Comparison test: 1986 Ronda
CR2SOR vs. Kawasaki KXZ5OE-1 vs.
Suzuki RMZ50G vs. Yamaha Y'ZZsos
Nitpicking!
By Kit Palmer
Not long ago, the difference between one
brand of 250cc motocrosser and another was
bigger than the Grand Canyon. Deciding
which bike to buy was a give and take situa14
tion - either you bought a
bike for its suspension or for
.'
.
l~S motor. ~arely dId a producuon MX bIke have both.
I both, and choosmg between thelot of
Today, MX .bikes have a
latest
I
Japanese 250cc motocrossers - from
Honda, Yamaha, KawasakiandSuzuki - still isn't so simple. They're
good, competitive motocrossers, all
offering mega horsepower,long travel
suspension, precise handling, reliability and so forth. So now it come
down to nitpicking that determines
the best Japanese 250cc motocros er,
and nitpicking is what thi comparison test is all about.
But first, all that's new.
Suzuki RM250G
Suzuki made a number of change
to its latest RM250, to make the new
RM slimmer, with a lower center o[
gravity and improved overall horsepower (especially low-end). To
achieve a sl im mer profile, the chromemoly steel frame tubes are no longer
circular at the rider's legs; instead,
they're oblong. The exhaust pipe
used to bend to the outside of the
frame behind the right side panel,
which used to bulge; the frame now
has a bujlt-in "tunnel" (first seen on
last year's works bikes) so the pipe
can run through the frame, not
around. And the seat and the gas tank
are much narrower than last year's F
model.
To lower the bike's overall center
o[ gravity, the rear, single shock Full
Floater u pension is completely reworked. Gone are the two vertical
shock struts and heavy bell-crank
assembly fora lighter linkage design.
A fully external adjustable Kayaba
shock is now mounted solidly to the
frame on top and connects to a selfadj usting, free-rolljng eccentric cam
at the bottom, underneath the allnew aluminum swingarm. As the
suspension compresses, the rotation
of the cam al ters the spring load-toaxle ratio. This complete new design
allows the shock to sit farther forward and lower in the frame, lowering and centralizing overall weight.
Up front are refined, more-adjustable 43mm Kayaba. forks, complete
with blue fork boots. Each fork leg
has a compression adjustment valve
with eight click settings; the external
adjustment valve is located at the bottom of the fork tubes.
Both front and rear wheels have
straight-pull spokes, and come stock
with Brid~toneM-22 and M-23 hard-
