Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

A new oval aluminum silencer comes stock on the Suzuki. Note the tunnel in the frame where the pipe and silencer attach. 22 and Yamaha have plush rear ends, but the Honda feels more stable over smaller, squared-off bumps. The Kawasaki's Uni-Trak isn't far off the pace set by the Honda and Yamaha. It feels similar to' last year's KX, being set up a little on the stiff side for the first half of travel. Beyond that, the Kawasaki is as good as the rest. The KX works great on tracks with gnarly whoop-do-doos and big jumps. Stability is excellent, and it rarely bolloms in stock form. The Suzuki's Full Floater takes a lot longer than the others to break in - at least three hours of hard riding. After that, the Suzuki works noticeably beller, but it never loses its harsh feeling. The Suzuki is a handful with the combination of too-soft, underdamped forks and too-stiff rear suspension, especially when braking over stuller bumps. The front end dives to the stiffest part of travel, while the back end rises and kicks badly while bouncing over the tops of the bum ps. Both the Honda and Yamaha are tops in the handling category, which includes braking, comfort., turning and jumping. The Honda i still the most comfortable, and easiest to adapt to of the four. The Honda's seat/handlebar/footpeg relationship is comfortable, as is the Kawasaki's. Both bikes feel light, and are easy to throw around. The Yamaha and Suzuki have seating positions that take a little while gelling used. The Suzuki has a sinking feeling when .sitting in the center of the seat, while the Yamaha has tall and strangely bent handlebars. Both the Honda and Yamaha are excellent turners. In tight turns, the Honda and Yamaha are bullets; they can zip in and out of both tight and wide-bermed turns in a £lash, without any tendency to climb up too soon or drift out too wide. Both bikes go where the front wheel is pointed. Good low-end power on both bikes also helps out a bunch. The Suzuki is also a good turner, but the lack of low-end keeps it from feeling tbat way. Without that punch off the bottom, the Suzuki feels heavy in the turns and doesn't have that precise feeling that the Honda and Yamaha have. But when the clutch is slipped correctly, ·the Suzuki changes direction as well as the Honda and Yamaha. The Kawasaki requires a bit more work than the others because of its tall seating position. The Kawasaki smokes them all when it comes to braking. The rear disc is super strong, and all it takes is a light pressure on the brake pedal for it to start working. Combined with a decent front brake, the Kawasaki is effortless to stop but can be tricky. On dry ground, the rear wheel has the tendency to lock up if the rider gets sloppy with his right foot., such as . whenfatigu ·n.~ the'VamJ'lh ' and Honda have excellent front brakes and good rear brakes. The Suzuki, on the other harrd, doesn't have a strong front brake, and the rear brake is only decent. The problem up front is the pLastic hydraulic hose. It flexes so much that there is a mushy feeling when pulling in the brake lever. The other bikes use braided stainless-steel lines. All these bikes jump well, but you have to be a bit more cautious on the Kawasaki. Because of its responsive motor down low, it's easy to loft the front end a little too high when blipping the throttle over peaked jump. The Yamaha has a tendency to kick if the rider's weight isn't far enough back. The Suzuki is the most stable at take-offs and in the air; the Honda is next. When it comes to the stopwatch, the Honda and Yamaha are the Leaders in lap times, followed closely by the Kawasaki, then the Suzuki. The Honda and Yamaha are evenly matched; sometimes the Yamaha would win; sometimes the Honda. But the two are never far apart at any time, on any track. Summary The Suzuki needs work to be competitive, but that work is the type that can be done at home without spending gobs o[ money and time. After minor changes to the [01'ks, shock, clutch and brakes, the uzuki works. The Kawasaki, on the other hand, can win races in stock trim, but its diff·icult, erratic powerband takes away a little bit of the fun [or the novice rider. The Kawasaki is seriou and is designed for the serious motocrosser; it's not [or everybody. and in the right hands, the KX does the trick - it's no slouch. But the top bikes in this four-way showdown are, without a doubt, the Yamaha and Honda. Choosing between them is tough. On the track, both bikes are top of the line, but the Yamaha is more practical to own for the average rider. Because of the power val ve, the Honda req u ire a strict maintenance schedule. Every two hours or so worth of riding, the power valve could stick from carbon build up, almost eliminating the Honda from long-distance races such as GPs or enduros, or even everyday trail rides. The Yamaha, on the other hand, requires less maintenance, can run competitively in those long-distance races and perform nearly as well as the Honda - nitpicking. What it comes down to is this - fo.r strictly motocross use, the Honda rates slightly above the Yamaha. For the rider who has a wider range of interests, such as racing MX, as well as GPs and enduros or riding on the trails, he'll be happier with the Yama• -- • - . . • • • lla~ The first 30 Fantic 301 Trial machines have reached the U.S.; all of the 249.4cc, six-speed machines were pre-sold, and another shipment of 30 lis expected. The Fantic weighs 189.2 pounds without gas and has a 62.4-inch wheelbase with 27° reke and 13 incl:les of ground clearance; bore and stroke are 74x68mm; carburetion is via a 26mm Oell'Orto. More information is available from TMI at 800/824·1433. Wind (Continued from page 3) Sport Tracks Company was honored at the Hilltoppers Motorcycle Club's February 21 awards banquet in Long Beach, California as Sponsor of the Year; the award recognized Sport Tracks' support of grassroots offroad racing. Sport Tracks is involved with contingencie for Grand Sport tires at many desert and off-road events. The Big H Speedway in Houston, Texas, will host an AMA Pro-Am flat track on April 20. This will be the first of many 1986 races scheduled at the facility by promoter Bob Bagwell. The Tulare Vintage Motorcycle Show and Swapmeet will be held at the Tulare, California, Fairgrounds on April 26 with a road rally [ollowing on the 27th. Exhibitors from all over California, the Ea t Coast, Canada and even Australia will display their classic and vintage motorcycles. For more information call 209/732-9265. The Phoenix Supercross on May 10 at Sun Devil Stadium will mark the first time professional supercross has been held in the state of Arizona. The race will also feature off-road cars on a separate track much like the opening round of the series in Anaheim, California. For more information call 818/7873497. The Rodil Supercross in the Los Angeles Coliseum.which featured an infamous two-row start, will be shown in Los Angeles, California on March 29 at 1:00 p.m. on KABC, Channel 7. The race will also be shown in Providence, Rtlode Island on the 29th at 1:00 p.m. on WAKR. On March 30, the show will be shown in Portland, Oregon, at 3:00 p.m. on KGW and in Fresno, California, at 1:00 p.m. on KAlL. The Sonoma County Sports Cycle Association is sponsoring a benef"rt raffle for injured motocrosser Danny Chandler in conjunction with the North Bay Motorcycle Club on March 23. The $1 tickets are available by sending checks to the Pro Rider Benefit Fund for Chandler, SCSCA, Box 1014, Petalume, CA - -94953. ••••••• • •••• , • Uttle known fact:.Vamaha Motor Corp. U.S.A. will prepare the FZ760 that England's Rob McEIneawill ride against the U.S. squad in the Trans-Atlantic Series at England's Donington Park. McElnea will race under the Marlboro Vamaha banner on one of the FZ750s used at the Daytona 200. Lew Atkinson, 70, died on February 24 in Columbus, Ohio. Atkinson wa a life member of the AMA and the Enduro Rider Association and won the Jack Pine 500-mile Enduro in 1961. Atkinson had also raced on the old beach course in Daytona Beach, Florida, and owned Lew's Cycle Ranch in Columbus, Ohio, before retiring. The opening round of the AMA/_ Nippondenso Supercross Series from Anaheim, California, will be shown nationwide on ESPN four times in April. The first telecast will air on April 3 at 5:00 p.m. Pacific time and 8:00 p.m. Eastern time with repeats following on April 13, 17 and 19 at various times. Check local listings for more details. Amateur Supercross racing will be held on the Sundays following the April 12 Pontiac, Michigan Supercross and the April 26 Dallas, Texas Supercross. For more information on the Pontiac Supercross call 517/3214351 or 813/822-8929 for Dallas information. Gale "Motocross Mom" Webb will give her well-known Safety in Sports show at Knott's Berry Farm, in Buena Park, california, on March 22-30. Webb will give a total of 45 shows during the eight-day stint at the amusement park. Kawasaki-mounted Dwight Rudder was left out of our March 12 coverage of the AMA National Hare Scrambles Championship story despite winning the 200cc A class at Saline, Louisiana. Rudder is sponsored by Trim Leathers and Jones Goggles. Dr. John's Team Mota Guzzi was honored with the AMA Sportsmen of the Vear award for the 1985 season at a ceremony at Daytona on March 6.

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