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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127369
testers felt that the CR's gearbox ratios
didn't quite fit the powerband as well
as it should, and felt that the CR
required too much shifting. Others felt
the gear ratio was fin e.
The Suzuki, Kawasaki and KTM
also have good working transmissions
and clutches, as well as complemen tary
gear ratios. We had no real com p laint s
with an y of these bikes.
The Yam ah a , however, ha s a somewhat mushy and not exactly pleasant
feeling clutch lever pull. It seems there
is less lever travel betw een engagement
and dis engagement compared to the
rest of the bikes. We al so had a shift
return spring pop 0 [[ inside the
gearbox, leaving the Yamaha stuck in
gear. According to Yamaha, this is an
ex trem el y rare occu rre nce that is
usually caused when too m uch pressure is applied on th e shift lever, such
as .when the rid er's foot rests on the
lever when landing off a jump.
Front suspension
Simply put, the Kawasa ki has the
best fork. T he Kayaba uni t soa ks up
the bum ps and sharp-edged h oles
smoother than the rest, especially
landing 0[[ b ig jum ps . Al so , th e
Kawasaki has very little headshake,
either on or off the gas. The fro nt end
works very well. Period.
The Suzuki's Showa fork , which is
almost identical to th e fork used on
the Honda CR last year, also works
well but just doesn 't have that " rush"
feeling like the Kawasaki's Kayaba
unit. Touchdown 0[[ jumps is a lillie
on the harsh side and headshake was
noti ceable-at times.
Middle of th e road best describes th e
Kayab a fork o n th e Yamaha YZ;
although not the best of the bunch,
it certa in ly isn 't the worst, either. It
gets the job done. Our on ly co m plaint
was an overa ll har sh and sti ff feeling.
Busy was th e unanimous feeling
with th e KTM 's fron t sus pe ns io n .
Alt houg h the Wh ite Po wer fork was
so mewha t cus hy, there is a lot of
twitch ing and movement radiating
fro m th e front end. Som e o f the testers
experienced slig h t hea dshak e wh ile
both accelerating and decelerating,
o the rs on ly no ti ced it while decelerat ing, wh ile one rid er hadno co mp laints at a ll. Most of th e riders,
how ever , felt that the KTM's fork was
the lesser of the offerings.
None of the tester s really liked the
Ho nda's Kayaba fork, eit her, especially
whe n landin g off jumps. It felt as
though 14,000 volts of electricity shot
up th e rid er's arms every tim e the front
'wheel ma de contact with the ground
when lan ding off jumps at speed.
Everyo ne agreed the unit is too harsh.
And to mak e matters worse, nasty
headsha ke would rear its ug ly head
hen ever th e Honda was pu shed hard,
mos tly wh ile decelera ting over brakin g
bum ps.
R ea r suspension
This departmen t was mu ch close r to
II than the front sus pe nsio n. Most
agreed, however, th at the Kayaba shoc k
on th e Kaw asaki KX rated slightly
above the rest. The back end stay ed
close to th e gr ound, digging for
traction, and rarely swapped out to the
sides, giving the rider a lo t of confidence at speed .
The Showa unit o n the Suzuki R M
a lso worked well bu t the rear end
mo ved around and twitched a lillie
more than the Kawasaki's. Bu t the
o vera ll feeli ng was controllable, especially at slower speeds. Pushed hard,
-ahe R M felt a lillie shaky at ti mes,
but we rarely felt the need to back off
on the th rottle. It just didn't ins pire
us as . much as the Kawasaki 's rear
suspension.
. .-Againin 1990, Arai Helmets
Topped More Challlpions in More Classes
in More Types of Racing!
;
We Congratulate anciThank You All.
Road RllCing
Doug ChandIer-AMAS