Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

;': P... O ct'B E,' Pro Circuit Honda CR250 R JE IK. " .' : :. ' . . ', '. .. ~ : - ' doubts that they' r e much stronger than stock. Bu t what about the new exhaust sys tem? Well, that's a tough one . One of the things we loved m os t about the stock Honda was the stro ng, smooth powerband. The Pro Circuit pipe transforms the CR250 into a harder-hitting, harder-pulling machine. There seems to be a flat spot between second and third gea rs, but it's only noticable on hardpacked tracks where throttle control is critical. On our loamy test tr ack, the bike was awesome. The ha rder-hitting powerband was much more fun to ride wit h, but definitely suited for a moreadvanced rider. Beginners might want to stick to the OEM pipe, since the bike is easier to keep on the pip e in stock form . Dr ag races be tween a s to ck-pi ped bike and ou r test un it yielded the same resu lts time and time again - the Pro Circuit mach in e re peatedly enjoyed a one- to-two bike-len gth margin of victory. Our only co m p lain t ab out the unpainted exhaust pipe was its tendency to rust if not cared for properly. Afte r being washed or ridden in the mud, the pipe must be treated with WD-40 or another comparable rust in h ib it o r . Pro Circuit does, , 'Wa hf . however, sell a special pipe brightener made by Dirt Squirt. It would be hard to describe the power of the Braking Brake Systems front brake kit. Anyone who's everridden a Honda CR knows that the front brakes border on magic al. but believe it or not - the Braking se t-up is even stronger. The rotor requires a s h or t break-in period, but once th e di sc is roughed up - watch out. One fing er is all that's needed on the front brake lever, as two or more can send a careless rider on an unscheduled flight. So far, the Braking disc pads seem to be ho lding up as good as - if not better than - the s tock pads. The incr ea sed braking power provided by the kit actually helped alleviate the arm pump tha t several tes ters often suffer , since the pressu re required to activate the bra kes is significantly less. As for the rest of the bike 's new look - the w hite, pur ple and bright red machine d rew lot s of stares wherever we went. Though the white plastic gave the bike the look of a Yamaha or KTM, the huge trademark Honda wings of the N-Style Impact Graph ics kit left no doubts that the bike was, ind eed, a Honda. So, does the bike work as good as it looks? We think so. a !' add~ti on to t~e. Pro <::ircuit-m?dified rear shock, we had the pleasure of mstallmg an d n dmg WIth what IS undo ubtedly the trickest production rear shock on the MX mar ket. Best known for their championship-winning Indy Ca r team, Penske has ventured into the motocross ma rket and made an impressive debut with their 8900 Series MX Shock. The beautiful shock is a triple-adjustable uni t, with high and low-speed com pression, and rebound ad justments. Pens ke claims that the double-adjustable compression dampening can allow a rider to fine-tune their shock to each track with greater accuracy than with a single-adjustable unit. !be shock is CNC-machined from 7075-T6aluminum and hard-anodized for light weight and strength, and the stainless steel shaft is hard-chromed to resist the wear and tear encountered in off-road use. Looking at the unit makes one feel almost guilty about bolting it onto a mo tocross bike - the shock is almost too pretty 10 get dirty . Initially, we encou nte red some difficul ty fittin g the shock to ou r CR250. Wh en attempting to install the stock shock spring, we foun d tha t the Pens ke shock bod y would not accept the OEM part, becau se the preload rin g threads did n't extend far enough do wn the shock bod y. According to Pens ke shock technican Russ Rose, our p~rticular shock was a prototype, an d theprodllfti~n units accept the stock sp ring WIth no problems at all, In ord er to get ou r shock going, how ever, we gave Enzo Racing a call, and they were able to find a shorter s~ock sp ring-that was of the correc t ra te. Wit h ,th e spring installed , we were ' ready to ride. F---~-"'-------, We must admit that the trip le-adjustable uni t was a bit in timi dating a t firs t, b ut numerous laps, pit stops, adjustments, an d even more lap s, allowed us to dial in the shock. Than ks to the high- and low-speed compression adjustability, the shock can be fine tuned to be compliant over small braking bumps, while maintaining its ability to handle larger, harder hits without bottomHard landin gs are gobbled up, thanks to ing. Unlike a conventional shock that offers only the Pro Circuit suspensio n modifications. a sin gle compression adjustment, the Penske unit gives the rider a wider range of adjustability. Ad justing the compression is easy and st ra ightforward - 30 low-speed and 10 highspeed clicks yield a great range of settings. We found th a t our shock worked best when the high-speed adjuster was turned all the way in, then backed out six clicks, while the low-speed adjuster was set full-in, then out 12. Like the stock shock, the Penske's rebound adjuster is located on the bottom of the shock, and is easily accessible. Unlike the stock shock, which requ ires tha t the bike be on a stand with the rear wheel lifted slightly, the adjuster on the Penskeunitrnay. be reache d quite easily. As , d elivered, th e rebound was a bit on the slo w side, and any n u mber of consecu tive whoops would leave the rear end of our Honda packed down and squa tting . To remed y the problem, we ran the adjuster full-in, then ou t 12 clicks. In this setting, the rear end rebounded quite quic kly, bu t fast is better than too slow, in our book. All in all, we felt that the Penske unit worked as good as the stock shock, but the wide range of ad justability allows for much mo re fine tuning. Techno weenies (you know, the g-uys who love to tinker with their bikes) will love the Penske unit, as it allows the bike to be set up for each specific track condition. Riders who just get on the ir bikes and go, however, probably wouldn't appreciate the shock's awesome range of ad justability. A list of the professional riders competing with the Penske shock is impressive. In addition to the entire Boyesen/Penske/Yarnaha team which includes Scott Sheak, John Dowd and Dag Boyesen; RRP Racing's • Eas tern Regional 12Scc Supercross pilot TIm Ferry and 250cc Grand Prix contender Rob Herring have been enjoying considerable success with their Penske shocks. So, you ask, is the Penske 8900 Series Motocross Shock worth the $750 price tag? Ughtweight Products Acerbis USA Well, in all honesty, we feel that the stock ' " $99',9S 205 . W. Ce ntra l Ave. #B 9402 Wheatlands Ct. #A u nit can be mod ified to deliver excellent ' $149,95 Monrovia, CA 91016 Santee. CA 92071 performance for less than half the cost. The ' ' , : , ' $19_95 : 818/357-2722 619/562 -1440 ' "' ,$25.95 stocker, ho wever , looks now here near as " " " $48,95 " trick as the Pens ke unit, an d adjustability is ' , $54,95 N-Style Answe r Products also limited in compariso n. Support from ' $41,62 ' 27811 Avenue Hopkins #2 27460 Avenu e Scott mo st sus pension hop-u p com panies al so " , $249,00 Valencia, CA 91355 Valencia, CA 91355 ' $40,00 -' 50,00 seem s limit~d in comp ar ison to Fenske's ' , ,' . ,$9.95 . 805/295 -1118 805/257-4411 sup port program, as the Pennsylvania firm '$59.95 ' offers their latest upda tes and rnodifica- ~ , '.' $19',95 ' Braking Brake Syste ms Penske Racing Shocks tions free of C harge and a 3D-'day perfor-] : $ui5 820 Manhattan Ave. #101 150 Franklin St. " $9,95 ' m ance warranty that offers free s h ock ,$12.95' Reading, PA 19603 Manhattan Beach. CA 90266 revalves within the first month. $795,00 215/375 -6180 310fl98-4830 Pepske' has made an imp ressive debut in , $165,00 the motocross field; tho ug h th eir shock's : ' , :.', $89.95 , Ceet Racing Products Pro Circuit $ 13S,00 performance hasn't set the world on fire, it " ',' " :: $ 105 .90: ,$6 1' 05 1220 Ube rty Way 4214 La Palma d efinitely the potential to. Anahe im, CA 92807 Vista . CA 92083 ' $99.00 714/993-5400 619/599-0115 ''' : ': $55.95 ' 'J Who ya' gonna call? the .,c s ot Ailswer P*Tap;,t Handleba~ (HighH~nda) , ' ', , : , , AnswerPro-Taper clamp 1

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