Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

with plenty of miles every day. It was the perfect test for our project KX. Probabl y the biggest imp rovemen t we made to the bike was .with the suspension. To be honest, we've tried to resist jumping on the conventional-fork bandwagon, but we we re extremely impressed with the Marzocchi Magnum 's perform ance . Off-road, the improvement was even more noticeable than on a motocross track. Rocks, roots and ruts are soaked up with equal aplomb, making the fork awesome for technical trails. We ev en rode another KX that had the stock inverted for k modified for end uro use, an d it -didn't compare with the Marzocchi. A pushing front end w ill normally give you a pronounced on-the-edge feeling, but with the Marzocchi, the tire only slides for a few inches before biting back in and restoring control. We can't really say for sure, but we think the conventional fork's ability to flex slightly is the cause of this . We've heard some people complain that the fork has too much underhang, but while we did manage to hit the fork legs on rocks once or twice, it wasn't a major problem. The enduro settings are definitely on the soft side, so use Marzocchi's standard setup if you motocross your KX on occasion. Though less obvious than the fork , the L.R-modified shock also performed admirably. Again, the settings are very event-specific, so double jumps or highspeed whoops are not the hot ticket, but in the woods and rocks of Colorado, the reduced high-speed compression damping was extremely comfortable. yve set compress ion at 12 clicks out and rebound at 10 clicks out, and were very happy with the result Steering prowess didn't seem greatly affected by the Terrycable clamps, but the KX definitely felt more stable on fast straights. With the bike on a stand, the range from lock-to-lock seemed less than in stock form, but the bike continued to comer great and head shake was a thing of the past. Besides, the sano alum inum clamps flat look trick! Terrycable also sells a tripl e clamp for '92 and '93 KXs, and whil e it will fit on the '94, the geometry is different. Do yourself a favor and go w ith th e correct application. Speaking of looking trick, we probably got more commen ts about the carbon fib e r ta nk th an anything else. Moose's cell is sli m and co mfortable, and wi th the leaner high-ele va tion jetting, we once got a phenomenal 90 miles out of a single tank! The tank does p ush the to n gue of the seat back slightly, which ca n make moving forwa rd for comers a little difficult. Still, the fuel has to go somewhere, and ou r tank was an early production model. Moose says future units will be slightly trimmeddown. At $369 the tank isn't cheap, but it's actually less than we would have guessed for carbon fiber. It's definit ely less expensive than Ty Davis' hand-built aluminum tank. Spa rk plug access is not affect ed, but you 'll ha ve to cu t down your rad iator shrouds to make them fit. On Mexico trip s, we always go wi th the mammoth IMS tank, which stores additional fuel in i ts built-in radiator shrouds. Th e tank is d efi nit ely on th e wide side, but man, does it have range. We never came close to draining it, and because we chose the natu ral pl astic color, it was al ways easy to tell how much fuel we had. Br akin g ' s ove r sized r otors d o a tremend ous job of hauling the KX d own fro m speed, bringi ng stopping performan ce into the Honda realm . One finger is all tha t' s required up front , and bo th debris that might throw us off-course. Be forewarned that these tubes are not easy to install, though the directions are very helpful. Like many things, it gets easier after the first time. All of our vari ous accessory guards . were easy to install an d held up well under abuse , most notably the L.R. Racing water-p ump cage, which incurred a few nas ty- loo kin g ga shes d uring our test; be tt er a scra tched gua rd than a ruined water pump, we always say. L.R also supplied us with a trick aluminum sha rk fin for the rear disc, but it d idn 't fit with the different brake caliper carrier req uired by the oversized rotor. If yo u don't have th e big bra kes, we' d highly recommend spen ding the $95 on the sha rk fin. a Wb ya'gaUa Wee? ,Acerbis USA' . Answer ' . Braking Brake Systems , ' 619/562-1440 8051257-4411 3101798-4830 FMF ' '1 5 10' , L.R. Racing . 909/653-7720 , 61 9!94S-7435 3101539-~ MarZOcchl ' (PellerssOn Pro ~ionJ 7141970-2423 'Mocise Racinli 1-800-MOOSE-!T Motion Pro 4151329-0427 ' -Tech Products . 2011848-0668 Terrycable ' 619/244-9351 _ Trelleborg . (Monarch Tir Co.) e UniFilter . , Wiseco Pistons . brakes retain their feel. We were happy to have the big binders when we overcooked it into a fireroad comer with a cliff at the edge; before we even had time to ge t sca red , th e KX was back under control. Answer's Pro-Taper bars really do a good job of absorbing the rocks and squa re-ed ged hits so common to offroad, and we especially like the fla t Suzuki bend. Though the ba rs seem im possible to bend, we d id man age to. ruin a clamp bolt in a high-speed crash. Th e plastic Ace rbis handguards hold u p fine and aren't obtrusive, th ough the ad d -on spoilers can crack in cold weather. The Mo tion Pro clutch cable had a very nice feel that got even better over time. To be honest, our few motor changes didn't seem to make much of a difference , but again, we liked the power in the first place. If anyth ing, the longer silencer gave the bike a smoother hit, which was good for enduros. The thicker-walled FMF pipe, plastic pipe guard an d plastic silencer combined to lower the decibel level significantly. We also tried FMF's silencer/spark arrestor combination, which was a little snappier but ha d to be cleaned after every ride. The Wiseco piston mig ht have revved a little quicker, and it definitely held up well . Uni 's Ultra-Seal filter was much more dura ble than the stocker, w hich came ung lued when cleaned in solvent. Steve Hatch and Kevin Hines both use Trelleborgs, but we never ha d until this tes t. The intermed iate tires reall y hoo ked up well in Colorad o, especially on tricky off-eamb ers . They also lasted better tha n many lesse r tires . With the Tech tube inserts we were able to pin it ov er rocks with abandon, not giving a tho ught to pinching a tube. In fact, we fou nd ourselves aiming for some rocks, hitti ng the m and flying over other 2161877-1211 , 714/939-6300 , 2161951-6600 ww tbg wt Acerbis 035 plastic silencer Acerbis Elba 2 headlight. , ; , -. . . . . Acerbis Elba battery pack Acerbis mirror , ,......... ;' : . . . . . .. . . . . . . Acerbis Rally handguards . . . '.' . . . . . , Acerbis Rally handguard spoilers Acerbis Rally handguard Pro-Taper mounting Acerbis radiator shrouds , Acerbis front fender Acerbis plastic front fender brace Acerbis rear fender ' Acerbis plastic pipe guard Answer Pro-Taper handlebar (Suzuki RM bend) Answ er Pie-Taper clamp kit Ans wer Radialite rear sprocket (49 teeth) Ans wer Radialite countershaft sprocket (14 teeth) Braking Oversized Disc kit (front) Braking Oversized Disc kit (rear) Ceet tall sea t foam Ceet Dynotech seat cover Ceet Gridlock grap hics FMF Gold Series pipe ' IMS large fuel tank L.R Racing shock revalve L.R Racing chain guide guard ~ L.R Racing water-pump guard Marzocchi Magnum fork Moose fuel tank Moose GPO O-ring chain Motion Pro Terminator clutch cable Motion Pro throttle cable Motion Pro pedal anchor kit (includes 3) Tech Tube foamtire insert (front , 9Ox21) Tech Tube foam tire insert (rear, 105x19) : Terrycable tripl e clamps Trelleborg Super Grip Extra 80/100-21 front tire Trelleborg Ten Masters 110/90-19 rear tire ', Uni Filter Ultra Seal air filter Wiseco Pro-Lite piston kit Wiseco Cometic top-end gasket kit , , : : $149.95 $54.95 $26.95 $15.74 $59.95 $24.95 $29.95 $58.95 $23.95 $23.95 ' .' $29.95 $49.95 $99.99 $69.99 $49.95 $19.95 $249.00 $249.00 $39.95 $69.95 $49.95 $179.99 $184.95 $115.00 $39.95 $34.95 $1110.00 $369.00 $107.95 $29.95 $12.95 $10.45 $99.00 $119.00 $234.00 $85.00 $65.00 $24.95 $83.16 $34.95 (1) a: 31

• Cover