Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

- - - - - - - - -- - - - ---- IMS Kawasaki KLX650 dual-sport bike, and says that even when the fluid was boiling, the temperature was lower than an air-cooled Honda XR. . The s uspensio n was a lso a b ig im p roveme n t over s tock. Rai sing th e rea r end aided the steering substantially, but none of the stability was lost. I could p in it throug h fas t rocky sections, and the front end would stay straight while the suspension soaked up the blows. The Scotts steering d amper no doubt co ntributes to th e solid fee li ng, a n d th e Moose Blue Tub es mean you don 't have to worry abou t the hefty bike pin ching a tu be. Whoo ps and jumps are abso rbed withou t complaint, but both ends a re still supple over roo ts and such! The IMS tank is nice in that it holds on e and a half mor e gall ons than th e tiny s tock unit, and th e natural color make s it easy' to monitor the fuel level. The dry-break sys tem is nice in races but a bit of a hassle at the gas sta tion, and the tank was also a bit wid e at the seat jun ction . The carb on-fiber parts drew a lot of attention, seemed to hold up well a n d a re nice 'a n d light, th ou gh th e "clunk" of rocks bouncing off the fender was a little annoyi ng . As fo r th e sma ll d etail s, th ere a re both p luses and minuse s wit h th e big KLX. Clutch pull feels stra nge and a lit- 'Woya' h gonna .. call? '.•. Baja Designs ' dua l sport conversion kit Is light, simp le to Install and completely street legal. bea m- indica tor. A brake-light switch mo unts on a stai nless bracket. . THIS AIN'T NO DR350 ""'" 0\ 0\ ,..... ('f) C"l l-< Q) "E Q) > o z 20 The IMS KLX is so impressive that it would almo st be enough to park it in your garage, and invite your fri end s over to admire it. But "almost." as they sa y, only cou n ts with horseshoes and hand grenades, and I wanted to ride the beast. After all, I' ve been known to suffer from the NMB sy ndro me ("Not My Bik e " - a s tra nge m al ad y that o fte n strikes spoiled mote-j ou rn alists, who get to rid e trick motorcycles but don 't have to pay for what they break). Curtis Sparks is a strai gh t shooter, and he says he wo u ld like to have eked a b it m o re p o w er ou t o f th e m oto r . "Actu ally, I wasn 't really happy when I was done," he ad mits. "I was hop ing for a bit more (po wer). I built Ty's bike for the same race this year, an d the th in g wa s unre al. T ha t b ike had beau coup power; it wo u ld make yo u smile." Sparks now sells the mod s he used on Ty's '94 race bike, but I was any th ing but di sappointed with the ' 93. To say the least, this is one healthy dual spo rt bike. On the morning of ou r rid e, I accidentally slept in and started abou t a hal f hour after my cohorts, but I sti ll caug ht them at about the IS -mile mark. Th e mo tor is perfect for fire roads, as it accelerates s t r ongly and s mo o th ly, and boasts a powerband wid er than the gap between Da vid Lett erman's teeth. Stock, I consider the KTM LC4 to be the ulti mate dual s p o rt m otorcycl e, and the high-zoot KLX was much more impress iv e than that bike. The modified Kawasaki was far snappier than stock, but still slid controllably and hooked up well on slippery surfaces. It is equally adept at plonking throug h rough terrain or revving out on fast fire roads. While I liked the motor's quick acceleration, I did have a few complaints. I loved th e serious-soundi ng ex haust note, but it was a bit too loud. Also, the bike s eem e d eager to cough and di e when entering comers, which I attribute to the lightened flyw heel. It ma y be the hot ticket for motocross, but for dual sport, I'd rather keep the bike running even at the price of brute accel er ati on. Also, the big Kawie was a bear to star t, which wasn 't exa ctly complimen tary to its stalling tendencies. I experienced the best results by putting my ent ire body weigh t behind the kick, then b lippin g the th ro tt le when th e kicksta rt le ver reach ed th e bottom of its st roke. Even then, an avera ge of th ree or four tries were need ed to bring the beast to life. Cold -startin g required approxima tel y five minutes of kicking. The boosted compression is probably at least partly respon sible for th is fact, and I sus pect that the jetting may have been a bit lean, as well. Dou ght y runs She ll 92-octa ne pump ga s in the b ike, and severe pin gin g was apparen t whe n th e engine was stressed . With a bit of carefu l tuning, I im agin e th at most of these problem s could be eliminated . KLX6S0s have earned a reputation for ove rhea ti n g, and I did in fa ct en co unter this probl em during our ph oto shoot. The session involved a fair am ount of lo w-sp eed riding, and th e coolant boiled and migrated into th e overfl ow reserv oir . The '9 4 KLX ha s a fan to b low on the radiator s in simila r cond itions, which probably would have h elped. Doughty claims th at he monitored the motor during his testing of the Answer PrOducts 27460Ave. Scott 'ValenCia, CA 91355. '. 8051257-4411. . . Baja Designs .' ., 115 Sorrento Valley Rd. 75 San Diego, CA 92.121' " . 6191792-Q2,13 tle stiff, but that probably has so mething to do with th e slightly bent lever . We never got the plates to even thin k abou t heating up or slipp ing . The squealing of the Braking bind ers is slig htly annoying, but th e incredible s to p p in g p ow er is well worth th e trade-off. As co uld be expected, the Pro-Taper bar and wider IMS pegs are both welcome additions . The Baja Design s d ua l sport conve rsion kit is awesome. The entire lighting syste m ad ds just seven po u nds to the s tock bike, a n d d e tailed insta llation ins tru ctio ns ar e included. No fabrication, welding or so ldering is required , an d the kit is av ail abl e for everything fro m a Kawasaki KDX200 to a Husk y 610 four-stroke. You almos t ge t a guil ty feeling, rid ing a bike that is so dirt-worthy, and yet is completely street legal. As I said, Dave Dou ghty thinks like I do . Riding the IMS KLX, I frequ ently for got that I wa s on a du al s po r t machine. The Kawasaki roosts by OEM dual sp ort bikes so eas ily that it can literally be a problem when yo u r rid ing buddies are on lesser mach in es. They fall so far behind that yo u have to make sure to stop at a scen ic spots, so yo u can en joy th e scene ry w hile you wait for them to arrive. ' 1:\ . .' Barnett Tool & Engineering P.O. Box 2826 ' . santa Fe Springs, CA 90670 . ,8051941-1284 LR Hacinq: , 7995 Windsor Hesperia, CA 92345 619/948-7435 . . Braking Brake Systems 820 Manhattan AVe. #101. Manhattan Beach, CA 90266 31on98-4810 . ' . Moose Racing 391 1 Norwood Dr. . Uttleton, CO 80125 BOOIMOOSE IT· ' . Curtis Sparks . 112 Pitts . 00 Bakersfield, CA 93306 . . . 8051872-4343 . ' sCotts Performance ': 2625 Honolulu Ave. ' . .:Montrose, CA 91020 ·' ' .. 81ai248-674i. IMS PrOducts .' White Bros rbit 6240 Box Springs Blvd:, Unit E . 24845 Co PI. Riverside, CA 92507 . . Yorba Linda, CA 92687 . . 714/692-3404 909/653-n20 , '. What tbey-,,-,-co.. :. c,-. .st~~-----,.._-----......~ Answer Pro Taper bar (CR high bend) Answer ProTaper lripIec:Iamp kit Baja Designs dual sport conversion kit Ba rnettSeries K KevIlIrclutcll kIt(wtlh extra plate) Brlking oversized front brlIke Idt Braking rear rotor , , ,, Curtis Sparks piston kit Curtis Sparks cam, springs ' Curtis Sparks headwork IllS 3.6-gal1on fuel tank IUS dry-break gas cap IllS wide foot pegs IllS folding sh ifllever IllS carbon-fiber brake reservoir guard IllS carbon.fiber front fender , IllS carbon-fiber front disc guard IllS carbon-fiber heeder pipeheat shield IllS carbon-fIber upper fork guards IllS custom aluminum skid plate LR Racing seat cover, one-Inch-hlgher foam LR Racing fork modiflcations LR Racing shock modlflcatlons (with shaft extension) LR Racing head pipe, silenCer LRRacing chain guide lloose Blue Tube (front) , : lloose Blue Tube(rear) : UFO headlight . . , , , UFO handguards Renthal grips Scotta steering damper and mounting kit Twin AIr fIItllr , , ,.,., , : , , , , ,., , ,, $99.95 $147.95 $385.00 $129.00 $249.00 $149.00 $1 65.00 $450.00 $350.00 $184.95 $193.33 $59.95 $27.95 NA NA NA N A NA NA $69.95 $145.00 $115.00 $189.95 $39.95 $99.95 $124.95 $39.95 $15.95 $5.95 $399.95 $24.95

• Cover