Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

- - -5H O O T: OT U OJ efo re the 1995 model ye ar, I had never picked a Yamaha as the winner of a shootou t. Oh , I came close a couple of tim es, but one of the othe r bikes always edged out the wh ite machines. This year, however, I picked the YZ as my favorites in bo th the 125 and the 250cc classes . Like the YZ125, the 250 eme rge s as the overall best by virtue of having the finest combination of very good (n o t g rea t) traits in th e cla ss . O th e r bikes co me o u t slightly ahead in some categories, but ea ch has a chink 8 not as plu sh on either end as the Yamaha, the Honda soaks up most every thing thrown its way in a very civilized manner . Fork action is goo d th rou gh ou t the en ti re stroke, and for th e fir st time in recent memory, s tiffer sp ri ngs are not necessary. Square-edged bumps are gobbled up when the rider is aggressive, but th ey will d efl ect under a tired o r lazy rid er . The rear end isn 't as forgiving as the YZ's, but it soaks up large and sma ll hits with similar au tho rity. Like the forks, the shock is sufficiently sprung, and only fast o r heavy riders wiII requ ire beefier coils. As is the norm with most Hondas, a swa p here and there can be expected. Riders argu ed abo u t th e Kaw asaki 's handling over and over at each test track. Charging hard on the KX made the bike feel ho rrible, as the violent powerband stiffens up th e suspe nsion and d oe sn 't allow it to work as it was designed. The bike feels way too stiff, and the rear end wiII ska te fro m one side of th e track to the othe r. Mellowing out and rid ing the bike in a m or e con tr olled manner pro d uced an entirely different feel. Thou gh the bike still has a stiff fee l, th e green machine exhibits exceptiona l capa bilities in the hands of the right rid er. In co m paris o n to past Su zuki RMs, th is yea r's yellow m achine feels g re at. Th e Showa fork and shock go bb le up mos t everything thrown their way, with the exception of square-edged bumps. On curbed sur faces, the fork s can ricochet un expectedly. Unlike the RMl25, which we disliked for its sagging rear end, we were qui te fond of the RM250's rear suspensionSmall and large bumps could be ' a ttacked with confidence, though- the shock wo u ld bo llom on hard landings. Plan on ordering up a stiffer rear sp ring, in its armor elsewhere - no t the Yamaha . The YZ simply d oes everything well. The m otor is extremely powerful, w hile at the same tim e being confidence-ins piring and easy to use. The Honda wo rks better on loamy trac ks, while th e RM is su pe rior on sli ppery cou rses, but the Yam ie per forms very well on both. The Kawasaki has a healthy hit bet ween bollom and midrange, but is otherwi se a ste p be hi nd, and a draggin g clu tch m akes the KTM's power hard to pin-point. As' usu al, suspension is anothe r of the YZ' s strong Without a doubt, the KTM has the most plu sh se t of forks in the class . The Marzocchi Magnum 45 conven tiona l fork has no equa l wh en it comes to delivering a plea sant rid e. Th an ks to th e g rea te r amount of.flex that a conventiona l design yie lds , even th e nastiest tracks feel like fire roads aboa rd th e Katoo m. Perha ps our favorite th ing about the fork was its ability to absorb slap-down land ings. Try as we might, we couldn't get the fork to tr ansmit a shock to th e rid e r' s arm s. Unfortunately, the rear end doesn 't work as well as the front, but it does get the job done. The OhIins shock abso rber is not as adept at soaking up the hits as the Yama- ha, Kawasaki or Suzu ki units, but many of th e te sters li ked it better than th e Honda's. The KTM's rear end does evervthing well; nothing - good or bad -'stu Ck in ou r testers mind s after a ride on the SX. THE ENVELOPE, PLEASE.•. W he n the points w ere tall ie d , the Yamaha YZ250 emerged the clear winner of our '95 250cc MX Shoo tou t, Not onl y _did the YZ gamer the most points overall, bu t all but one test ri de r rated th e white and purple machine fir st in the class. It may not be the fastest, but excellent handling characteristi cs, good suspension, and a stro ng mot or mak e th e Yamaha our favo rite 250 of '95. Th e Hond a CR250 and Kawa sak i KX250 came next, with the Ho nd a barely edging out the green machine. With the best motor and brak es, decen t suspens io n , a n d ra zor-s harp handling, the Honda can very ea s ily be ridden a t a rapid pace. Sure, the bike can throw you an occas ion al swa p, but Honda riders learn to adapt. Throughout our test, the KX wa s the most argued about bike of the five. One tester stru ggled to come to grips with the hard-hitting bike, while the othe rs loved it. Self-discipline is the key to going fast o n th e KX. Good throttle co n tr ol is o rr y Yamah a, but I'm again goin g to be th e wrenc h ridden in the meat of the powerband - screa ming it just doesn't thrown into yo u r prog ram . Yes , I like the Yamaha cut it. Th e bik e handles pretty well, bu t only wh en po wer is YZ250. As a matter of fact, I love the YZ250 and witho ut applied smoo thly. Pinning the throttle wiII cause the rear wheel addi ng up the points in our rider su rvey, wou ld have picked to light up and the rear sus pe nsion wo n' t get to do its job propthe bike as my favorite. But when the points we re tallied on erly. In time, th ough , I was able to feel comforta ble on the KX. Next came the KTM and Suzuki. The bikes were complete my critique, it was the Honda CR250 that stoo d above the rest. Wh y? Well, the CR's awesome mo tor is probabl y the clinc h- opposites, yet the two scored within one po int of each other. I er, but the rest of the bike suits me just fine, also. Other riders reall y enjoyed rid ing the KTM on fast, roug h courses . The con com plaine d ab out the CR's suspe nsion, but over the ye ars I ven tion al Marzocchi fork ha s no rival w he n it comes to plu shis have learned to rid e the " Red Dev ils." Without a do ubt, th is ness, and th e bike - as sta b le as a mot orh om e. On tighter, yea r's Kayab a fork and shock are the best ever. more techn ical tracks , I d id my best to stay off the Katoom. It So why didn' t I pick the Yama ha? Well, looking back ove r wo n' t tum . Not as tight as I'd like it to, at leas t. The engine the survey; it seems as if the engine was the reason the CR pr e- was a midran ge powerplant, with little power down low or up vaile d . The Yamaha makes good power, bu t the CR jus t see ms to p. It was effective, bu t unimpressive. to ha ve a bit more "oom ph" everywhe re. The Yamaha is ma giFor the first time in a few years, I rea lly enjoye d the Suzuki. cal on a rough track. The bike still ha s that low and long fee l- Th e new mot or is awesome - it chugs d own low and pulls ing that I have disliked in th e past, but for some reason - this smoo th ly into a strong surge of m idran ge power before signyear's bike brought a wi de gri n to my face. The YZ is the per- ing off on top. Previous RM eng ines have scared me - maybe fect compromise betw een qu ick-handling an d stable machines Suzuki gave their engi ne plans to th e Kaw asaki guys. Thanks to the kinder , gentler motor, the RM actually hand les much - a real do-it-all bike. In all honesty, the Kawa saki scared me un til I lea rne d to ride . better. The Showa fork and shock felt a bit soft for my tastes, it. The motor doesn 't seem to have much down low , and an yet the other riders d id n't seem to mind . Du ring testin g, we arm-jerking hit in the midd le of the powerband managed to constantl y ba ttled with the compression damp ing clickecs. -I -Donn Maeda make my eyes wide on several occasions. The bike needs to be really like tbis year's RM. S 1 points. Though flawed by springs that are on the soft·side fo r ag gressive riding. th e Yamaha's Kayaba units absorb everything from small ripple bumps to cr usher landing s . KTM ' s Marzocchi fork is probably the best in the class, b ut t he YZ isn 't far behind , and its s hock is as good a s anything in the class. A p parently it 's fa shio nable to criticize Ka w as a k i' s su s p e n s io n this year, bu t once d ialed in, I fo und it to perform at least as well as in ' 94. The RM's high -tech suspenders are hard to fault , as we ll, but Honda has once again been struc k by the curse of harsh forks . The fork is so bad thi s year that I had to .avoid small bumps w he n enterin g corners, for fear that th e CR' s front end wo ul d be deflected o ff-line. Handling-wise, Yamaha once again offers the best compromise. A low -slu ng feel do mina tes the YZ, wh ich is no rma lly a mi n us for m y lanky fr a m e, b ut fo r so m e reason I lik e it in th is case. The Yamaha feel s both sta ble and flicka bl e, again finding the middl e course between the unwavering KTM and the hyper CR and RM. I also like the KX's ha ndli ng; it steers better th an the YZ but is a bit less stable. In the final tally, the YZ eas ily makes it to th e top of my list, wi th the Kawa sa ki and th e Hon d a tie d for second. Honda woul d be a su re winner if they could jus t get their suspension righ t, whil e Kawasaki needs to find jus t a bit m ore power. Both th e RM and th e KTM are ma jor im p ro vem en ts over last year's efforts . Su zu ki successfu lly m ade the transition fro m a hard-hittin g. uncontrollable power spread to a smooth, tractable deli very, but the y went too far and sa crificed top end . KTM ha s finall y put together a trul y competitive package - one tha t arguably boasts the best sus pens ion in its class - but an u nwieldy feel and a few glitches hold it back. Th ese two bikes tie for last, although I wouldn't hesitate to bu y one if I fou nd -Chris Jonnum the right deal.

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