Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Alook'atthe '95 S~~~chines P -- --- - -~ ----,------- art of the excitemen t of a new race season are the new team s, riders and machinery, not to mention the unfamiliar rider numbers and clothing spon sors. This season 's U.S. Supercross Series opener at the Orlando Citrus Bowl saw a wid e assortment of "new looks" unveiled, an d we thought you'd like to have a peek at the 250 and 125cc machines that filled the nighttime skk'S this weekend. For '95, the only factory teams that have op ted to keep thei r bikes relatively stock-looking are Kawasaki and KTM. The Au strian-built KTM bikes already Come stock with high-quality Technose l graphics and sea t covers, and perhaps changing them would have been a bit redundant. Kawasaki, on the oth er hand, uses Facto ry Effex graph ics and seat covers that maintain the OEM graphic design . The Yamaha factory team hinted before the new season tha t '95 wo uld bring forth a new unified corpora te image, and a fleet of dark blue and whi te YZs were unloaded from the team's blue and white semi in Flori da, est to pick out, and graphic scheme may not be as exciting as some, but on the track they are amongst the easi, The new color Perhaps the most Surp rising new look of '95 is tha t of the Honda /1 -800-Collectteam. For as long as we can remember, the factory squad has stuck to the stock color scheme and op ted to run a sim ple Honda wing logo on the radiator shro ud. This yea r, however, the factory CR250s tha t are rid den by Jer emy McG rat h, Steve Lamson and Doug Henry, are quite shocking. Looking so mewha t like the Honda-backed Erion Racing road race team brkes. the CRs are decked out in a white, black an d florescent ora nge "tear" design. UFO gra phics handle the Team Suzuk i face lift, but the most stri king thing ab out the factory RMs are the wa works conventional Sho forks that grace the 250s. The beefy sus penders ar e attached to the bike via a trick se t of magnesiu m and aluminum triple clamps which feature thr ee large pin ch bolts on each side. Three pinch bolts also grace each side of the front axle. Withou t a doubt, g reater rigidity is the objective. The factory -backed private teams - SplitFire/ Pro Circuit/ Kawasaki, Noleen /Sizzler/ Yamaha and Honda of Troy - all carry the sa me basic color scheme as before but with so me major graph ic differenc e. The SplitFire bikes have good-lOoking and large, blue, white an d green colored s tripes that ar e incorporated in the bike's sea ts, whil e the Honda of Troy bikes no longe r use the "color" black on their mach ines. Instead of having a black tank and red rad ia tor shrouds as before, the new Honda of Troy bikes feature an all white tank /radi ator shro ud romoo "od" . I. of new od, '" Troy 1 0. TheOrlando:ar " ill ""I but

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