Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

SHOOTOUl: 1996 Middleweight Off-Road Comparison you think tr ying to decide which motocrosser to buy is tough? Just try deciding which m iddleweight two-stroke offroad bike to bu y: Think about it. There are only four or five real prospects out there when it comes to_choosing a formidable 250cc motocrosser, but there are at least twice that many if your gig is off-road racing or trail riding. We recentl y took on the task of gathering as many middleweight, twostroke, o ff-r o ad bi kes offered in the United States as we could. We came up with eight motorcycles, three of which were built entirely in Japan - the Suzuki RMX250, the Yamaha WR250 and th e Kawasaki KDX200; two in Italy - the TM 250 En d u ro a nd th e Husqvarn a 250 WXC; one in America -the ATK 250 LQ; one in Austria - the KTM 250 E/ XC; and one combi ni ng technol ogy from both Japan and Ital y - th e CRE 250 Enduro. We ha d hoped to include another Italian marque, the Gas Gas 250 Endurocross, but the Gas Gas won' t be ava ilable in the U nited St a tes for about another month. Of the eigh t motorcycles we rode, only the RMX, KDX and WXC are EPAapp roved right out of the crate, so, in all fairness, we allowed what we feel are nec essary (yet minor) modifications to these motorcycles to bring the RMX, KDX and WXC up to par with the others. Th e modifications were nothing more than wh at would be performed in the real world, such as installing lessrestrictive exhaust pipes and silencers, and performing th e nec essary jetting changes to accommodate the new . exhaust systems. 0, ABOUT THE BIKES A 2 TK 50lQ The ATK 250 LQ is a rolling display of top -quality aftermarket components, though some of the parts are manufactured by ATK at its home base in Centerville, Utah. The bikecarries a suggested retail price of $5695, making it th e third-most-expensive bike in ou r comparison. It features a 25]cc liquid-cooled Rotax motor and a six-speed wide-ratio transm ission (last year it had a five - sp eed tran smission). The blue-colored, powder-co ated frame , th e su b frame, exhau st pipe and swin garm are all manufa ctured for ATK in nearby Morgan, Utah, while the 3.]- gallon gas tan k and airbox ar e built in Oreg on . Th e rear fender and side p anel s are KTM units manufactur ed by Acerb is. The fro n t fend er is bu ilt by UFO. The ATK ha s standard features th at reflect its heavy reliance up on the aftermarket, such as beautiful, gold-colored, Talon billet-aluminum hubs, billet-aluminum triple .clamps built in Ogd en, Utah, Ans wer Pr o-T ap er handl eba rs, br aided stainless-steel hydraulic brake hoses, Brembo brakes with rotors mad e by Vel vet Tou ch, and WP sus pe nsion components. Speaking of th e ATK' s sus pension, the LQ features the company's uni que sing le-sho ck, side- mo un t, linkage-less rea r suspension system . Unlike the othe r bikes, the ATK uses a swi ng arm construc ted out of steel - the others use alumi num. Up front, WP inverted forks are used. Th e ATK d oes not co me w it h an odometer, hand guards or a Ll.S, Forestry Service-approved spark arrestor. C E250E duro R n The CRE 250 is kind of the oddball of the bunch. It's essentially a H onda CR250 but fitted with an off-road conversion kit offered by CRE Im ports in East Wareham, Massachusetts. Former National Enduro Champion Kevin Hines imports the kits that are built in Italy by a company called HM Original. Here's how it works: If you want 'a new ]996 CRE 250, you give CRE a call and they'll pull a brand-new CR250 out of a crate and assemble it with the CRE conversion kit, which includes a heavier ]4 -ounce flywheel, a lighting coil with w iring harness, voltage regulator, a headlight with high-l ow-b eam switch, a brake-light switch, horn and m irror, an Acerbis rear encluro fend er With a DOTa p p roved taillight, a r ear sub fram e assembl y with a grab handle and helmet lock, Acerbis radiator shrouds with CRE graphics, an Acerbis plastic sile ncer with spark arrestor, an ISDE centerstand, rear footpeg mounts, and a 47tooth rear sprocket. The folks at CRE will also ask you que stions about your specific need s, such as what kind of riding yo u d o, what skill leve l yo u ar e, wh ere you live, and so on. Then they'll . send the sus pension components to Factor y Co n nec tio n in Ne w Hampsh ir e, an d th ey'll d ial in the suspens io n to yo ur specific need s by re va lvi ng both the fork and rear shock . On ce CRE gets the suspension components back, they'll crate the bike back u p an d ship it directly to your house, or, if you want, to you r local shop. And the cost? Well, as you might expect, it isn't che ap. A br and-new CRE 250 will set you back $6425 plus ship ping . To give you an idea, CRE says it costs ap proximately $] 70 to ship a bike from Massachusetts to California. CRE also says that it takes approxim atel y o ne week from th e time you orde r the bike to the time it arrives on your front doorstep. If you already own a CR, you can still purchase CRE conversion kits for your bike. The kits are ava ilable for most]989 an d later Honda CR125, 250 and 500cc motocrossers. Prices vary. Husqvarna 2 0m 5 c As mention ed, th e Husqvarn a 250 WXC is one of the few bikes in our comp ari son that comes s to ck EP Aap prove d. The Husky features Mar zecchi 45mm con ven tional forks, and a Sh owa rear shock. The liquid-cooled, reed -v alve -in d u cted , 249cc mo tor is tu cked inside a single-do w n tube, aluminum-alloy frame, and is equipped w ith Brembo floating-calip er di s c br akes. The fuel tank holds 3.2 gallons, and our bike came fitted with Metzeler Un icross tires wrapped ar ound Excel ' rims . We replaced the restrictive (not to mention hea vy ) double-wall ex haus t pip e and silencer with an FMF Gold Seri es p ip e and sil e n cer . We al so atta che d a bolt-on Cobra Engineering Sp arky sp ar k arrestor. Jetting changes included going from a 450 main to a 430 main, and changing the pilot jet from a #40 to a #35. We also installed a leaner 6AEJ]-64 needle. The Husky cost s the same as it did last year at $4999 (in stock condition) making it the third-cheapest bike of the eight. We tested the WXC which comes without lights; the WXE, which includes lights, costs $200 more. K~wasaki KDX200 Even th ou gh the EP A-appr oved KDX200 gives away a goo d SOcc to the r est o f th e bik es, we included th e KDX200 in ou r comparison, mu ch to the approval of "Mr. KDX200" himself, Jeff Fred ette. A long tim e off-ro ad veteran wh o perhaps knows the KDX200 better than anyone, Fredette feels the KDX200 is the perfect alterna tive for those wh o are a little intimidated by the bigger overall size of a 250cc machine but still want a bike cap able of competing headto-he ad with the higher-capacity bikes. He feels the KDX is the answe r. For th e sa me reasons as with th e Husky, we rep laced the stock exha ust system, but with a Pro Circu it pipe and silencer, and basically left the rest of the bike alone. The KDX is the only bike of the eight that features a perim eter frame, as well as a rea r-fender-mounted tool pouch. It's also one of the few bikes around that com es en d u ro -ready ri ght out o f th e crat~ (except for having to replace th e exhaust system, of course), as it features an od ometer, lights and hand guards. Unfortunately, it has a smalli sh 2.9-galIon gas tank. Suspension duties are handled by a single Kayaba shock that rides, via linkages, in a dual bo x-section aluminum swingarm. Up front, a Kayaba 43mm cartridge fork is held in place by alu minum triple clamp s. The KDX200 comes stock with quali ty Dunlop D752 (front) and K490 (rear) tires. It sells for $4249, making it the least expensive of the bunch. KTM250 ElXC Th e KTM 250 E/XC has long been regarded by m any as the class standard when it comes to production enduro bikes. This is the bike the other se ven machines in our comparison are hoping to dethrone. Like the KDX200, the KTM E/XC is enduro-ready right off the showroom floor, featuring an odometer that is resettable to 0.]0 miles, but no

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