SHOOTOUT
OPEN CLASS
TWO-STROKES
Kawasaski KX500 vs. KTAf 3605X vs. TAt 300E
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!IS
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10
trail ride had transformed our
challenging 40-mile loop from
slick and dusty to moist and perfect. No
longe!" were you forced to either shadow
'the rider in front of you [If you could) or
fall back far enough for the dust to settle
and make the trail enjoyable. On this
day, you could get as close as you wanted, roost from the rider in front of you
transforming your bike from whatever
color it started out as to whatever color
the soil happened to be.
.
The eN editorial staff, accompanied
by a couple of our "ad guys," was taking its monthly trail ride and we had
scraped together enough bikes to go
around'- the only catch being that one of
those bikes was the earth-moving
Kawasaki KX500. Most of the other
bikes were 250s, with a couple of 125s.
"I'm not riding that pig," quipped
one editor, who is much more at home
dragging his knee around Laguna Seca
on a middleweight sportbike. "I can't
even start it, let alone control it. I almost
died on one of those things, blah, blah,
blah.."
"Arm pump!" another rider commented. ''I'm already tired just thinking
about riding it, blah, blah, blah.."
I put and end to the slander by starting the bike in two kicks and idling
away. I grew up riding Open bikes and
have grown quite fond of them over the
years, reveling in their unmatched
power, versatility and reliability, while
at the same time learning to deal with
the slower handling and increased
weight that is inherent to Open-class
bikes.
The ride was excellent that day and I
spent it roosting the other riders at
every conceivable opportunity - waiting
for them around comers, blasting them
up hills and down small rises. I was
having too much fun, but after a while,
fellow editor Kit Palmer finally had had
enough.
"Hey, Cameron. Let me ride the KX
for a while," Palmer asked.
I obliged Palmer and he spent the
rest of the day making me eat huge
amounts of terra firma. Revenge, oh
what fun to be on the wrong end of it.
When we got back to the trucks, Palmer
and I talked about how fun the big Kawi
was to ride and decided then and there
that we needed a bunch of big-bores to
ride and have more fun on. A shootout
was in the works.
Shootouts, Shmootouts! If there is
one class of off-road bikes or moto·
crossers that a shootout seems a bit
redundant for, it's the Open class.
Right? The class is practically non-existent in motocross, having been dropped
from the National circuit in '94 and seen
decreasing numbers at local tracks slowly but steadily since then. Two of the
major Japanese manufacturers dumped
them years ago (Suzuki, then Yamaha).
But these beasts still keep selling year
after year - mostly to desert racers, sanddune junkies, hillclimbers, trail riders
and people who just want the most
value for the buck when it comes to
owning a dirt bike. After all, when
you've just dropped six grand on a
scooter, you want a good-running,
dependable bike that will hold together
- and Open bikes excel in the dependability department. You don't need to
abuse the clutch unless you're a madman and pistons can take a few seasons
of abuse at will. Chewed-up rear tires
are the only things that need replacement with any regularity.
Now all Open-class two-strokes are
blindingly fast. They're all faster than
modified 250s and will go speeds that
most men not dare for too long, so a
shootout seems almost too serious of a
word. We simply rode these bikes in as
many conditions as possible to figure
out why and where these bikes work
best.
DETAILS, PLEASE
The Honda CR500 is still sold and
marketed as a motocro,sser, pure and
simple, and received no significant
changes for '97 other than the customary
new graphics. The CR is a solid per·
former that produces the bulk of its
explosive power in the low- to midrange of the powerband. The cylinder is
very old-school in that it is still boreable
(has an iron sleeve instead of the non·
boreable, hard-plated cylinders that
come stock on the other bikes in the
comparison) and doesn't'have a power
valve of any sort. It doesn't need it
though as the Honda possesses an
extremely potent bottom-to-mid surge
of power that demands you short-shift
the bike to get the most usable power
out of it.
The suspension on the CR is definitely aimed toward the world of motocross
as it is stiffly suspended with an average
resistance to bottoming. It is a little stiff
in the early part of the travel for off-road
use, but tolerable. The rear shock features separa te high- and low-speed
compression adjusters, which is a very
nice touch if you have the time and
knowledge to dial them in. 0ur
adjusters stayed near the stock settings
for most riders. The CR is a quick-han·
dling machine, and consequently fits of
headshake are fairly common, especially
when chopping the throttle coming into
braking bumps.
The fit and finish, ergonomics, shifting and clutch action are the standard
for the class. We can't understand why
