Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127932
SHOOTOUT (Left) It's pucker time! Not all of our testers experienced this nose-droppin g phenomenon on the VZ400F, but the ones who did learned to leave the gas on a little longer off of the jump faces. . (Above) The YZ400F (1 9) is smooth and predictable in the corners due to the smooth and tractable nature of the power de livery. Flat or s lick corners are its forte. On the other hand, the KX250 is a little more of a handful in the co rners, due to the extremely res pons ive nature of its power delivery, but nothing that Kawasa ki R&D guy Mike Fis her co uldn't handle. The KX rules in tight or sandy co rners, though. and calling it a day just doesn 't tell the w hol e story of th e YZ F400F a nd this shootout. Each and eve ry rider who rode the YZ400F got off the bike say ing it was the mos t fun and exhilara ting motocro sser they had ever ridden. Everyo ne was mesmeri zed by th e bik e, and that says p lenty in itse lf . We feel th at if th es e testers had more time to get accus tome d to the fou r-st rok e, the tim es wou ld be similar to those po sted by th e KX250. All of the lap times, a verages and qu icke st lap times a re presented in a chart at the end of this story for compar is on purpos es , but we' ll g ive yo u a quick rundown anyway. The times were some wha t"pr ed ictabl e, but su rp rising at the same time. At the slick, hard-packed and .ch opp y Carlsbad Raceway, wh ere everyone thought th e YZ400F would w al k away from th e KX, things were pretty close : Two rid ers turned identicall y fast lap times and one wa s a second faster on the YZ, and two of the riders turned in lower elapsed times on the Yamaha. At our intermediate- terrain tra ck, Glen Helen Racew ay, where we thought things would be pretty darn close, th ree of our tester s had their fastes t laps on the KX, one rid er was faster on the YZ, and all four of the rid ers were faster on the KX in elaps ed time. Things go t a littl e int er estin g at our sand track, as well . This is the place we though th e KX wou ld have the u pper h and for s u re , but o ne rid er (out o f three) wa s ab le to turn a faster lap on the YZ400F (the author, who has a lot of time on the Yamaha). As expected, all of th e rider s had fast er elapsed times on the Kawasaki. So what d oes all this mean? Well, this is a shoo tou t and we have to p ick a winn er, so that winner is the Kawas aki 10<250. Tak e a look at the data and it's easy to see why: More rid ers w ent faster on the KX250, plain and sim ple. However, announcing the KX250 as the wi nner KAWASAKI KX250 YAMAHA YZ400F Specifications Carlsbad Raceway Natural MXlslick, hard-packed terrain Don Burke Lap 1 Lap 2 Lap 3 Lap 4 Lap 5 Lap 6 E lapse d t i me Average Fastest ti me : $5649 249cc Liquid-cooled. sinqle-cylinder two -stroke . List Price Displacement Engine type $5799 399cc Liquio-cooled . with exhaust power valve (KIPS) Bore" stroke 66.4 x 72mm Compression ratio 9.D-l 0.8:1 Carburetion 38mmKeihin Powerjet Ignit ion .Digital CDI single-cylinder four-stroke Bore" stroke ' 92 x 68.8mm Compression ratio 12.5:1 Carburetion 39mm Keihin FCR Ignition . .CDIw/throttle-position sensor Transmission ' Transmission S tarting system Fuel capacity Wheelbase Ra ke /trail Seat he ight Fro nt tire Kick 2.2 gal. 58.3 in. 26°/109.2mm 37.4 in. 80/100·21 S-speed Bridqestcn e M77 Rear tire 110/90-19 M78 Fron t s us pension Kayaba adjustable inverted forks with 12.2 inches of wheel travel Bri dgestcne Rear su spens ion Kaya ba adjustable shock with 13.0 inches of wheel travel Front brake Disc Rear brake Disc Final drive Chain- 13/48 Claimed dry weight 214Ibs. S·speed Starting system Kick Fuel capacity 2.1 gal. Wheelbase ....... ...•... .. .58.3 in. Rak e/trail 27.8°/115.3mm Se at he ight 38.5 in. Fro nt tire 80/100-21 Dunlop K490 Re ar tire 11 0/90-19 Dunlop K695 Fron t sus pens ion _ Kayaba adjustable inverted fork with 11 .8 inchesof wheel travel Re ar suspensio n ' Kayaba adjustable shock with 12.4 inches of wheel travel Front brake Disc .Disc Rea r brake Final drive Chain- 14/49 Claimed dry weight 244 Ibs. JoshWray KX YZF 1:58 1:57 1:57 1:57 1:58 1:59 1:57 2:00 1:57 2:00 1:57 2:01 11:44 11:54 1:57 2:00 Tie 1:57 KX YZF 2:00 1:59 2:01 1:59 2:0~ 2:01 ~ 2:04 2:03 2:07 2:03 2:05 1:59 12:20 12:04 2:03 2:()J1 YZF1:59 Carner Glen Helen RacewayMXlintermediate-to-sandy terrain Specifications List Price Displacement Engine type This is evidenced by the author, w ho turned in very similar lap times at most of the tracks. So yes, the KX250 wo n this shoo tou t, but we have firm ly establis hed that you can race the YZ400F aga inst 250cc twostro kes wi tho ut hind er in g your racing acco mp lishments. Each bike has its own s tre ngths and weaknesses tha t mak e them very competitive with one ano ther. So choose yo ur wea po n. 1:\ Don Burke Lap 1 Lap 2 Lap 3 Lap 4 Lap 5 Lap 6 El a p se d time A v erage Fastest time Josh Wray Cameron Coatney KX YZF 2:27 2:25 2:27 2:29 2:26 2:32 2:26 2:29 2:30 2:29 2:30 2:29 14:46 14:53 2:28 2:29 YZF2:25 KX YZF 2:30 2:32 2:32 2:39 2:33 2:39 2:37 2:36 2:40 2;38 2:43 2:44 15:3516:04 2:36 2:38 KX2:30 KX YZF 2:38 2:37 2:40 2:41 2:36 2:40 2:37 2:42 2:39 2:43 2:40 2:43 15:50 16:06 2:38 2:41 KX2:36 Double-Secret Sand TrackNatural MXlsandy and loamy terrain D urke onB La p 1 Lap 2 Lap 3 Lap 4 Lap 5 Elapsed time Average Fastest time KX YZF 2:35 2:39 2:31 2:37 2;30 2:35 2:27 2:34 2:29 2:33 12:32 12:58 2:30 2:36 KX 2:29 . CameronC oatney KX YZF 2:44 2:42 2:43 2:45 2:45 2:45 2:46 2:45 2:45 2:45 13:43 13:42 2:45 2:44 YZF2:42