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/127945
By Kit Palmer Photos by Kinney Jones family that plays together - well, is rare. 20 Sure, there's soccer, baseball and other stick-and-ball sports families can do together, but usually it's the lcids that get to do all the playing and have all the fun~ I can't hell' but want to grab a bat and glove whenever I watch a Little League game, but watching and cheering from the bleachers will have to do. . What about mom and dad? Take softball, for example: Men's leagues are for men, women's leagues are for women - once again, someone's watching from the stands. Coed? Okay, but what about the kids? It seems that true family softball games are reserved for company picnics. In my mind, the ultimate family sport, or family recreation, is motorcycling - to be more specific, dirt bike motorcycling. When it comes to dirt biking, no one has to be relegated to spectator status, or, even worse, relegated to housework while you're out having fun. Motorcycling gives the entire family the opportunity to slip into a pair of boots, strap on a helmet and ride off into the sunset - together. Also, if you're the only motorcycle rider in your iamily, wouldn't it be easier to get them all involved, so when you want to go riding there won't be any arguing? Just bring 'em along. Problems scilved. These days there are no excuses not to include everyone in the family when you go rid ing, as there are enough motorcycles out there to satisfy the needs of just about every member of the fa=ily. Of the four major Japanese OEMs alone, we count at least 17 models ·that we would consider fuji-on entrylevel motorcycles, including a singlespeed, automatic-clutch 50 for Junior, and an electric-start, long-travel suspen- sion 350 for dad. And there are plenty of models in between for moms, daughters, sons, boyfriends, and girlfriends. Recently, we went entry-level-motorcycle shopping, so to speak, and gathered up as many of these motorcycles (street-legal or not) as we could for a kind of - mini riding impression. Unlortunately, we simply do not have the manpower or the resources to include all 17 motorcycles, but we did manage to scrape up 11 entry-level or beginner bikes that we thought would cover everyone, and we squeezed these bikes into every nook and cranny of our trucks and vans for a one-day ride-fest at one of our favorite local riding spots - Lucerne Valley, in the Southern California high desert. The dez is a great place for beginners, as the terrain is relatively flat, wide open, and the soft ground is..merciful on clutch and brake levers for those unexpected-but-expected get-offs - or in our case this day, mostly tip-overs. Motorcyclewise, here's what we ended up with: from Honda, the XR70R, the XRIOOR and XR200R; from Kawasaki, the KEI00 and the KLR250; from Suzuki, the DS80W, the DR200EW and DR350SEW; and, from Yamaha, the PW50, the RTl80 and XT225. As far as "test" riders, we really didn't feel that experienced riders would be the best ones to evaluate these motorcycles fairly; after all, first-time riders don't often complain about frame flex or brake modulation. So we went to our Cycle News family for help. We recruited wives, husbands, girlfriends, boyfriends dads and kids, ranging from absolutely no motorcycling experience to very little experience, to the fairly experienced. Our goal was not to. declare an overall bike "winner" but simply to find out what each bike has to offer for the entrylevel rider - priorities being seat height, ease of starting, weigh t, shifting, and overall controllability - and pass our findings on to you. 1"N