Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Suzuki 'RM250X Engine type Uquid·cooled. piston reed. 2-stro ke. stOgie Bo re x stroke 66.4mm x 72.0mm D isp lacement 249cc Compression ratio 9.0/ 10.9:1 -Carb ure tio n Keihin PWK38PWJ Power-Jet Transmission Final ratio Drive chain Electrical . . COl Spark plug SUSPENSION Front S-speed constant mesh . .48/1 3 525 chain lqrunon type NGK R6918B·7 Showa 46mm Twin Chamber inverted. fully adj. Rear ... Showa shock. link-typ e. fully adj. WHEEL TRAVEL Front 12.2 in. Rear . 12.4 in. Rake 27"30 ' Trail .4.6 in. BRAKES Front Disc Rear D isc TIRES/SIZES F_ 80/100 -21 in. 51M Rear 110/90- 19 in. 62M ~1Vtt"'''''se 58.3 in. CroUnd c rance 13.8 in. I!!!':,,,,,,,,c .t ,height 37.4 in. capacity 2.2 9al. dry weight . .215 Ibs. .. ...... . ... .. . . ..$56 49 good as eit her the RM or -YZ - yo u just have to tinker w ith the CR's sus pe nsio n a little bit more than the others. Round in g o ut the p a c ka g e is th e KTM, bu t don ' t th ink for a mom en t tha t this is a "last place" bik e. Thi s is hard ly a d eserving lab el w he n - in actuali tv the SX is a very good mach in e and' is certainly capable of winning in the right hands. An afterma rket pipe for th e KTM might be all that's needed to mak e it a three-way tie for seco nd . So th ere vo u have it : Th e KX w ins agai n, but -- unli ke last yea r - n ot by much . With a finis h as close as this, w e highly recommend rid in g as many of these bikes as yo u can before making your purchase, but if this is impossible, there 's a lways th e "ee ny m eeny miny m oe" m eth od . Thi s w ill w o rk jus t as w ell. f~ E_ CHANGES . . .. No ne "Th is makes my criteria for goodness markedly di fferent than w ha t yo u'll find in th e ot he r o p in io n pi eces, m y m ain focus being not peak pow er but how the th rottle respo nse is a t near-idl e e ngine s pee ds, and th e m a n a g e a b il it y a n d a b u n d a nce o f th e lowe r m idra n ge . (Wh en you r co rner speed is as low as mine, yo u w an t to be sure yo u ca n get en o ug h s peed up quic kly en o ugh to m a ke th e u p com in g d oub les .) A nd , when yo u ho rribly misjudge the kicker on the tak eo ff for-that big tabl eto p, how badly are you pu nished by th e fork for land ing st ra igh t up and d own in a near end o, o r, co nve rsely, o n vicious slapdown landi ngs? We thou g ht of try ing to ta ke m y la p tim es to see which b ike 1 r~d e th e fast est , bu t we forgot to bring fresh batter ies for the su n d ial. "So, b a s icall y , I' m ta lk in g a bout needi ng so me thing that's easy and forg iving, q ua lities I find qu ite irr esist ibl e in m ost things... "Tops in this grou p was the YZ250. Plus h for k, pl ush s hock an d th e bike th at gave m e th e best idea of what a front kn obby ca n and ca n' t do in the di rt. Powe r wasn't th e strongest at my rev level , bu t th rottle resp on se was precise a nd th e engine m anageable. H ey, bab y, let's go for a ride. "A sq ueaky-close second was th e Suzuki, w hic h deserves the aw ard both fo r the m ost -i mpro ved powerp lant of the yea r an d the o u trig h t best p o w erplan t of the yea r. It had tons of power every ounce controllable - and it hooked u p co m ing o ff co rners li ke n o o ther. Took the fear out do ubl es. "1 heard the KX ha d a lot of pow er, but no t w here I was rid ing it. This mad e th e tra n siti o n fr om b ott o m -end to mi dran ge po w er smooth , w hic h w as at least not pu nishing to my waning g rip on the bar s. A good mo torcycle, but no t th e standout I kn ew and lo ved last year. "I'd like to start off by apologizing to KTM fo r being so tired by th e tim e I fina lly fo und th e 250 SX with ou t a r id er. The m idra n g ebiased m o tor was fr ie n d ly , th e fork sweetly plush and the rear shock really su rp rised me - I waited all last year for the '98 250 SX's shock to "break in." It's got good balan ce now, and wa s reassuringl y s table. "My time on the Ho nda taugh t me how s low I rea ll y am. Thi s bike is tu ned fo r people who ride. It 's se t u p stiff, wi th a motor that H -I-T hits . Th e fo rk 's initial co ntact with th e grou nd o n those near-end as wa s th e harsh est, bu t it a lso sucked up th e pun ishment the be s t. Overall, th h, ou t of my league. "SO, if yo u see a blue sta tue wi th bad form at vour loca l mot o track, that'll be me on the YZ. Wave w hen yo u pass." s yo u ca n te ll , o u r op in ions vari ed w id ely, a nd so m e of ou r test er s even co ntradicted each ot her o n certa in pa rti culars, but that' s what ha ppen s w hen yo u have five su ch ca pa bl e m otor cycles . In vie w of the fact tha t three of ou r five testers chose the Kawa saki as their top b ike, 'h o w e v e r , a n d s in ce th is is a shoo tou t an d a wi nner has to be named , we have to go w ith the Kawasaki KX250 A More power does wonders for the new Suzuki . The new inverted fork doesn 't hurt, either . as the top dog in a u r 1999 250cc MX Shootout, As for p ickin g a runner-up, we s im p ly ca n ' t deci de be tween th e Su zuki , Ya ma ha a nd Honda, but since the two o t he r teste rs w ho d id n o t p ick t h e Kawasaki as th eir favo rite chose the Su zuki a n d th e Yamaha, we hav e to m ak e i t a t ie betwee n the RM a n d YZ . Th at leav es th e Honda a n officia l th ird, bu t rea lis tic a lly, th e C R is jus t as

• Cover