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/127969
Honda CR250R Engine type . Liquid-cooled. Powe r-Port . Bore" stroke Displacement 2·stroke. single 66.4 mm x 72.0mm 24g cc Compression ratio 8 .7:1 Carburetion ... . Keihin 38 mm flat-slide Transmission . . 5-speed co nstant mes h Final ratio 50 /13 Drive chain . 520 chain Electrical Ignition type Sold-state 3-D map-type digital SUSPENSION Front Rear 47mm inverte d Show a cartridge fork fully adj. Pro-Link Shows single shock. fully adj . WHEEL TRAVEL Front 12.4 in. Rear : 12.7 in. Rake . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 ~ 32' Trail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.46 in. BRAKES Front . . . . . . D isc Rear . . . D isc TIRES/SIZES Front 80/ 100 -2 1 in. Rear 110 / 90 -19 in. Wheelbase . . . . . . . . . 58.3 in. Ground clearance : 13.8 in. seat height _ 37.2 in. ..... cepacity . . 2.0 gal. dry weight ' 213 .8 Ibs. "I a lso had a ha rd time ra ti ng th e KTM last (or should 1 say fifth?). but the more I rode it, the more I felt it was slig htly down o n power. The p o wer, howev er, is smooth; it co mes on fairly low but just does no t take fourth a nd fift h gea r as soon as the o thers . The KTM 's suspension is more comp lia nt a nd ta kes second on ly to th e Honda when it co mes to big hits . The fork is bette r than the shock, but neither seems to be a limi ting factor to fast lap s. (That wo u ld be the mo tors faul t.) Handling is very pred ictable, and yo u feel like yo u always know how far away the limi ts of traction are. Very nice. " In su m ma ry, the ga p ha s bee n closed , th at ' s for s u re . Depend in g on rid er preference and sty le, s trengt hs and weaknesses, anyone of the first four is the rig h t cho ice . The KTM ju st nee ds more bru te p ow e r, and it beco m es a . . . . . . . . ........ $5749 CHANGES . . .. . 1370D 3rd pos itio n (part #16202-KZ3.J l 1J . . 48 (air screw 2.50 turns) Lance Gorcon INTERMEDIATE Sim PlY cou ld not d eci d e on an all -out w in n er of th is shoo tou t, so 1 hav e to give it a lie betw een the Suz uki and Kawasaki. All right, with the nod going to the Kaw asaki. "Th e Kaw a saki se em ed to let m e ha ng it out a bit more than the others did . In m y opinion , it has the best alla rou n d m ot o r , th ou gh th e Suz u ki's m otor is close. The Hon d a h a s a ta d m ore p o w e r ove ra ll, b u t it ' s n ot as s moo th o r as usa b le as ei ther th e Ka w a sa k i' s or Suzu ki's mo tors . Th e Kawasaki also has the best sus pension package, bu t not whe n asked to land flat off skysc raper jumps - the Honda definitely takes tha t category; the Suz uki is a close second. "I a lso enjoyed the way the Kawasaki felt in the air. It felt the lightest up there, ma kin g m e very comfortab le when a ttemp ting a ny d egree of acrobatics. This lightweight feeling also allowed me to la n d and b rake be s t fo r fastapproachi ng turns. The Kawasak i's ha ndling felt s table yet capable of tig hter maneuvering; perha ps this was beca use of the Kawasak i's perfect power deli very. In othe r words , for me, it was the best entering and exiling turns, but the Suzuki and Yam aha held bet ter lines. "T he Suzuk i h a d th e bes t-feeling forks of the group: ver y smoo th but no t o v erl y so ft o n bi g-a ir la ndin gs . The Suz u ki w as the best a t cha ng ing lines, on ly the Yama ha turned tigh ter. "Overall handling? I love this bike. "The motor is a new anima l, capable o f ta ck ling a ny ot her mac hi n e whi le rem aining smoo th . " I cou ld n 't d ecid e b e tw e e n th e II I H 0 nda and the Yam aha, eit her, so 1 hav e to make it a lie for second pla ce betw een the CR and the YZ. "For me, the Honda was hard to figure ou t, bu t the more I rode the bike, the more I liked it. I did not find the suspensio n to be ab us ive, harsh or abrupt. The Ho nda did resp on d to mu ch fine-tuning, bu t this wo uld require a lot of lime an d effort. Going by fee l, 1 may ha ve turned my fastes t laps on this bike (the Ka wa sa ki close be hind) , but, again, 1 spent the most time on this bike and worked hard to ge t it dia led in rig ht for me - more so than wi th any other bike. "T he Hond a' s power comes on the qu ickest and hit s the hardest. My guess? It feels it has the most overall horsepower. It's a pro-type motor . "Ba ck to the Ho nd a ' s suspension. The H ond a fla t out han d le d the b ig landi ngs better than a nything else di d, sav ing m y h id e b ig -ti m e o nce. (The KTM was second b es t in th is d epartment.) What the Hon da gives up is the plush feeling of the Kawasak i, bu t then aga in , how m an y tim es d oes a rid er ju m p too fa r vs. ho w man y coun tless bu mps, lumps, whoops are out there to tire yo u ou t? Overall, the Ho nd a has a m uch- improved suspe ns ion, es pecia lly the forks on the squa re edges. Handling w as su rp rising ly non thrillin g (w hich is a g oo d th in g ). Th e H o nd a is wha t 1 .Those wh o ride aggr essively will co me to appr eci ate the Honda 's hard -hitting moto r and stout cha ssis . Like the Kawasaki , the CR requ ire d minor jettin g changes (see spec box es). would co nsider a pro's kind of bike. "The Yamaha was a tough call for me. Early in ou r testing period , I thought I was going to rate it first , b u t it fe ll back. Still, the Yamaha felt smooth an d refined ; the mo tor felt torquey, and jeez, can i t tu rn ! Thi s bike was d esigned to turn, but the trade-off is tha t, for me, it wi ll not go th ro ugh the w hoops like the othe rs and will p lant th e nose deep if yo u are no t o n y o u r toes. O th erwise, 1 h ad n o m a jor co m p la in ts with the Yama ha . 00 0\ 0\ .- 00 .l-< (l) .n E (l) :> o Z 5