2002 250cc Motocross Bikes
Honda CR250R vs. Kawasaki KX250
Suzuki RM250
By THE CYCLE NEWS STAFF
PHOTOS BY BLAKE CONNER
fir.(] hat with all the talk these days
00 about relatively new categories
of motocross bikes (250 and 450cc
four-strokes, for example), the traditional genre of 250cc two-stroke has
been relatively ignored - at least by
the pundits. The manufacturers, on
the other hand, have continued to
regularly develop and improve the
quarter-liter ring-dings, even as selfproclaimed "experts" declare the
death of the conventional two-stroke.
Last model year, Suzuki completely
re-vamped the RM250, and Honda
and Yamaha did likewise to the
CR250 and YZ250, respectively, for
'02. KTM is expected to overhaul its
250SX for '03.
As intuition woula suggest, there's
a reason for this sustained attention.
For one thing, there are no closedcourse restrictions regarding emissions in California, the most aggressive state in this regard, nor wiu there
be any until 2010. For another thing,
the 250cc two-stroke is still the "bike
to beat" in motocross racing.
Shaquille O'Neal, tea(TI captain for
the World Champion Los Angeles
Lakers, is fond of saying that all bids
for supremacy must come through
his city. The same holds true for tne
250cc two-stroke, which is still the
king of motocross. While it's true that
18
OCTOBER
24,2001 •
thumpers have enjoyed moderate
success at the pro level, the fact that
these isolated instances (Doug
Henry's 1998 National title; Tim
Ferry's '01 Glen Helen victory) are
always news seeaks to the dominance of the good old 250cc twostroke, whkh continues to rack up
titles with quiet regularity. As good as
the Honda CRF~50R and Yamaha
YZ426F four-strokes are, you don't
see Ricky Carmichael or Jeremy
McGrath campaigning them yet.
We've spent the past couple of
months putting in laps at Southern
California tracks on the new quarterliter two-stroke offerings from the big
five, and we can tell you that any
motorcycle category interested in MX
supremacy will still have to pass
through the 250cc two-stroke. These
bikes represent the peak of
motocross performance, and they
don't appear ready to go down without a fight.
So eager for a tussle are these
bikes, in fact, that they've resorted to
scrapping amongst themselves. Not
content to merely be a part of the
elite category in motocross, each
biKe apparently wants to be at the top
oj that particular group. The result
(as you may have deduced from our
headline) Was one of the most difficult podium decisions we can
remember.
eN
cue ••
n
e
_
s
VS.
Yamaha YZ250
VS.
KTM 250SX
VS.
