Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Motor Honda There's no shortage of power here, that's for sure. The CR has one of the overall strongest powerplants of the group and distributes that power smoothly and evenly. The motor pulls decently off the bottom, better than last year, and accelerates from mid to top at least as strongly as last year's CR. Even on power-robbing tracks with hills and/or deep loam, the Honda has the beans to mamtain good momentum. Uke last year, the CR is a quick revver with plenty of power, but this time around, it's also easier to ride. BOTTOM UNE: More bottom-end makes the CR's motor even better than in 2001. Kawasaki Last year. we raved about the KX's wide and linear power· band, but this year, the Kawasaki has a narrower spread, with the meat of the power concentrated in the middle. Our test riders came away describing the KX as having a "midrange" style motor, with only acceptable bottom-end and top-end. The bike hits quite hard in that midrange, bordering on explosive, making the KX a little bit tricky to manage compared to last year's unit and most of the bikes in this shootout - namely the Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki - and then it falls flat up on top. This becomes more evident on technical tracks, where good and precise throttle control is critical, but on more loamy and tacky tracks, the KX works quite well. The midrange is potent enough that skilled riders can make it work for them, but lesser pilots will have trouble keeping it in the sweet spot. BOTTOM UNE: The KX has tons of power, but it's all in the middle. KTM The KTM 380...err 250, is the horsepower king. We had to check twice to make sure that KTM didn't make a mistake and give us their Open-class MXer with 250 graphics on it. Yes, the KTM has Open-bike type power, but it has 125-like delivery. The bike has impressive bottom and mid, but it's delivered with quite a hit - perhaps too much of a rut, without much transition from no-power to all-power. When you open up the throttle, you had better mean it, as this bike requires precise throttle control, especially on a slick track. Faster riders, however, complained about a lack of power up top, while novices never managed to get up there to find out. A smoother, broader powerband would greatly improve the KTM's ridability, and vibration was a problem as well. Still, horsepower is horsepower, and the KTM has plenty of it - at least down low. BOTTOM UNE: The KTM has even more power than last year, but you get it all at once. Suzuki If there was one area that the '01 RM's motor lacked, it was top-end, but Suzuki addressed this problem by giving the '02 RM more over-rev, which they did without sacrificing the bottom-end or midrange. But was it enough? Some of our riders didn't think so. A few of our faster testers (mainly pros) complained of a lack of hit off the bottom, but they agreed with our more human testers that the bike simply roosts everywhere else. The RM pulls well off the bottom, but just not quite as hard as the super-potent Yamaha. It's electric and super·smooth, but fast guys may notice it doesn't straighten their arms on hills or out of deep-dirt berms (normal guys, on the other hand, actually appreciated the slightly mellow, but very controllable, motor). This is the best RM250 motor in a long time. BOTTOM UNE: Fun, strong motor, but not strong enough off the bottom for some. Yamaha Last year, we said that the VZ's motor was about as perfect as you could get. Well, Yamaha managed to make it even better. Somehow, Yamaha found a way to give the YZ a bit more power off the bottom and in the middle without interfering with the motor's already awesome over-run. The Yamaha delivers excellent power across the board, making it one of the easiest to manage of the bunch. This is power that's acceptable to both beginners and pros, letting you roll it on smoothly or nail it hard. It's also tractable, hooking the rear wheel up and throwing the bike (along with rider) over doubles more easily than do its competitors. Beginners through Pros should have no problem with this authoritative yet forgiving motor. BOTTOM UNE: As good as it gets? Maybe. cue I • n e vw s OCTOBER 24, 2001 19

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