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/128231
almost smaller and nearly as nimble as most 125 cc tw o-stro kes we've rid d en , Beli ev e it or not , th e KX 12 5based frame is 4 0mm narrower at th e foo tpegs than th e KX 12 5 and als o has a o ne- degre e -steeper rake f or quicke r handling , A skinny y et some wha t fla t seat, a na rrow fuel cell /ra di ato r area , a n d a compact cockpi t reall y give th e rider a feeli ng of domi nance over the bike. And that translat es into extreme co nfide nc e. We fel t we co u l d throw t hi s bik e in to th e turns q uit e hard , knowing It wou ldn't do an ything funny , lik e rise up o ut of th e berm too ea rly or hi t a bu m p and d e fl e c t a ll ov e r th e pl a c e . A nd i t cou ld be ra il ed th rough the co rne rs with littl e exe rtio n from the rider - j ust point it and go . Lot s of fu n . T he bi k e a l so fee l s q ui te lig ht , wh ich no dou bt had a lot to do w ith t he F 's sk in n y st r uc t u re a nd q u ic k hand lin g , not t o m ention , of co urse , that th e KX weig hs just 204 pounds. That's Kawasaki' s official cla imed dry weight number, so you kn ow its ac tual race -ready wei ght is m ore , but it' s still pretty light fo r what it is. How eve r, just wh en you th ink it' s as light as a 125 cc tw o-strok e by th e way it fee ls on the tra ck, you go to pu t it back on the stand , and sudd enl y yo u' re b ro ught back t o r eal ity - y e s, i t' s heav ier than a 125. The Kawasaki also feels light at the c o ntro ls; on e finger on th e fr ont brak e lever is usually sufficient to get the job done. as is the case with t he clutch le ver. Both the front and rear bra kes are very effective and offe r excelle nt fee l and power. Even shift ing was a no -b rain er. You certa inly don 't ha ve to read betw een th e lin es t o fig ure o ut t ha t we ca me away q uite im pressed with th e KX 250F. Th e bik e feels li ght and ag ile, th e m ot or m ak es good power , a nd th e susp en si on i s ju st p la in in cr ed ib le. A nd si nce we ex p ec t the sam e suc h p erform an c e o ut o f th e KX250F 's tw in , the Suzuk i RM-Z250 , have hi gh expectati ons from Hon da's new CRF2 50R a n d al r ead y k n ow what the Yamah a is c apa ble of doi ng , o u r up c oming 250cc f our - s tr o k e shootout will be q uite interestin g , to say the least. eN It's easy t o shred benns on the KXF. Just think about corn ering, and it d oe s. Stra ightforward a p p r o a c h for racer. SUS.JECTS COVERED • • • . " • • • Suspe nsion theory a n d t un ing Spr ing theory and t e sting su s pe n s io n Fluid s H yd raulic s D a m p ing and d a m p i n g curves V a lv i n g systems a nd theory Gol d V alve ® Theo ry and In sta ll e t i o n • Emu.lator® Theory arid Installation Tes,ting and Troubleshooting • Fork e n d Shoc k As semb l y a n d D i sa s s embly • Shock Dyno A na lys is • Leverage R a t i o C u r ves • Re ar Whe el F or ce CiJ r v e s .. Data Ac qu is it io n BAS I C COU R S E : OCTO BER 18-19 SHOP SKIL LS CO U RSE : OCTOB ER 20-21 ADVAN CE D CL A S S : OCTOBER 23-24 EAR LY EN R OL L MENT DISCOUNT BE FO RE SEPT EMB ER 18 V isit ra c e t ec h. co m or ca ll 9 0 9 . 2 7 9 . 6 6 5 5 cue I e n e vv S • S EPTEM B ER 1 0, 200 3 27