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/128237
The past few years , the Suzuki RM250 has been good but needed more power. Now it's got the power while reta in ing a ll of its previously good qualities. It's ha rd to say which bike this year actually ha s the mo st power, but all of them definitely have the ir own charac teristics. The KTM, for example, has am ple power, but it' s all on the bottom to mid. The YZ, once again, has the mos t broa d, usable powerband. The RM? Well, let's just sa y it's much like the YZ. The Hon da definitely has its most pow erful eng ine since 200 1. Some of our tester s really felt that its mot or was among the strongest, while ot hers complained tha t it fell off the pipe a bit too easil y. But, when compa red to the 20 0 2 and 2003 CR25 0Rs , the 2004's engine is outstanding. It looks like so me of tha t technolog y that has made Ca rmichael' s 25 0 one of the faste st bikes on the track, regardless of how many stro kes it has between sparks . is finally making its way into pro duction. This year's KX is also impro ved over last year's. Gone is the hiccup between the bot tom end and midra nge , and now the former green meanie feat ure s a much nicer power band that s upplies am ple traction to the rear wheel. Altho ugh a few of our testers compla ined that the Kawi's punch was too weak in co mparison , oth ers felt they co uld ride it mor e comfortably becau se its powe rba nd was so easy to manage . The KTM is still a powe r mons ter, but the Austrians tame d it down for this year . Last yea r's bike was so fast it was literally scary, but this yea r's bike seems to have all of that sa me power, just de livered in a way that it can be used on the racetrac k. Last year's KTM pulled every where , whe reas this year's bike just seems to pu ll rea lly s trong off the bottom to the midrange, where it pe ters out quickly. But by then , you' re a lread y hau ling yo uknow-w ha t. Our testers qu ickly leamed that to ride the KTM effectively, they basically had to ride a ge ar higher everyw here than the y were riding on an y of the Big Four mac hines and then short -shift it. It was obvious ly effective, though. as yo u can te ll by looking at the la p times - it was the fas test at two different tracks an d by two different riders at least once. ,_ The RM250 feels like a whole new bike this year. It is a leg itimate co ntender for ha ving the best overall mot or in the bun ch, which it hasn't been for quite a while. The RM is crisp and sn appy while also being quite tractabl e. Som e of the ride rs sai d they had a muc h eas ier tim e kee ping on the throttle in flat tums on the RM, which is both a testament to the tractable power delivery and good hand ling. But just hearing the RM get around the track was ins piring. The thing ba rks . And what can be sa id ab out the Yama ha that ha sn't been sa id already? It' s basically the same engine it ha d last yea r, and last ye ar the thing kicked butt. This year is no different. The Yamaha rips from down low all the way th rough the top end, and it has the best overrev of the bun ch . Ya maha can build the heck out of motors - " actually, after this year's 450cc shootout, and depending on wha t happens in ou r 125cc and 250cc four-stroke shooto uts , we may have to co nsider removing KTM's unofficial "Power King" crown and deliver ing it to the Yamaha headquarters. Honda "Wow, this motor is so mething else this year. They 're certainly m aking a lot of prog ress." "I really, really love this thing . This mot or ha s to be the strongest of the bunch ." "it' s easy to ride this yea r. It' s not ha rd to keep it on the pipe." Kawa saki "This thin g ge ts a lot of traction. Just po int and shoot. " "It kind of reminds me of the Suzuki's motor but with slig htly les s power. It also puts the power to the g round really well; in other words , it hoo ks up ." KTM "Whoa Nelly! This thing barks l You can ride a gear higher everywhe re - actually, with the way it falls off on top , you have to!" "After a while, I found that my lap times droppe d when I quit try ing to rev it out all the time but inste ad too k ad vantage of its incredible to rque. " Su zuki "Ma n, does this thing rip. And it sounds like a fa ctory-tu ned race machine . I love itl" "J ust the so und of the Suzuki gets your adren aline pumping." "I found the Suzuk i's motor to be quite stro ng but ve ry co ntrollable and ea sy to manage." Yam aha "Same 01' sam e 01' . Yamaha s always ha ul butt. I'm glad Yama ha dec ided not to mess with a good thing." "This thing pu lls everywhere, and it revs to the moon . Sim ply awesome!" Yamaha made no changes t o the '0 4' s motor, and it 's still one of th e be st in the business. Our test e rs ra ved about the VZ's new forks.