Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

2 004 2 5 0 cc Two-Stroke MX Shootout • • A Matter of 0 Inion The bikes are distinct. The Kaw asaki. to me , is the whoop king, as the rear suspension works really well. and it also stops and pivots great, bu t the handling and motor overall are average at best. I felt the most inconsistent on th e Suzuki from track to track, although I'm aware that I was significantly faster on it at Piru tha n any of the other bikes. If you can ride the RM, it will give any other bike fits . The Yamaha always feels like an old friend, and the top- end and overrev were awesome. You can just roll the th rottle on exiting tums, and it'll pull. I felt the Honda was awesome at Piru . I felt awesome on it and felt like I could comer on it like no other bike. Everything is perfectly matched. However, in the end, the .KTM stood out in my mind at Glen Helen almost as much as the Honda did at the fi rst track, and by the end of th e day, I had a new favorite. It was precise, plush and fast . Once I got used to the hydraulic cl utch's grabby action, I felt faster and faster. If I we re to buy a bike this yea r, it wo uld be a 2004 KTM 250 SX, followed maybe by the Honda and Yamaha . Vet Intermediate Lance Gorton I've liked the Suzuki every year rece ntly, but it was always missing some thing: horsepower. Now , it has a m ot or that wi ll run with any of the m, and pairing that with th e handling ... I feel lik e anyone could wi n on it easie r than any other bike. It' s a winner, both litera lly and figu rat ively . The ergos are mu ch im prove d this yea r, and the brak es are, too . It got 100 · per cent bett er ove ra ll in just one year, and by th e end of the test , I had no questio n in my mind as to whi ch bi ke is best for m e. The Yam ah a is sti ll an aweso me bi ke. It rips, it's stable, and those new for k s are sickl Bu t it ju st doesn 't handle qui te lik e th e Suzuk i, and even th ou gh in time the seat gets qu ite plus h, it was definit ely m or e pai nful by th e end of the da y of ridin g to get on the YZ tha n the plush RM. You get some trick goodies with the YZ, like the Ti pegs, gold fork s and Excel wheel s, but I'm convinced that many modem MX ers will be buying th e wider aftermarket pegs anyway , 5 0 th ose supertrick titaniu m un it s m igh t be ki nd of wasted. But there's a reason that you go to the tr ack and see a gazillion bl ue m achin es: Yamahas are solid, and it was an easy secand this yea r. I was blo wn away when I saw that I was fastes t on the KTM at Piru . I felt awkward on it at first, and it to ok me a while to learn to ride the stra nge powerband , but in the end, it was faste st. I felt good on it once I got used to it, and the br akes were awesome. I felt a little like I was tip- to eing on it, though, lik e it was harde r to gather it back when I made a mistake, but I never fell on it, wh ich has to say something . It's the m ost improved bik e of the year, by far. It's m y third-plac e machine. Th e Honda and Kawasak i we re both tied for fou rth in my boo k . Neith er one was clearly better than th e other , although they both had th eir good and bad traits. T he Honda, fo r instance. handled reall y neu tra lly, but it wa s prett y uninspi ring. The Kawasaki handled really well , but th e m otor j ust lacked the pu nch of the oth er th ree . Ultimately, that's wha t held the m back in m y m in d . S te ve Cox Intermediate Ev en though I only go t to rid e at Piru , I felt the CR was defin it ely the best overall package. I felt fast on it , and it felt neutral everywhere. The motor was okay, but th e handling was wh at made it the winn er for m e. It j umped neutra lly , and it wa s sta ble , bu t it still cornered . It' s ju st really, really go od. And I lov ed the bar bend of th ose Renthals too . Th e Yamaha is a soli d package, and th e moto r was probably t he best all aro und, but the o nly thing that held it back fo r m e w as that it would get twit ch y around fast , ro ugh comers. I felt th e best on the YZ ov er jumps, but sm all bumps made it feel sk etc hy to m e. Ove rall , it w as solid in second, but I feel like with a few suspensio n adjustments, it cou ld be as good o r better than the CR. Th e KTM was awesome. It fel t li k e a built 125, how th e power was reall y responsive eve ry where, and th e rear tire felt really wi de to me • li k e a 180 streetbike ti re or somethi ng . The fo rks surprised m e because I had heard all of these horro r stories abou t th em , bu t the fo rks felt really good. The m otor kind of felt like m y perso nal YZ250 receblk e's , wh ich is sup er -explo sive everywhere, bu t th e KTM felt like it had tra ction co nt ro l or something bec ause of th at easy hydrauli c cl utc h, and it wou ld j ust g rab tr acti on and go. I really like d it , and with all of the coo l afterm arke t parts th at come stoc k , I felt th at it beat out th e Ka wi and Su zuki for m e, which I thought we re a little too nervous for m e. Jason Abbo tt The Suzuki was awesom e. I loved the motor. I ca n't believe how good it was everywhere . It sounds like Sean Hamblin's bik e, and I like the wider pegs and the strong brakes. It handled like a drearn it always went where I wanted it to; over big ju mps, small jumps, through ruts , on berms. I'd just point it , and it went where I wanted it to. It was really hard , but that's my winner. The forks were a little soft for me, and the clutch was grabby when cold, bu t overall. irs a solid motocrosser. The Yamaha has the best fork for sure. When you land hard off of jumps, it wo uld just suck it up like a sponge. I love the top -end, because it would just pull and pull and pull, and it was no slouch on the bottom. either. It hits hard if you want it to, but you can roll it on effec tively, too. The gripper seat is cool, but the bars felt pretty narrow, and I felt more cramped on it than any of the others. The fro nt brake is kind of spongy, which caused me to approach tums a little slower sometimes, but overall, it is still an awesome motocross bike, and I picked it second. And fo r third, I cou ldn't believe my own eyes when I saw that I was the fas tes t on the KTM at every track we rode. I fel t awkward on it. so it kind of ble w m e away ho w fast I was . All three of th e bik es were within fractions of a second of eac h other according to MX Lap Times. but I kept bei ng faste st on th e KTM . I can't help but th ink that m eans some thi ng, despite my discom fo rt · as th e bars were too lo w and th e grip s were too hard for m e. Th e suspension was awesome on it • it was so ft, but tha t actually helped m e go fast on it. I li k e softer suspe nsion, and I'd have to say tha t I comered the best on th e Katoom. Th e br ak es w ere awesome, and the clutch, too , and it' s supe reasy to start . Th e only problem we had on it was th at I had to short- shift it 50 m uch. I lik e to rev a bike, and short-shiftinq th e KTM kept m e from getti ng really comforta ble go ing fast o n it • I felt like I was riding a four-stroke. But even tho ugh th ere's some wor k still t o be done here, this bi k e rip s. I pic ked it th ird . Wi th tall er gearing , it wo uld probab ly be eve n better. Th e Kawa saki and th e Honda j ust nev er felt co mforta ble to m e. Th ey are str on g bi k es, and with certain ride rs they will definit ely be th reatening, bu t th ey just did n' t fit m e we ll. Dana Legere Pro > Choosing a win ner here was easy for me • at leas t at first. I wa s co nvinced th e Suzuki was my favorite right off the bat, but by the end of the shootout , I wasn 't 50 sure. Eve ry time I ro de the Yamaha, it seemed to get bette r and better , and j ust when I was about ready to change my tune, I' d ride the Suzuki again and click back to th e original song. Bottom line for me • the Suzuki tak es th e cake. Th e RM's mot or is strong and forgiving, the suspension is plush, and the handling is confident- ins pi ring . The Yamaha gets runner -up honors in m y book. It's also a supe rsound packa ge but j ust isn't as nimble as the Suzu ki, and that's all it took fo r the Suzuki to edge out the Yamaha for me. A lthough the Honda and KTM are o utsta nding bik es and are, right out of the crate, per haps better suited for faster ride rs, th e Kawasaki was rny th ird -fa vor ite of the grou p. I found the Kawasaki to be easy to rid e, thanks to its somewha t tamer moto r and outsta nding han dling. As m uch as I like the Honda , I still have a hard t ime adjusti ng to the CR's suspension • mainly in th e back . To m e, th e Honda has a strong m otor but is held back by an overall harsh-feeling chassis. Whereas I can hop on any of th e othe r bikes and ride them comfortably wi thout m aking an y " cli c ke r" changes, I'd hav e to spen d signific antly m or e suspe nsion-tuning ti me on the Honda, ev en then ... I'm sure a day at the tra ck foc usi ng on nothing but th e suspension would fix m y problem s with th e Honda, but th ere 's no time for th at when the re're fou r othe r bike wa it ing to be ridd en . Th e KTM has to get the m ost -improved award of th e five bike s test ed here, and I'm glad to see it make our shoo to ut pod ium this year, even th ough I didn't p ick it in m y top three. I guess I' m still a little leery of the KTM's suspen sion . I love th e KTM's torquey m otor, exce ll ent brak es and th e fine attention to deta il , but I need something a litt le m or e co nfi denc e-inspiring in the suspensi on depart, and my lap t im es sho wed it. . Kit Palm er V et Novic e KTM sm ooth ed out the 2 5 0 SX 's m ot or , softened up the suspension a nd m a de it a bunch ea sie r t o ri de. So much so t ha t the bike pulled off som e of our quickest la p t imes. 24 O C TO B ER 2 2 , 2003 ' cue I EO n e vv s

• Cover