Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

has broaden ed th e power curve dra maticall y , which finally allows m e to ge t o ut of th ose in side lin es w itho ut nearly as much effort. An other th in g th at I hated on th e st o ck b ike was th at I woul d h ave to work so hard to clear j um p s co m ing ou t of reall y tight corners. Half the time I would ha ve to seat- bump the bike to . cl ear jumps, because I just co uldn't get enough speed. Now th e 167 snaps up the face of jumps with ease, almost too easily . Now I have to fight to keep the fron t end on the ground l With 38 h orsep ow e r at the re ar wheel , the bi ke is getting damn close t o the power of a 250 . Okay , pea k horsepower is o ne thing , but ridability is a wh ol e oth er i ssue . Th is i s on e area that RPM ha s m ast ere d . Not on ly does th e 167 m ak e m ore powe r and t orqu e eve ry where, b ut the power is ove r a broad er rpm range than st oc k (see dy no chart ). Th e to rq ue that the b i k e p r o vid es i n t he midra nge i s amazing and helps dramatica lly, as I m entioned, getting off of the corner. The top end of th e m otor is j ust as impressive, as the b ike now makes five m ore ho r sep ow er tha n stock at the t op of th e rev range. N owh e re w as t he t op e n d more ev i de nt th an at Carlsbad Rac eway , whe re the bi k e wou ld wheelie all the way up th e "C arlsbad Fre eway" uphill section in third ge a r and sometimes fo urth . The bi k e was a bit of a handful at Ca rlsbad, to b e h on est , ma in ly becaus e as th e t r ac k g o t rough er towa rd t he end of th e day, it started shaking i t s h ead v iole n t ly . I was almost finished riding t hat day and dec ided to leave th e suspensi on alone for one more moto (i t was set up perfect fo r Starwest), bu t that was a big mistake. Under heavy accele rat ion in fourth gear through a rea ll y fas t choppy sw eep er , th e b ike g ot int o the tank slapper of all t ank slap pers , th ro wi ng m e to the gro und like a rag doll . My bu ddy said that it was rathe r f u n to watc h from be h in d . I guess I sho uld have messed w ith the cl ic kers bec ause it would have save d m e a day or two of soreness. Th e o nly th in g t hat bo t hers m e ab ou t the bi ke is that it req uires a mix of 5 0- percent pump gas and 50 -p erc ent race gas to ke ep it from p ing ing . It' s not th at bi g of a deal , but the VP race gas that I' ve been runn in g isn 't cheap at over $ 7 a gallon . So far, the b ike has run perfectly . I ca n't th ink of a sing le th ing that's been a concern , and I' ve been abl e to keep track of the hours on the bike wi th th e SenDEC ho ur m eter. T he graphi cs have held u p really well, and I rea ll y li k e th e comb ination of th e gripper seat and th e grippy g raphics on the shrouds . I wasn' t too fo nd of the handl ebar bend at first, but I' ve adju sted to it. Overall , I wo ul d say t ha t the pro j ec t fa r ex ceed ed m y ex pecta t io ns . The com bina tio n of RPM' s incred ible moto r with Pro Circuit's excellent suspension m ak e the KX167 an amazing bike. Now I j ust need to see how lon g I ca n h ang o n to the th i ng b efore K awasaki is kn ocki ng o n my do or trying to ge t it back . eN . .. ~ OURY ~1: -- ~._- Fri Oct 31: Vet Practice 8am-Noon $20 - Overnight Camping Sat/Sun Nov 1/2: Gates Open 5:30am Practice 7am Race 8:30am Sportsman $35/class - Pro $85 - Min 6 riders/class: Nov,lnt,Pro,Vet Classes: 25+ Sat Only); 30+ 35+ 40+ 50+ 60+ 70+ 80+; Pro 30+,40+ 2000 40+ Pr Purse Sat only -[$6000 30+ Pro lPurseSun only • I www.glenhelen.com 909-880-3090 F F or ASTEST service, attach mailing label. Please .Ila,., 3weaks for chlDge ta taU effect. Print you r NEW addr ess here. NAME _ ADDRESS _ CITY STATE Mail to: C irculation Dept. Cycle News. Inc. 3505-M C adillac Avenue Costa Mesa. CA 92626 ZIP • You can also change your addressonline atwww.cyclenews.com/address/contact.asp be sure to includeyour new address and old address in request c ue . I e n e _ S • NOVEMBER 5 , 2003 25 : I : I I

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