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/128637
2001 250cc Motocross Bikes H onda C R250R VB. Kawasaki K X250 VS. KTM 2 50S X VS . S u z u k i R M 250 VB . Y amaha YZ250N NEXT YEAR'S BATCU OF QUARTER-LITER MXERS GIVES TUE PUBLIC WUAT IT WANTS - OPTIONS. 250cc moto mach ines are an y thing but interchang eab le . True , all are once again top -sh e lf mater ial , e xtreme ly compet it iv e ma ch ines that hav e in dee d b en e fit ed from a f ree-mark et sys te m th at prompts eng ineers to push th e boundarie s of b ike design as th ey look for an y oppo rtun it y to im ro ve th eir co m p a ny ' s respe ct iv e s t e e d . T r u e , none of these b ik es is a " lo se r," and shou ld not b e d e clared as s u c h in th is s hoo to u t (in fact, our new Cy cl e News Podi um format av oids d oin g e xa ctl y that ) . But the five e n t ra n ts in clud e d here (Hu s q va rn a wasn ' t a b le to s upply a test unit in tim e ) a re m a rk edl y d iffere nt fro m o ne a no t he r, a nd o u r th re e pr im ar y t e s t ers (o ne o f wh om is a p ro ra c e r) were un a ni mo u s in the ir c hoi ce of a win ner . By THE C YCLE N EWS ST A F F PHOTOS B y B LAKE C ON NER ve r the past few years , it has become the norm in motocross shootouts for publications (including this one) to dro ne on about how all of the motorcycles compared are excellent, and how difficult it was to distinguish a winner from the group. "You can 't go wrong w ith any of these bikes ," the schpeel tends to go. " E a c h one has benefited from the no n -st o p refinement that comes with open competition, and onl y m inor details d istingu ish any given o ne fro m th e group. While we are declaring a winner , p u rchas ers mi ght as well make t hei r d ec is ion based on wh ich shop is c lo se s t, o r whi ch c o lo r they like best. " Balderda sh. Th at m a y ha ve bee n the c a se in the past , but the 2001 group o f O 16 N O VEM BER 1 .2000 ' c ue . e n eVIl's This y e a r ' s sh ootout was n ot b egun until we had te s t e d ea c h of th e mot orcycles ind iv idua lly , so our testers d idn 't have to famil iariz e th emselves w ith any o f the b ik es . The comparison its e lf took p la c e over two da ys ( s e p a ra t e d by a rest p e riod t o cont empl at e o u r in itia l find ings ) . Both da y s took p la c e o n S outhern Californ ia out doo r -st yl e trac ks, on e at G len He le n Rac ewa y in San Bernard ino a n d a not her at Third Ge ar Pinned in Beaumont. Prior to the shootout , the bikes were returned to the manufactu rers to b e fre s h e ne d u p following the te s ti n g abuse t hey had underg on e , b u t o ur r ul es st ip u la ted th a t a ll bi k e s re mai n c omplet el y s to c k inc lu d ing ha nd le bar , g rip s , g e arin g , sus p ens io n spr in g s , s e at a nd t ir e b r a nd and m o de l. Hon d a and The 2001 batch of quarter-liter motocrossers offers not only high perfonnance, but diversity. Kawasaki were not a llowed to run 20 -i nch front wheels (ava ilab le fro m both companies a s an after purchase option ) . The only modific a t io n s allowed were the replace ment of ca rburetor jets and need les and t h e adjus ting o f suspension dials . Obviously , t h e goa l of a ny motocross manufactu rer is to pro duce a bike that is ca pable of handling a nythinil a motocross t rack c a n t h ro w at it, a nd a ll five o f the p a rt ic ip an t s in this shoo to ut h a ve acheived that goal. S till, it's app arent that all h ave di ffer in g defin itions o f wha t th at ide al bike is , and all hav e t a k e n d iff er ent p a ths towa rd a ch iev ing it.