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/141039
Impression- The New Honda Mini-racer e .., '" C/l s: w 2 w ..J U >U Levers, pegs and tank look like the XL ·2 50 ; engine and pipe like an SL · 100 . M inicycle a competit ion is what it's - ll abo ut. Engine: Type D ispl acemen t Comp ression ratio . . '. . _ Carb si ze _ _ _ _ _ 4 str o ke OH C singl e 72cc 8 .8 : 1 19 .5 m m Elsewhere: The Pre-Teen Racer's Dream? len gt h _ Whe e lba se . . . ... .. . . . . . ... .. . . ... • . .... . . .. . . Se at h e igh t , _ _ Fuel ca pac it y _ Tire size; front , rear _ left , down Sh ift p attern Base Price _ l l o rid a b y La rry Lan gle y h as filled a slot in cr ea s ingl y c o m pe ti tive: in the m in i-cy cle ma rket rather well wi th th eir SL-iO . I'\ o t to be o u td o ne , the y have wi th th e hot ter racing mini -cy cles by whi ch the 51. -iO was in d an ge r of being introduced a n ew hi ke to compete out cl asse d . T he XR· i 5 is no t d esigned t o replace the SL-iO . It is st ric tly an o il-mad vehicl e with no eq uipme n t av ailabl e to q ua lify th e bik e fo r street legal sta tu s, whi le th e SL-iO com es equip ped wit h l i ght s, sp e edom e ter and o t her eq u ip me n t H eavy -b raced single d own r ub e, single back bon e f rame crad les easily accessible air cleaner which feeds Keih in carb which feeds 7 2cc OHC single. wh ich e nables it to be st ree t-licensed. . Th e SR -i 5 is a t ot all y new d es ign. b oth engine a nd fra me . Th e i2cc sin gle o ve rhe ad cam engine close ly rese mb les th e 10 0 an d 1:!5 cc sin gles wh ich II o n da u ses in their lightwei ght Mo to sp o rts. It 's basi cally a good engi ne; an d sho ul d b e b u lle tproof. Th e XR ·i 5 e ngine eve n shares th e cl u tc h w ith the 100, so needless to say i t will take a lo t of 65 .7 in . . . . . . . .. . .4 4 .9 in . 26.6 in. _ 1.2 ga l. _ _.2. 5 0 -16 , 3. 0 0- 14 for d own, 1·N -2-3 -4 $399 ab u se. T he b ik e is su per quiet. b ei n g equ ip pe d with a mu fll e r w h ich lo oks like it came righ t o ff t he 51.-10 0. It a lso has an ap p ro ved spark arres t or in case you want to ride up in the forests. 1':0 horsepower figur es are available but I wo u ld e stim a te i II I'. Fo r th e m in i-ra cers it shouldn 't be hard to pull a m uch hi gh er ho rsep o w er fig- ure re tain ing re lia b lity. T he frame lo o ks like a m in ia turized co py of an X I.·25 0 ex cept th a t th e s i n g l e d ow n t ube does n ot run c o m p le te ly under the engine but term ina tes at th e bottom fronl of the engine : again. sim ila r to th e 5 1.- 100 frame. As per usual Ho n d a co n str uc t io n p ol icy it looks like it will take a lo t o f ab u se without an y problems. Oth er advan ta ges o ve r th e 5L-iO incl u de primary kic k sta rt ing which en abl es the XR · i 5 to b e s tart ed in any of i ts fo u r gea rs. It ha s a lo n ge r (44.S" ) w he e l base for be tt e r stra ight-line s tab ili ry and sit s lower, wh ich ma y or ma y n ot be an advan tag e depending o n th e typ e o f terrain o ve rwh ic h the bike is ridde n, due to th e d ecr eased gro u n d clea ran ce . If d es ert ridin g is on tap , fo r yo u r mini-race , a good skid pl ate sh ould be ins ta lle d to pr otect the engine. For track ev e n ts , the lower ce n te r o f g ravi ty will reall y h elp in corneri n g. The rear sh o cks are improved over th e 5L-iO b u t still n ot up to Koni or other rep lacemen t standards. M o s t serious ra cers w ill replace them. T h e fro nt forks give go od d amping and provide adequate trav el. Nine year- o ld D o u g Tullis vo lunteered to wr ing ou t h is new XR · 75 fo r p ictures an d ap praisal. Doug owned a 5 L-i 0 b efo re so was ab le to p rovid e so me commen ts on th e handlin g an d powe r d ifferences . b etween th e two bi kes. T he only ch an ge to th e bi ke fro m sto ck was -to ins tall Maver ic k shocks on th e re ar. We did th e test a t Ce rri tos Cycle Pa rk an d d rew ma ny in teres te d o bservers to chec k o ut th e X R -i5 . Wa tchin g th e XR ·7 5 in ac tion , i t w as soon appa rent the bi ke is a good h andler. I t t rac ked thro ug h th e wh oop-de-do c s straight an d h ad th e p ower to keep u p wi th a ny thi ng in h is class. Doug also ran righ t wi th t he 9 0c c b ik es on th e tigh ter pa rts of the course. T he Ho nda w ould reall y eat the m in the turns and co rne rs. T he bi ke Th e mi ni -racer in act ion . see ms h arder to slide th an the 5 L- iO , probab ly d u e to th e longer wh eelbase pl us Kn obby ti res whic h co m e standard on th e 14 " rear an d 16" front wh eel s. T h e b ik e w as sharp-looking as a n ice pac kage to th e engine a n d fra me an d Honda shou ld se ll all 'th ey make.. .a n d th en some.