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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/143901
that way whenever reaching for -the ground. Our 5'8" rider could touch only the balls of his feet to the earth when straddling the bike and, after lowering the forks and easing the shock pre-load, our 5'2" female tester still had trouble giving the bike a healthy starting kick. The height is due to the 12" of ground clearance and the space required to get 10.6" of rear wheel travel out of the famous Full Floater suspension. Once underway, we forgot the height and felt at home and in control. The suspension worked well and, regardless of skill level, all our testers commented on how confidence inspiring it was over the ruts and whoops. After riding the PE in several enduros, one of our testers complained that it was hard to avoid sitting forward on the bike, but he felt that some suspension adjustments and a new pair of handlebars might change this. At 53.1", the wheelbase of the PE makes it real tree snake. The bike turned in and out of tight brush, rocky sandwashes and any other situations encountered on the trail. Over jumps and high speed whoops, the snake did feel a little squirrelly, but this was just a hint of discomfort and we never had any trouble. Trail riders had no trouble adapting to the 172cc motor and six-speed transmission. The transition from midrange to high rpm was smooth and there were no surprise loop-outs or wheelies, just as much power as was comfortable. Cow trailers could use the PE for climbing hills and enjoyed the top-end power on the fireroads. Aggressive enduro riders, on the other hand, required the top end power more often to keep up with speed averages. The midrange was useful in tight level ground maneuvers, but the top end punch was required for lifting the front wheel or climbing hills. Hills took much more precise use of gearing and clutch at enduro speeds, but we were quite happy to find that the clutch had a light pull and that the engine could take the hard running. The PE's brakes were effective at hauling the lightweight trailblazer down from warp speeds, but our testers felt they could have been better. The front brake didn't lock as solid as some other bikes and the rear brake didn't have the progressive feel we ·prefer. This complaint is more' of preference than fault. Wet weather didn't affect the stopping power. Maintaining the PE brought mixed reactions after each riding session. The quick-change wheel assemblies and self-locking cable adjusters aided in servicing, but the carburetor and air filter were a pain to get at. The carburetor had to be removed to change the jetting (not recommended for beginners) and two panels, five screws and two spacers had to be removed from each side of the bike to get at the air filters. Servicing the air filters isn't hard, it just requires a little extra patience and careful placing of all the parts for retrieval. We rode the bike hard in five enduros and learned something new about the PE in each. Despite a few impact tests, the bash bars in front of the headlight worked and both the headlight and taillight functioned throughout the test. Failing the impact test was the shock remote-reservoir mount. This seems to be a common problem and the best solution we've seen is to remount the reservoir with hose clamps to the frame below the right side airbox. The Bridgestone rimsaver tires on the PE hooked up fine and held up great. We tested the rimsaver func-tienih8fo' gldtytln-twolmduros, il LDl:J WESTERN UNITED STATES CHAMPIONS VIEWFINDER. GRAND . .11 @ PRIX RIIERSIIE Ima 0 MARCH 5TH & 6TH, 1983 MOTORCYCLES, SIDEHACK8, ATV CHALLENGE AND NEW THIS YEAR I~l "PATR.ZI.R •••R PRO RAel" P.1trizifr WITI $15••• IUIRIlTEElPlRSE OFFICIAL USE ONLY VIEWFIIiDERS OFFICIAL ENTRY BLANK (PLEASE PRINT) NAME .... ~I0... ADDRESS _ --'-_STATE CITY ZIP PHONE NO. _ --:-::-:'AGE JUNIOR MATEUR _ _EXPERT CURRENT RIDING NO. _ _BEG. _ _NOVICE _ -.=::===="========; OTHER (lillve name of assoc.) TYPE POINTS WANTED _ I PATRIZIER~ DESERT _ _MOTo-X _ _SCRAMBLES ----1 BEER, PRO====' DIST. 37 _ _ SENIOR DIVISION _ _VETERANS DIVISION _ _WOMENS DIVISION _ _ DIST.38__ SIDEHACKS CLUB ORSPONSER L1GHTWT. HEAVYWT. _ A.M.A. NO. ENGINE SIZE . _ MAKE OF MOTORCYCLE OR ATV ATC 0-200 STOCK MODIFIED 201-0PEN STOCK MODIFIED _ 4 X 6 STOCK MODIFIED ODYSSEY STOCK MODIFIED _ _ _ THE UNDERSIGNED ENTRANT BY AFFIXING HIS INITIALS BELOW. ACKNOWLEDGES THAT HE ASSUMES THE RISK OF ANY LOSS FROM INJURY OR PROPERTY DAMAGE TO HIMSELF OR TO OTHERS, DUE TO HIS PARTICIPATION IN THIS EVENT AND HE HEREWITH SPECIFICALLY HOLDS HARMLESS FROM ANY SAID LOSS THE AMERICAN MOTORCYCLE ASSOCIATION, SPORTS COMMITTEE. DISTRICT 37 AMA, INC., THE SPONSORING CLUB OR ORGANIZATION. AND THE OWNERS OF THE REAL PROPERTY ON WHICH SAID EVENT ~ALL TAKE PLACE. .., ,.ntrant's and/or pe....t'.inlt.. ls) _ If anlranl is under 1a and don not ha. . curranl Dlolricl Card Indic:allnll nolJIrlzed con..", on lila. Parent or Guardian MUST SIGN HERE ACKNOWLEDGING HIS OR HER CONSENT TO THE TEAMS OF ENTRY, The "ndef'a'gMd"'~, un"y that he ... duly quaIHied(Ctrc" ~ Junior I bpert I QUALIFIED B-V A COWETENT OflIGANIZATtON. Nofk.' ....lnMf cl... mocon::ycle rider ~no beWt .. • II .. further un6eratood and -orMd thet '" the .....t I .... inlurlld froM whlitlloelMf cau.. duri", .... .....m eo.tnd by~" .ppfatton. I herlWittl conMnl to and aU1horiu ,.,... aid anclarnbulltnce..me••• proridltd by tM aponlOrine club Of prosMWty ow'*'. ancl'urthM' hotd all partin ha"","s "om and COftlquenc.. of ..... aid. Under'N ru* and unctions of the Amerlan Motorcyc:1e A,aoc"tioft. I Mt1Iby ..... kJ COf'ltcwm and compty wtt..... ru"'lO"'nlnt this conteal. ENTRY VOID WITHOUT SIGNATURE OF ENTRANT: ~_AU._~_."'II:iII. y. .- ...-c--.-. ----_ ftCJ --- I ••••••_ - - **IIAICI e.ac••ATA8,U To. ...1 ....- . "Co" ** SATlJRDAY 11:00 A.M. START SATURDAY 1:30 P.M. START 'ATRiZER BEER SPOATSMEN (Alll ·30Y" ·-oYA. tOO TO OPEH IOG-CLASSlfIED. All 12SoClASSlflED, ALL '7$-CLASSIFIED. All WOMENS CLASS. All PRO RACE OISl. 31& JlIAll) MAIL ENTRY TO: OII.... RIIm..ln 1110 W. Hiller..1 No. 317 New"ry Pk.. C... '1301 MAil ENTAY TO: MAL ENTJlIY TO: Vlewfl,..,••.C. MAll ENTRY TO: VI....ntHf's •• C. (305) 4.....371 SATlMDAY 1:30 P.M. START ATV CHALLENGE SATURDAY 8:00 A.M. START V........,. ..C. P8ttiSlmmon. 350 No. l.8nta,.. #497 c.lftllrHIo. C.... '3Ot 1 (1051"5-2034 lou Of.1I "21"_ " . . . . . C.....U35 V....lftders •.C. Geotge & "ose PanN 22101 C8ntt8y $1. C8nop Partl, C.... It 307 (213170.1311 (213)34-11U SUNDAY :OOA.M. START 250· .G., NOV., SA., VETS. OPE. . . .G•• NOY., SfIl.• VETS OPEN MX· aEQ.. NOY" VETS MAtL ENTRY TO: Yiewffnden ".C. eUnt I su. Dan'2201 Aobemon Redondo IMcft. CAo W027. (213)542·7110 (213~"'74' SUNDAY 1:00 P.M. START 25O-£XP.• INT., M •• VETS OPEM-EXP.. tNT•• M., VETS MX £XP.. INT•• VETS SlDEH"'CKS ."'N.. ENTRY TO: V....lndeir•••C. Chai,.... . .'n.y 4027 ........ 41 L...... C'" 10015 (2131258-1517 ITH'E ONLY 1983 DISTRICT 37 EVENT AT RIVERSIDE INTL. RACEWAY @• • • • "NOW OPEN" The Sensation Of WEST VALLEY SUZUKI II THE SENSATION OF SUZUKI" Discounts On All 1983 Models The New LT125 4x6 priced so low Cycle News refuses to print it. Also '83 Street & MX Models WEST VALLEY SUZUKI SUZUKI (II) 19B3 SUZUKI GS650M KATANA ~"'~7SA~.: .. j ., .... 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