HONDA
CRF230F
STANDOUT FEATURES
•6-speed transmission
•Largest fork-tube
diameter (37mm)
•Most front/rear wheel
travel (9.5 in./9.0 in.)
K A W A S A K I K L X 1 4 0 G V S . H O N D A C R F 2 3 0 F V S . Y A M A H A T T R 2 3 0
P114
SHOOTOUT
she did say, was just a little
easier to control than the Honda
while riding over slow, techni-
cal terrain. She also said that
both the Yamaha and Honda
climb sandy hills better than the
Kawasaki. (That's when she did
notice the power but didn't know
it at the time.) Our experienced
riders tend to favor the Honda's
slightly revvier engine over the
Yamaha, though they thought
the Yamaha had better tractabil-
ity, again most likely because of
the TTR's longer stroke.
None of the bikes are eager
to stall and when they did it was
usually the case of operator er-
ror. Over our testing, we found
that all three bikes have strong
starter motors and clutches ca-
pable of handling a lot of abuse.
Again, both the Yamaha and
Honda do indeed feel much
heavier than the Kawasaki but
that really didn't prevent our
THE TTR230 AND
CRF230F ARE
MOTORCYCLES THAT
ARE VERY SIMILAR TO
EACH OTHER, BOTH
ON PAPER AND ON
THE TRAIL.
beginner—or anyone for that
matter—from enjoying either one.
She could still get up and down
the trails just fine on the heavier
bikes with a huge grin on her
face.
Our experienced riders
always gravitated toward the
bigger 230s first before head-
ing out on ride; again, mainly
because of those bike's bigger
power, roomier ergos and stiffer
suspensions. You can actually
push the Honda and Yamaha's
suspension a lot harder than you
would initially think. But when it
gets down to it, our faster testers
feel that the Honda has the best
suspension of the three bikes
when ridden aggressively. All
three suspensions, they said,
are excellent for casual trail rid-
ing.
Living with all three motor-
cycles is pretty much a pain-free
experience. All three are built
