The Chicken-Of-The-Woods Motorcycle Riding School
THE CHICKEN-OF-THE-WOODS MOTORCYCLE RIDING SCHOOL
CYCLE WORLD TEST
Honda XL100 and XL125, Kawasaki KE100, Suzuki DS125 and Yamaha MX175 and MX100, Tested In Their Natural Habitat.
Enthusiasm is catching. The test crew was on the way back to the office after a photo session one day. and a lady who works for the company but not the magazine heard all the excited talk and noticed that a good time had been had.
“You guys sure sound like you have fun," she said. “Would you teach me how to ride a motorcycle?”
“Yeah.” said the company librarian.
"me, too.”
“And me.” said a secretary.
Flattery works. We do enjoy riding and it's always nice to have somebody ask about things you like. Probably everybody who's ridden for more than a week has fallen into conversation with somebody who hasn't tried motorcycles but would like to. Few of us can resist sharing our enthusiasm.
Okay. Flaving been asked, we accepted. The company gave permission for a motorcycle riding school, open to all employees willing to donate their own time, the teaching to be done by the CW staff, or that portion of the staff w illing to donate their own time.
Next, the bikes.
Every motorcycle ever made has served as a beginner bike at one time or another. There are no precise rules. Traditions change, in that several years ago stepthroughs were the starting point for the dirt, and 125s were for novices on the street. Currently, because kids begin younger now and older riders are usually offered 400ce Tw ins for the road, we weren’t quite sure what to use for the school.
We went with our own tradition, in that most of the people on staff, and several of the semi-experienced students, learned on borrowed playbikes in several sizes.
Street or dirt? Not as much problem there. The road-riding population outnumbers the dirt crowd, even allowing for kids too young to be licensed, and most of the professional riding schools work on pavement.
But we are not professional teachers. Plus, dirt bikes get dropped more and damaged less per drop than do road bikes. Finally, falling down in the sand isn't like falling down on concrete.
What we had forming up was a group test, so we took the logical step and made a group. We asked the factories for a selection, play or dual purpose, small but not for kids, to be used to teach beginners how to ride.
We got a nice selection. Keep in mind that this isn't the usual sort of comparison test, though, because the bikes weren't picked to compete directly. Instead, we wanted to investigate which size and type worked best w ith the various new riders.
The Bikes:
Honda XL100S
Honda makes progress in different directions. Late in 1978 and for the 1979 model year, the plavbike news was the big XR and XL models. 250 and 500 with four-valve heads. Honda-designed tires, counter-bal-
ancers and so forth. The XR/XL185 got some of the above improvements, the compression limiter for instance, and the new 185 engine is based on the old 125.
At the other end of the line, the XL 100S gets a new frame, stressed engine and all, with normal trials-pattern tires on 17 and 19-in. wheels. One overhead cam and two valves, as normal, but the XL100S engine is an enlarged version of the old XR75, now the XR80. which means it's light and small for its displacement.
The XL 100 is street certified, i.e.. useful bv adults for errands, while the little engine and wheels, a short wheelbase and lower (compared with the XL 125) seat make it fine for offroading by kids, say 14 and up.
Honda XL125S
Same theme here but a bit bigger. The 125 is a traditional class, virtually new this vear in that it gets the stressed engine frame, laydown shocks, leading axle forks and Claw-pattern tires.
The engine is a carry-over. Proven strong, as it's used for the larger motors, tuned a bit. from 11.6 claimed bhp to 12.8, and because Honda wanted to offer something extra for the XR185. the XL125 gets the six-speed gearbox intended for big brother.
The XL125S is full size, with 21 and 18in. wheels, a higher seat, longer wKeelbase, more suspension travel, etc., than the 100 has. The two models look nearly alike but the 125 feels larger instantly and is, due to the extra height, out of the kid class unless the kid is ready to shave.
Kawasaki KE100
One could call this Kawasaki a classic; the configuration of two-stroke Single w ith rotary valve and oil injection, in a small frame with kid-size wheels and tires, plus full road equipment right down to passenger pegs, was at one time as close to a dirt bike as the major factories came.
The KE100 is still in production, despite the lack of radical change, because the formula works. Just as with the Honda 100, the Kawasaki is intended for a wide range of people and purposes. The oil injection does away with mixing, routine for motocross racers but a chore for the more casual rider. The rotary valve gives good power and a wide power band and because the carb is tucked away inside a cover, the kids or your helpful neighbor can't fiddle it out of whack. We'd hoped for both the dual and play versions of the basic machine, but because the tiddlers aren't usually tested, Kawasaki didn't have both in the fleet and we wound up with two KEs.
Suzuki DS125
When Suzuki introduced the PE250. first of the mass-produced dirt bikes to really be a threat to the pure enduros from Europe, thev invented a new market and made beginning more difficult. For all its calm good manners the PE is a race bike. And the stand-by TS models, dual purpose two-strokes with more weight than competition allows, still requires work to be really good off road.
Enter the DS line. DS means dirt special. or it should, because a DS is a TS with less equipment, as in street lighting and muffler, turn signals and such. Instead, the DS has a useful enduro-stvle headlight and taillight and knobby tires and the DS bikes keep the strong and simple reed-valve twostroke Singles and they keep oil injection. Most of the best of both worlds, you might say.
The DS 125 is the smaller of two versions sharing the same frame, in this case with the DS185. The 125 is aimed for younger riders, with one inch less wheelbase, half an inch less ground clearance, a steeper steering head angle and a not-much-lower seat. Feels like an adult bike, and in fact the DS125 shown here was borrowed from a Suzuki employe. There wasn't one in the test fleet, but he keeps one at home for when he feels like putting around without bothering people.
Yamaha MX100
When Yamaha introduced the MX line in 1979. we purists took the company to task over the name. MX is enthusiast shorthand for motocross and these machines are not motocross racers by an\ stretch of the imagination. Yamaha spokesmen defend the gambit on grounds that everybody knows Yamaha motocross models are designated YZ and we reply these bikes aren't intended for experts and anyway, how come you call some of your dual-purpose line Enduro?
Enough. When you own the company, you get to call the product anything you want.
And it wouldn't be fair to blame the machine for its name.
The (clenched teeth) MX line is actually a price leader. The bikes come in several sizes and are in fact stripped versions of the DT series; same frames, engines, controls and such but minus the street gear and lights and with knobby tires instead of trials treads.
The idea behind this is to keep prices down and thus make play bikes available and attractive for those who aren’t yet ready for a true enduro mount, but w ho'd rather not buy lights and license for a motorcycle that’ll never be used on the road.
The MX 100 is a small bike. Smallest in the group and the lightest, the MX 100 is pretty basic, with conventional rear shock/ springs, center-axle forks and five speeds. Nice short-stroke motor, though, with reed valve and one good thing not removed by the price cutters was oil injection, as mentioned earlier a welcome addition for owners who don't buy bikes to work on.
MX175
The larger brother in the group is like the 100 in that it's based on the DT. But it gets more modern conveniences, as in monoshock rear suspension and leading axle forks. As the size increases, wheelbases of 47 to 53 in., the tires also get larger, wheel travel goes up and the 175 has six speeds. Still smaller in overall dimensions than the Hondas in the group, but undoubtedly the most powerful.
The Students
Without much of a recruitment drive, notices on bulletin boards attracted as nice an assortment of novice riders as we could have hoped for.
Men and women, aged barelv 20 to middle age (the men only, we hasten to say. Every lady in the school was in the bloom of her youth.) We got engineers, accountants, secretaries, designers and editors.
One of the men had ridden dirt bikes casually years ago and was there to see if it was still as much fun. Another had ridden road bikes years before that. One of the younger men got interested when he joined the company and in fact got so interested that while the school was in the planning stages, he enrolled in an MSEbacked rider school and bought a Triumph Trophy 500. lí we had a valedictorian he'd be it, if he'd attended our school.
And there were people who simply thought it would be fun to learn how to ride a motorcycle, plus a few relatives showed up in case anybody wonders how that kid got a job while being obviouslv underage.
About the school. We called it ChickenQf-1 he-Woods because the purpose was to introduce friends to motorcycle ridina. Rule One was not to take chances. Everybody was required to wear a helmet, gloves, boots, long sleeves, etc. We got an assortment of borrowed helmets, ski gloves and hiking boots but never mind that. One bump on the noggin, one slip on the kick start and the novices knew why the rules.
Because few of us get a chance to organize such an event, we'll skip details. Sutficient here that before anybody actually rode, they got a complete lecture on what the controls are. what they do and where they are. They learned to use the brakes before they learned to shift and they did a lot of putting about on wide, flat ground before they went down the trail and back.
Universal Truths: Some people are better teachers than are other people. Because he won’t read this until it's in print, we can safely say that Henry N. Manney III. who writes as though he is grouchy, isn’t. Comes from having raised children and good training it was, too.
Some people are more natural riders than others. John Dinkel, editor of our companion publication Road & Track, had never before sat on a motorcycle. But he's an engineer, has driven in races and found the controls logical and convenient. Took only a few minutes before he was riding in careful circles, shifting smoothly, etc. And there were a few people who found it terribly difficult to use both brakes at once and to remember which way you turn the black thing to slow the engine.
As a conclusion for the people section, . nobody got hurt beyond a bruise or two, from not kicking properly in one case and not steering away from the downhill in another. After a total of four school sessions involving 12 new riders, we had 12 people who said they'd like to do it again, three who have done it again and want more and one student who’s now shopping for her own bike and signed up tor a genuine riding school. That is. despite the fun we had, the best way for a serious beginner to learn how right.
As for the beginner bikes, we learned a lot and got a few surprises.
To repeat, there cannot be a clear winner here because we used a wide variety of models, some streetable, some not. some highway practical and some not. Obviously the different bikes have diflerent applications.
Even so. You can't have a school w ithout tests, so we presented a classic pop quiz. At the end of the first day, the students were asked to answer questions:
What bike did you like best? And why? What did you think of the school? Dealing first with general findings, we didn't hear some things we expected to hear. None of the students noticed any difference in tires, for instance. The trials treads had as much traction as the new rider was willing to use and the fledglings weren't taken into mud or up hills, i.e., places w here grip or thelack of it are more easily noticed.
Next, there was no specific mention of that of debate, two stroke vs four. Just didn't come up. Some of the riders knew the difference and that we had both kinds in the group, but nobody mentioned either one, pro or con.
As a corollary to that, the engines didn't seem to know much about the difference. Time was the two-stroke had the power and the temperament, as in hard starting, fouled plugs, all the things that were true enough to make us old guvs always pack a plug wrench in our boot tops. True no more. The Kawasaki. Suzuki and Yamaha engines have been in production for years and they’ve been refined and improved and even (in the case of the Yamahas) fitted with CDI. Nor did the carbs leak or flood.
As it happened, both Hondas lived up to tradition by being cold natured. They needed extra vigor on kick and longer time on choke once they fired up. Longevity is something we can't predict here, but we'd guess there would be no major difference between engine type or even brand. All the beginner bikes are tuned for reliability and they each had it.
The final two vs four notes come from conversations during the instructions. There were riders who noticed and appreciated the engine braking provided by the Hondas. Helped them keep control downhill. And one rider referred to this without knowing it, as he mentioned the Yamaha needed extra front brake because the rear wheel, of course lacking engine drag to keep it turning, locked too easily under his foot.
As balance to that, two of the women found the Hondas’ engine braking confusing: When they rolled back on power they expected a gradual slow ing, the way a car with automatic transmission does. The sudden shift from on to off threw them, literally, off stride.
Conclusion: No clear trends. Might as well buy for application. Will the bike be used for strictly play or for errands as well?
No w inner doesn't mean no preference. There was something of a list here:
Yamaha MX100
If this was one of those boring consumerist magazines, the MX 100 would have to get a verdict of Not Suitable.
7 hrough no fault of the bike. The littlest member of the group ran well enough, and handled well enough, for its size, but it plain wasn't big enough.
Another change of expectation. We know that a really big motorcycle, say a Harley 80 or Husqvarna 390, intimidates the novice. And while it’s possible to learn how on one of the heavyweights, it isn't something one would recommend. But we had thought the reverse would apply, that the new riders, especially the fair sex, would find a small bike as reassuring as a big bike was scary. Like tigers and kittens.
Instead, because the MX 100 is actually a kid’s bike, all the students found themselves with knees in the air. They couldn’t take the MX 100 seriously and they didn't have the security that comes from knowing you're properly equipped. After the first day. after the kid in the group picture decided he'd rather ride his own bike, the MX 100 stayed home. It was a good bike in the wrong application.
Honda XL100S
No votes were cast for the XL 100. Much the same reasons here. The XL 100 is just like the XL 125 except it's not as big. Doesn't have as much power, needs more attention on clutch and throttle and gearshift, takes as much determination to kick. Unless the new rider is a kid who can't quite touch the ground on the 125. the 100 has nothing to offer that the 125 can't do better.
Honda XL125
The best review of the XL 125 comes from the best really new rider we had. which indicates the man knew why he liked what he liked.
“Adequate power for the dirt,” he w rote on his test paper. “The controls are reasonably progressive, and although this was the largest bike in the group it was still easy to handle.’’
“I didn’t have any trouble shifting or modulating the throttle and the clutch. 1 could control the brakes on this one. I had the most trouble of the day going dow nhill on the two-strokes because they don’t have engine braking, and I couldn't find neutral on the others as quickly as 1 could on the Honda.”
We did our own riding of the group bikes later, on the road when the machine was legal for it, and found the XL 125 to be strong enough for short highway hops and a modest blast around town. Not enough suspension for serious dirt dicing, but that's understood. Part of the deal. A w illing workhorse, in sum.
Kawasaki KE100
No actual votes for best, but good reviews anyway. The KE100 isn’t much larger than the MX100. But the KE’s additional two inches of wheelbase give it a more serious feel and the rotary valve’s widening of the powerband made the KE act better under nervous fingers. The relatively small size went unnoticed.
In staff hands, the KE was not a dirt bike. Keep to the trails, hop down to the store, fine. But rocks and whoops and sand, no. Just not enough suspension or power.
What we also did was wring the little dear out on the highway. The KE did so well in the first school that we kept it in the garage for weeks afterward, for use by later students and for popping dow n to the deli for lunch. It did the job without complaint. One man even lashed a bag on the tank, thanks for Mr. Bungee, and did the 30 miles from his home to the office. He claimed an indicated 62 mph. The KE rates as Acceptable, and if you need a spare to lash behind your KZ1300, here’s the perfect choice.
Suzuki DS125
Two votes here, both worded nearly the same. “Easy to control and shift,” said one student. “It's lighter and easier for me to handle.” said another. “The shifting seemed very positive.”
The Suzuki was really the best adult pure dirt bike in the school. It shares frame and other parts with the DS185 and the 125 feels solid and competent and. well, adult. A genuine motorcycle. The mild 125 engine pulled smoothly, while not leaping forward if the rider gave a few degrees too much twist, and all the novices said they felt secure behind the bars. The Suzuki also has extras, as in the enduro-sized headlight and taillight. so although it’s basically a stripped version of the twostroke dual-purpose TS Suzuki, the DS doesn't appear to have been pared dow n to price.
The staff riders also liked the Suzuki. No PE, but a stout playbike in its own right.
Yamaha MX175
Another two votes, and another agreement from two new' riders as to w hat they’d like in their first dirt bike. “Good feel for a tall person,” says one quiz. “It’s easy to handle and has enough power.” The other rider described the MX 175 as “easy handling, light, and quick.”
Which the MX 175 is. It had the largest and most powerful engine, w hile being just a bit smaller, that is, lower and shorter, than the Suzuki and the Honda 125. So it did well with the larger men and it didn't overwhelm the women. The MX 175 does have enough power to leap forward, though, and several riders remarked on that.
In staff hands, the larger Yamaha came across as a trail bike. The suspension has been tuned for slow going, as it should be. so faster riders use up all the travel before using all the engine. The bike is out of balance some in this regard, but if the new' ow ner was a youngster w ho’d quickly pick up the skills, some suspension work would result in a good dirt bike in the IT manner.
So. As to what the students liked best about the school, they liked learning how' to ride motorcycles, going to the desert and having a good time.
They liked having the chance to learn to ride and that brings us to the lesson we learned from this teaching experiment:
There are a lot of people interested in riding motorcycles.
The machines for them to learn on are available. Where are the schools and introduction days?
YAMAHA MX175
$978
HONDA XL100S
$898
KAWASAKI KE100
$799
SUZUKI DS125
$839
HONDA XL125S
$998
YAMAHA MX100
$687
