Mx Shootout
MX SHOOTOUT
CW COMPARISON
Honda CR250R vs. Kawasaki KX250 vs. KTM 250 SX vs. Suzuki RM250 vs. Yamaha YZ250
TENSION IS HIGH. YOUR EYES lock on the starting gate, looking for a jiggle that signals it's going to drop. Your motor is wound up, clutch dragging at the edge of engagement. The gate quivers! With a twist of the
right hand and slip of the left, you're roosting down the start straight, front wheel skimming the surface. A quick glance and you realize with a bit of late-braking into the 90-degree first turn, you'll take the holeshot. Your brakes cooperate. scrubbing off speed, then you Pitch the bike into the loamy turn like you were a skier carving into deep powder. Just as quickly you're back on the gas, in front of the pack, wheelying away.
First step in making the preceding iflotocross dream come true is a trip to your local dealer. YOU say oti re looki ng at dropping nearly S(~OO() by the time you rot I a bike into the back ol your t nick? You're worried about making the wrong choice?
Slt'~p i~oin,iug It `~ t-. i~ this `year-that is, if ou just want a great hike---becat.ise in I 9% you eaii't go wrong. ibis may sound repetitive, and we're still battled as to how manuluicturers are able to keep up the pace year after year, but all the new 250cc MXers are great bikes, even better than last year’s, and all are capable of winning motocross races.
The hard part is picking the best. Which is where CW comes in. After rounding up the five contenders this year, we spent a day getting each bike set
up. This is the most critical part of our shootout and can make the difference between a firstand fifthplace finish, literally with the turn of a shock clicker or the changing of a carburetor jet. For our first five-bike day, we went to Starwest Supercross Park, a hard, relatively smooth, jumpinfested track. Instantly, it was obvious that the Honda and Kawasaki were going to be at each others’ throats-both felt as if they were purpose-built for Starwest.
The CR’s potent motor, slightly
revised from last year, comes on sooner and pulls noticeably harder than its predecessor. Initially, testers thought this was the hot ticket; until they got a bit tired, that is, then the CR could become a handful.
The Kawasaki carburâtes a bit better down low than last year’s bike-it’s still not as crisp as the Honda (nothing is)-then builds into a burst of midrange and top-end power. Snappy enough for Pros and friendly enough for Novices. Overall, then, powerplant advantage to the KX250.
In suspension and handling departments, the red and green bikes remained close. The CR loves to be ridden hard: Attack and the CR will work with you; back off and be prepared to wrestle. Underlining the importance of setup, the CR250’s shock gets highand low-speed compressiondamping adjustability this year. Though we rarely touched the high-speed compression, other settings were critical: If the Honda is a few clicks off in either direction, you'd better fix it. But get the Honda spot-on and watch out. Even Novices felt like Jeremy McGrath, roosting out of turns harder than on any of the other bikes.
The Kawasaki, on the other hand, was always friendly. Its slim-feeling chassis, combined with plush, progressive suspension, won friends at all riding levels. Turning is surprisingly good for a bike as stable at speed as the KX; it doesn’t feel like it wants to cut a line with the CR250 until you try it. Simply put, the Kawasaki breeds confidence.
At Starwest, we had a difficult time with the Yamaha’s undersprung front end. The YZ bottomed too much, with a harsh ride from sitting too far into its suspension stroke. What did shine was the motor, especially where the track was slippery. The YZ has the same “sleeper” characteristics that it has had for the past couple of years, but it hooks up and gets with the program on a snotty track. Benefitting from a new carburetor and crisper throttle response (now it’s almost CR-sharp), the YZ boasts power that stays smooth all the way through its spread, though it signed off a bit early for some riders.
If you rode only the KTM, you would never know that its shifting is stiffer than the others, or that its carburetion is not as sharp. Still, even at supercross, the bike holds its own, pretty impressive for a frame that has the tabs to hold a centerstand-it’s the same as the enduro bike’s. The SX’s power spread is broad and easy to ride. It pulls well off the bottom, has a healthy midrange punch and plenty of over-rev, though top-end power is only okay. The bike has a distinctly heavier feel to it, confirmed by the scales. At 231 pounds, it is the heaviest bike in the shootout; the Suzuki, at 224, is the lightest.
And what about the Suzuki? Late to arrive stateside, the RM is new from the ground up. Most impressive is its light feel; in fact, one tester took the RM out, went halfway around the track, then got off and had to look at the swingarm decal to check if he hadn’t grabbed a 125 by mistake.
How’s the power, you ask? It feels a little lacking when compared to the other 250s, with good bottom-end followed by a slight flat spot in
the midrange, then a healthy rev-out on top. By no means is the RM250 slow, it just doesn’t have that “in-your-face” characteristic of the Honda or Kawasaki.
Next, we loaded up and headed for Perris Raceway and its tight, outdoor track with soft loam that roughens up with ruts and bumps as the day wears on. Here, we installed stiffer, .43-kg springs in the Yamaha fork-and what a difference! The bike suddenly had a balanced feel, and riders could exploit the ’96 YZ’s lower center of gravity and thinner profile. Gone is the slightly heavy feeling of the ’95 bike. Critical on the Yamaha was setting the rear ride height for 3.5 inches of sag-too much and the bike tended to resist turning, too little and it got nervous. Properly dialed-in, the YZ doesn’t kick around, as it could last year, and the shock’s new leverage ratio, the stiffer double-pinch triple-clamp and the increased rigidity of the frame are readily apparent.
The KTM felt good at Perris; its power suited the track’s abundant traction and longer straights. The Marzocchi fork felt a bit soft for jarring bumps with faster riders aboard, and for slower riders, the rear seemed stiff. As one tester commented, “It has all the right stuff, it just needs a once-over.” There were no other handling problems, though, and the chassis felt plenty rigid, holding its line going into and coming out of rough, rutted turns. One common complaint concerning the KTM was that the seat was too hard-instead of sinking into it coming out of turns, you’d just slide back and really have to hang on.
Mixed feelings for the Suzuki at Perris. There was praise again for its light feel and excellent suspension; the RM’s new Showa conventional fork feels incredibly plush, yet has bottoming resistance that surprised most testers. The rear end is ultra-cushy, too, though some of our faster Pro-level riders complained of a slight wallowing. Everyone else gave it high marks. One thing for sure, Suzuki has made a big leap with this new RM. Its downside at Perris was a power deficit: It just didn’t feel as strong as we expected. Also, its light feel translated into twitchiness on some rougher sections. But, overall, it’s light-years ahead of last year’s RM. Pretty impressive.
Back to the Honda. At Perris, the CR took some hits. It was just plain hard to ride to its potential. The suspension seemed harsh to all our riders and the power, dare we say, was simply too much. The CR never did anything wrong-with the best brakes, the best layout, how could it? But it was unforgiving for all but our most aggressive, fittest riders.
And that is where the KX250 shined. Winner of Cycle World's shootout last year, the Kawasaki has benefited from small improvements. Its progressive suspension shows that you can make a bike capable of working everywhere, for almost every rider. The larger-diameter, 46mm fork provides positive feedback and even the front stopper seemed a bit better this year, thanks to an altered brake line.
It was looking like a repeat win for the KX as the final day of testing took the five bikes to Los Angeles County Raceway, a sandy outdoor track with a mix of stadium-style obstacles and rim-bending rough stuff. Here, we updated the jetting on the RM at Suzuki’s recommendation, richening up the main from a 172 to a 180 and dropping the pilot jet three sizes, from a 58 to a 50. Big difference. The RM now was in the hunt, with riders wanting to know what we’d done to the motor. It was much crisper off idle, smooth through the midrange and had newfound topend pull. It was getting the gas it needed. Also, the Suzuki’s shifting and ultra-light clutch feel are class-leading. A bit of headshake was still apparent, but its featherweight feel made the RM the most flickable off jumps and in tight comers. If you like a light-feeling bike
that carves the inside line, you’ll love the RM.
As usual, the CR made the Pros smile and the Novices wish they could ride faster. Again, complaints centered around suspension that felt too stiff for slower riders and power that was a handful if you weren’t ready for it. Stability, turning, jumping and braking were all top-notch, but get tired or stop riding at 100 percent, and the CR isn’t happy. It has the best motor, the most adjustable suspension and a long list of championships in its resume. This is a great motocrosser; for some riders, though it’s overqualified for the position.
L.A. County confirmed that the KTM needs attention in several areas. The SX’s motor ran strong and was fast, riders just had to work a bit harder to make things happen. It feels and handles like the YZ250, but gives the impression of being heavier. Its suspension is close to the RM’s, but bottoms more frequently up front. Can it win? Yes, with minor motor and suspension tweaks.
The Yamaha is as close to winning as it ever has been. If there is a bike all Novice racers should pick, let it be the YZ—it is extremely friendly and easy to ride. Still, the rougher the track, the greater a toll it took on its rider; the more traction a track offered, the more testers wanted additional power on top. In specific categories, it never finished first on rider report cards, but, overall, it’s a case of doing almost everything well that makes the Yamaha as good as it is.
Kawasaki’s KX250 was awesome in the rough, mowing down bumps as if they weren’t there for most riders, though some Pros found a slight harshness in the rear suspension at warp speeds. Power was smooth when it had to be and explosive as necessary.
When the riders’ evaluation sheets for the bikes were collected, results for second through fifth place were up and down the scale. Four of the bikes were listed in an absolutely random order for each track and rider. Then there was the Kawasaki. The KX was the bike listed in the number-one position nearly every time at every track by every test rider. Why? Most proclaimed that the Kawasaki would take the least amount of work, tuning, time or dollars to set up for competition. If this sounds like a winner, you're right. Kawasaki wisely refined an already potent package and came up with the best, most versatile motocross bike available in 1996.
HONDA
CR250R
$5499
KAWASAKI
KX250
$5599
KTM
250 SX
$5348
SUZUKI
RM250
$5499
YAMAHA
YZ250
$5599
