Funfest On Wheels
Funfest on wheels
CW COMPARISON
Quest for the world’s best playbike
JIMMY LEWIS
MY FUNMOVER WAS TRULY LIVING UP TO ITS NAME. LOADED WITH SEVEN brand-new playbikes and a weekend’s worth of provisions, it was headed for the hills with a guest list of beginning riders in tow. All in a quest to evaluate the latest entry-level dirt-ridin’ motorcycles-the hottest, or soon-to-be-hottest, sellers on each manufacturer’s respective model list.
These weren’t kiddie bikes or trailbikes, either; we set a displacement limit of I05cc to 245cc. This eliminated machines that were a little too macho, or not macho enough, for our intended group. After all, we’re just trying to make the holiday season a little more cheerful here. Just think, you can buy one of the growing kids a bike for Christmas and have fun riding it yourself. Or Santa might treat the wife or girlfriend to a perfect motorized match, so much more useful than jewelry-especially for you. Need a pitbike? You’re covered!
Honda’s little secret, the XR75/80/100, and the success of Yamaha’s TT-R90 and RT100/180 kick-started a new era in playbikes. The real growth spurt began in 2000, when Yamaha’s TT-R125 and 125L opened the floodgates to the tune of 15,000-plus unit sales per year. Suzuki hit the market last year using a similar four-stroke formula with its DR-Z125 and 125L. Not to be left out, Kawasaki filled a niche with its KLX110, a kid’s bike that also works for small adults, rank beginners in particular. And after a redesign of the XR100 and watching everyone else bump up displacement, Honda finally brought out its latest playrigs, the new-for-2003 CRF150F and 230F. Since we’re the so-called “experts,” we pulled up a lawn chair and called in the novices to conduct this comparison for us. Armed with a simple evaluation sheet for each rider to fill out and a “secret weapon” (more on that later) installed on each bike, we set out to rediscover what we’d forgotten. Our testers rode in flat lots, on trails, around a motocross track and even romped around a mini-sized flat-track ’til the sun went down-okay, so we all rode around the flat-track ’til way after the sun went down! We could tell you which bike is the fastest, which has the best suspension, the best throttle response or the quickest roll-on in third gear, but that didn’t really matter to these riders.
“Powerful enough,” “stable” and “smooth on the suspension” were descriptions used by our neophyte testers, who often were confused as to which bike they’d just gotten off. “Oh, it was the red one...”
Getting started on the right foot is what really matters to new riders. Comfort and ease of maneuverability are more important than peak power-which, by the way, was never mentioned. Starting is critical, and size is of the utmost concern; we chose to include both a Suzuki DR-Z125 and 125L for this very reason. Though the two bikes are nearly identical, most experienced riders (like you and me, as we pound our chests, ho, ho, ho) quickly notice the front disc brake, bigger wheels and slightly stiffer suspension calibration of the L-model. Our testers never noticed this; one bike just fit them better than the other, from the seat height to the feel of stability from the different-sized wheels or ease of planting a foot on the ground.
The Kawasaki KLX110 is the midget of this fleet. With its small, 12/14-inch wheels and low, 24.6-inch seat height, it’s a minibike among small motorcycles. It has the only auto-clutch in this fleet, and as such was the first choice of anyone who hadn’t ridden before-provided they weren’t put off by the small size. Surprisingly, the KLX’s suspension does way more than called for, and it starts much easier for 2003. The 1 lOcc horizontal-Single is plenty torquey, and is as fast as the 125cc bikes in this comparison. It also fits kids better. In fact, it (or both of them, we should say, because we brought out last year’s testbike as well) was “hogged” by the kids at our test. It’s the only bike in this group that’s small enough for younger riders, a real concern if there are kids in the equation.
Next up are the 125s. The pair of Suzuki DR-Zs and the Yamaha TT-R125L all adhere to a proven formula: Take an existing four-cycle powerplant and wrap it in a modemstyled chassis with cool looks. Seat height on all three hover around the 32-inch mark, making them the mid-sized bikes in this comparo. Though easy-kicking, these machines are all very cold-blooded, meaning they’re reluctant to fire when cold, and especially when new. Hot starting, however, is never a problem. After experiencing electric starting on some of the larger bikes, our testers wished for it on the 125s, as well. Yamaha, in fact, is set to release a soequipped TT-R125LE this spring.
Both DR-Zs got high marks for stability and comfort. Their suspension works a lot better than their spindly size (by motocross standards) would have you think. Adding to the stability is, no doubt, the weight; each Suzuki is roughly 10 pounds heavier than its Yamaha counterpart. This extra weight obviously sticks the bike to the ground better and helps damp out sudden movements. Also, the DR-Z’s engine is slower revving, with a more torquey delivery than the TT-R. About the only downside to the yellow bikes was that the tank decals tore and peeled off rather quickly.
Incidentally, the performance disparity between the two different-sized Suzukis was negligible. Whichever one felt best when it came time to put your feet on the ground was the better of the two.
In a performance sense, Yamaha’s TT-R125L beats out the two Suzukis and, especially, the Honda CRF150F. Its slightly more peppy motor and lighter handling weren’t always the favorite choice for first-timers, especially the ladies, but the lighter, younger and more excitable kids raved about it. Its motor has more of a real powerband, but is still torquey enough to avoid stalling. And it’s sportier handling, too. Though the TT-R’s suspension is softer than the DR-Zs’, its overall lighter weight lets it dance around in the bumpy stuff, leaving some riders with an unsure feeling. The Yamaha has proven tough, too, as we’ve put a thrashing on a few of them over the last couple years and have experienced no breakages. Speaking of which, while all of our testbikes came back with the handlebars and/or levers a little bent and the plastic scratched-up, we never had to touch any of them with a wrench. Similarly, we wouldn’t expect to have to perform much more maintenance than occasionally cleaning the air filter or changing the oil.
These are truly gas-and-go motorcycles. Next in line is the new-for-2003 Honda CRF150F, the “F” suffix standing for “Family” or “Fun.” It isn’t Ricky Carmichael’s CR, but Honda needs to get some play out of the name, so it dressed the CRF in a style to match the competition machines. It starts out just like the included 125cc bikes, wrapping a modem chassis around an existing powerplant, yet Honda chose to up the displacement to 150cc to give the bike an edge. Riding on the same-sized wheels as the Yamaha TT-R125L, the CRF stands a little bit taller and weighs-in 40 pounds heavier. That sounds horrible, but as we learned during this comparison, extra weight makes a bike feel more stable to a beginner.
The CRF’s engine has a much torquier feel, especially in the middle of the powerband, without being faster overall. It isn’t much more difficult to kick-start than the smaller bikes, and its choking mechanism makes cold starting more efficient. The suspension is very stiff and tight feeling ’til it warms up, whereupon it fades into working quite well. Once the CRF is in motion, the extra weight goes away, though the bike can be a bit of a burden to pick up after a fall.
KAWASAKI KLX110 Price $1699 Seat height 26.4 in. Weight 154 lbs.
SUZUKI DR-Z125 Price $2399 Seat height 31.4 in. Weight 194 lbs.
SUZUKI DRZ125L Price $2599 Seat height 32.3 in. Weight 197 lbs.
YAMAHA TT-R125L Price $2599 Seat height 32.4 in. Weight 188 lbs.
HONDA CRF150F Price $2799 Seat height 33.2 in. Weight 228 lbs.
YAMAHA TT-R225 Price $2999 Seat height 33.8 in. Weight 279 lbs.
HONDA CRF230F Price $3299 Seat height 34.5 in. Weight 251 lbs.
Yamaha’s second entry in this comparison was the long-standing TT-R225. This dirt-ized XT225 is the luxo-liner of this fleet with a couch-like seat and giant, 2.4-gallon gas tank. Though the TT-R rolls on full-sized 21-inch front and 18-inch rear wheels, it has a scrunched-down chassis that affords it a relatively low, 33.8-inch seat height. Electric starting made this engine a favorite, and a smooth, solid feel gave a lot of confidence to those who lugged it while riding. The heaviest bike here, the TT-R’s weight wasn’t apparent until it was being pushed around or picked up after a fall. The Yamaha’s chassis feels very planted, and its slow handling is reassuring to novices. Shifting, clutch action and throttle control were all praised, which was strange, because none of those traits were mentioned on any other bike.
Elonda’s other big splash is the new CRF230F, which replaces the XR200, one-upping it with electric starting and bolder, MX-derived styling. The CRF has a light and slim feel, especially compared to the TTR225. Also riding on full-sized wheels, the Honda seems lighter than its 251-pound wet weight would indicate. Not as punchy as the old XR, the CRF is nonetheless extremely user-friendly with a smooth, linear, electric style of power.
So, which bike ended up being the winner? Hard to say. Evaluation forms in hand, I thought there would be some clear-cut answers, but there weren’t. Voting was across the board, with every bike except the KFX110 picked as the best overall-but then we couldn’t get the kids off of the green bikes long enough for them to write anything down anyway! The most votes from our 17 guest testers went to the Hondas, the larger folks picking the 230 and the smaller ones the 150. What it came down to was that the red bikes had more to offer in terms of engine performance and stability, while the extra weight wasn’t enough to cause concern.
But what really told the story was our secret weapon: Runtimers from Dr. D Racing (www.dubachracing.com) were hidden on all of the bikes before testing commenced. Checking them at the end of our weekend, we noted that both Hondas had amassed the most run time, the 230’s 5.7 hours slightly surpassing the 150’s 5.6 hours. This can be attributed to some of the more adventurous riders feeling comfortable enough to venture out on longer trail rides. Surprisingly, the Kawasaki had 5.2 hours on its meter-blame the kids! Next up was the Yamaha TTR125L with 4.5 hours, this bike clearly the favorite on our flat-track and with our more experienced adults as well. Next came the two Suzukis with the big-wheeled DR-Z125L at 3.7 hours and the small-wheeled base-model DRZ with 3.4 hours. The TT-R225 chalked up 3.2 hours.
In the end, we awarded victory to the CRF150F on the grounds that on top of all the praise from the newbies, our more experienced testers routinely chose the smaller bike over its larger sibling when it came time to ride one of the Hondas. (You remember, the guys who were supposed to be sitting in the lawn chairs, but couldn’t.) Why this was so boiled down to one simple thing: These bikes are all about fun, and the CRF150F is the most fun of all. □
