Cycle News Archives
COLUMN
Kent Taylor
By Sibling Rivalry
Sibling rivalry has been a real thing for a mighty long time. There is the story of Cain and Abel in the Hebrew Bible. Greek mythology brought us the tale of Romulus and Remus. And everybody who reads this Archives column can still hear the woeful lament of young Jan Brady, cursing her snarky, prettier older sister. Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!
In its February 5, 1974, issue, Cycle News tested not only the F-11 enduro machine but also its brother, the KX250 motocrosser. One machine was a contender for the best in its class, while the other was a competent, if somewhat unremarkable, motorcycle. Motorcycling’s sibling rivalry, from the Land of the Rising Sun.
“The KX 250,” CN wrote in its February 5, 1974, issue, “is an easy bike to ride. The machine itself takes very little of your concentration or physical energy, allowing a rider to refine his personal techniques (especially if they’re good techniques), try different lines, or just play ride around, though that’s not what this Kawasaki is all about.”
If one wants to play ride, turn the page to the staff test of the F-11 250. The crew took the street-legal, dirt-ready “Kwacker” to the Rocky Mountains for a Christmas vacation ride. Reading through the test, it becomes evident that the F-11 ride took place after the editors had wrung out the motocrossing KX, because there are numerous references to the enduro bike’s dirt-going inefficiencies. Like the kid whose older sister was a better math student, the teacher here seemed to expect more of the F-11.
“Handling, in general, was like a heavier, more softly sprung, not-so-neatly-suspended version of the KX250. Damping wasn’t as spot on, but it was close.” Power-wise, the staff struggled with jetting in the high altitude, trying to find some power in the low end, before finally realizing that they were chasing their own tails.
“Back down at sea level, we found that the low-end lack wasn’t brought on by the altitude. It just wasn’t there. It was missed when plonking up hills or trying to get the front wheel up over obstacles at low speed.”
Meanwhile, the KX250 was earning high praise from the crew, even suggesting that the production machine “may be the best competition dirt bike ever to come out of Japan. Sounds hard to believe after the Honda Elsinore and the Yamaha YZ250, but the Kawasaki seems more rideable and easier to maintain than either of the other brands.”
Electronic ignition was a relatively new thing for motorcycles in 1974, so the fact that the KX’s CDI worked well was worthy of a mention from the staff. The 34mm Mikuni was responsive throughout and the powerband was steady—no flat spots. “Throttle response is A-1 all the time from any place in the rev range. It seems what Kawasaki has done is design an engine for motocross from scratch, with very little ancestry attributable to the F-11 of yore…”
There it is again—the comparison. The KX is, of course, a nearly perfect machine and not at all like its slacker brother.
“The Kawasaki F-11 enduro will puzzle you if you’ve ridden its motocross counterpart,” CN wrote. The KX had great low-end throttle response, “which seems so noticeably lacking in the F-11.”
The rear suspenders on the F-11 bottomed out and wore out. The forks were fine, the tires were a compromise, “excel[ling] in neither area [street or dirt]. On the street, the F-11 could reach 80 mph, more than what was needed during the gas crunch era of the 1970s, which led to the introduction of the 55 mph speed limit, even on major highways and interstates.
Motorcycling needed bikes like the F-11, along with the Suzuki TS models and Yamaha’s DT lineup. They were simple, fun and versatile motorcycles, and they did everything okay, though nothing very well. The F-11’s faults were inherent. Magazine staffers were relentless. The two Kawasaki 250s might’ve come from the same family, but that’s where the similarity ends. One excelled at its designated purpose. The other predictably failed to do what was an impossible job—do everything right and do it at a high level.
Remus was killed and Romulus founded Rome. Cain slew Abel and Marcia Brady dated the big man on campus, while a crazed Jan conjured up an imaginary boyfriend who even called her on the telephone. The KX250 is still around, albeit in four-stroke form. The F-11 was last seen being ridden by George Glass. CN
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