Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Cycle News 1972 01 25

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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ALSO: ~o pageso ' ACA Road Rac ing, MRA a tLagunaSeca,CMCJun io r p icto rial, Harley 'sne_125MXTearn VOLU ME IX NUMBER 2 WEST Jan ua ry 2 5, 1972 PRICE TH IRTY CENTS America 's la rges t an d most complete week ly motorcycle new sp ape r Lookie here! Anew XL 250, 350-4, and, of course, alawn chair. Honda managed to keep the new 3504 a well-kept secret. Oddly. both the 350 twin and 450 D OHC w ill remain on the market. P ublicDebut inLas V g s ea Th e N ew Ho nda X L- 250 w ith the elect rics remov ed . LAS VEGAS, NEV_, Jan_ 13 , 1972 American Ho nda's first serious entry into the burgeoning dir tbike market was greeted with hearty applause and cries of "it's about time!" by the motorcycle press and some 4,000 Honda dealers at its p re-p ublic u nveiling. Un imaginatively n am ed the 250-XL , t h e lon g awaited answer from Honda to Yamaha 's impressively successfu l DT-1 is an unusual 4-va1ve (2 intake, 2 exhaust), single cylinder design, with wet sump engine and magneto ignition, Its lighting eq uipment is quickly detachable for easy conversion between street and dirt. and it is designed to run with the battery removed. The silver and b lack 250 has a lea ping-forward lo ok that makes it see m like it is eating up the desert at 80 mph even when it 's standing sti ll. Trick features such as ad justab le rake and trail, quick chain tensioners and a steering-head mounted chokc contro l combine with 21" front and IS" rear The motorized lawn chair was designed in a contest amongst Honda engineers . Ne-w-spaper alloy, self-cleaning rims and a rca lly quiet , tuned exhaust system to make a very sophisticated dirt machine, Fork travel is 6.7" and the spark arrester is buil t-in , Magnesiurn pa rts throughout the 5-speed engine/gearbox uni t h elp keep the weig h t down to a respectable 265 Ibs. Avai lability of the XL-250 in d ealer showrooms is estimated in approximately one month, Price should be under S1000 . A lso fresh from the drawing boards of Nippon is a new 350cc 4-cylinder runabout roadster. Added to the two other successful fours, the 5-speed, four-carb , overhead cam CB-350 Four will be p riced between th e 450cc tw in and the 500cc fo ur, No informatio n o n ava ilab ility is known yct. And, lcast as well as last, Soichir o Honda spru ng his la test brainchild o n the unsuspecting press. It is a motorized lawn chair that you stccr with your fcet!

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