Older automatic motorcycles9/6/2023 ![]() Boasting a fun little 199cc single cylinder fuel injected engine that’s good for around 16 hp at 8,000 rpm and around 11 lb-ft of torque at 6,500 rpm, all held together with an unmistakably 70s inspired shape, it’s hard not to fall in love with this little mover.Īs you can see it has been given the full GS treatment placing it firmly in the GS family, but there’s more to this bike than matching plastics and graphics. ![]() The Suzuki VanVan is not a new motorcycle by any stretch of the imagination but it’s often overlooked in the small motorcycles category – with Honda’s small CBs or Yamaha’s smaller YBR models taking precedence – and that’s a damn shame. It brings the spirit of Rally-raid racing to every ride.” As far as small motorcycles go, this is a pretty mean machine. So, with the CRF250 Rally we set out to make a motorcycle that looks like HRC’s CRF450 Rally factory machine, is fun to ride both on and off-road for weekend adventures, comfortable to tour with and useful and practical for daily life. We really wanted to build on the capabilities of the CRF250L and open up new opportunities for riders young and old. The CRF250 Rally’s project leader, Eiji Sugiyama explained the inspiration behind the machine: “The rally racer replica segment is an exciting one for us, with the global, human appeal of everything that Team HRC is fighting to achieve in the Dakar rally. And what they’re offering is nothing short of superb. In an ideal world we’d all ride little electric scooters but we’ve got a few years of breathing space before that happens, and the major motorcycle manufacturers have decided that they’re going to fill the void with small motorcycles with big personalities. Times aren’t as thin as the papers tell you, but the global mind set is changing: cars are labelled as deadly pollutants offer poor economy, large capacity motorcycles are starting to be called unnecessary, and there’s a growing demand for small urban transport solutions. And the motorcycle industry is a business at the end of the day: you’ve got to go where the money is…and Europe and North America are a big strapped at the moment, putting it kindly. With the Western market making slow growth at best, it’s the Asian market that’s appealing to most manufacturer’s R&D departments and Asia is the spiritual home of small motorcycles: the infrastructure can’t handle over-powered motorcycles, small capacity machines have been the driving force of their nations for the past 80 years, and the Japanese already know how to build top quality small motorcycles. Cheap quality boneshakers are things of the past – because small motorcycles just got serious. The seat also has more foam, to soften some of the rough road bumps.Small motorcycles are taking over, and they’re nothing like they used to be. It costs $10,999 and includes adjustable KYB dampers, an inch more wheel travel, and tires developed for enhanced off-highway traction. The downside: that precise steering can be too sensitive at freeway speed and can follow undulations in the pavement. And the steering is manual, but it gives you that connected-to-the-road feedback. When you hit a set of switchbacks, it feels planted. The Ryker sits lower, with the seat only 23.5 inches above the road. Ride it too hard even at fairly low speeds, and the aggressive stability-control system would sap all the fun to keep the trike from toppling. The original Can-Am Spyder was a better touring machine than it was a canyon hustler. We pulled the bars and pegs closer for canyon riding, and pushed them back later in the day for highway cruising. The handlebars and foot pegs can be adjusted fore and aft without any tools in just a few seconds, which can be helpful if you change road conditions. ![]() None of that will be a problem for Ryker riders. If the machine sits too tall, too short, or requires your arms to be uncomfortably outstretched, hard pass. Most motorcycle customers choose a bike based largely on fit. And no one likes a manual transmission in traffic. Why is it so important to make it twist-and-go? “You worry less about shifting and spend more time enjoying the drift," says engineering product manager Vincent Varaldi. So Can-Am used a twist-and-go transmission that it's had experience building: a CVT. ![]() Making the Ryker accessible to new riders ruled out a manual transmission, and a semi-automatic dual clutch would've been too expensive to keep the base price under $9,000. ![]()
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