Imagine you're James Stewart. You're driving down California's I-15 Freeway heading home after some physical therapy on your healing arm, and you pass the Kawasaki factory supercross test track. Your chin hits the leather-covered steering wheel as you see some squid rolling the triples on your works No. 259 Kawasaki. The fans lining the fence are getting back into their cars, and the resultant traffic jam that usually occurs on the freeway just south of Corona is nonexistent. What do you do? You hit the next off-ramp, make a U-turn and head back to the track to see what's up.
Now imagine you're me, Dirt Rider Editor Jimmy Lewis. I grew up as a fledgling amateur motocrosser and at one point earned that elusive Team Green "C" ride. My whole life at the time was about someday being able to ride a factory KX250. That day finally came. Not that the circumstances were exactly as I had imagined them-I'd much rather have earned the ride with spectacular speed and fascinating results. But today I was gifted a chance to take a spin on Bubba's bike because I'm the editor of a big motorcycle magazine.
I was driving in my truck to go riding with just a gear bag in the back and thought this is what it must be like to be one of the factory boys. I noticed my truck rides a little roughly on the freeway without a bike in the back, a new sensation for me. OK, so I don't have the 27-inch or so wheels, and my windows aren't tinted, and it is a few years old, but I can pretend.
As I had to do when I arrived at the track. I can't recall the last time I rode a true SX track, which is a lot different from what it appears to be on television, especially when facing one of the monster jumps-worse yet, when you are on a bike designed to hit those jumps as if you meant it. I was greeted by the Kawasaki crew, PR guys Greg Leucheski and Russel Brenan, Bubba's mechanic Jeremy Albrecht, team manager Bruce Stjernstrom and testing technician Skip Norfolk. Michael Byrne was out on the track testing and practicing, and some guy named Jeff Emig was there riding Bubba's bike for Racer X Illustrated. I was presented with a large document known as a release form, on which I signed away my life and possessions in the event I kill myself while riding the bike.
My factory rider dream world was revived as I peeled my new Fox gear (with my name on it!) out of its wrapping. I felt pretty slick because I looked as though I belonged there. There were actually cars stopping on the frontage road to watch the bikes go round. Emig surrendered the bike, and it was my turn. There were about 15 or 20 people gathered at that point, hoping someone famous was about to spin laps; little did they know
Bubba runs his levers pretty high and has a straight or flat bend to the handlebar as with most kids today. I gave the bike a bounce to see what would happen, and I might as well have been on a hard tail-the rear didn't even budge. I pulled in the front brake and tried to compress the fork, with similar results. The bike gives a new definition to stiff. With a little more effort, I got it to move; the rebound side was equally slow. Then I had to ride it, I mean, roll the track. The bike is jetted so crisply that it doesn't really have what I'd classify as bottom-end; it barks to life at the midrange with a wallop that will catapult the bike right out from underneath you in such a sudden surge that I believe it is unhealthy. The rear wheel is connected to the throttle all right, with some sort of amplitude enhancement and the level cranked to 11. Evidently, a lot of work went into acclimating the motor to run on the mandated unleaded fuel, which has been a challenge for the remaining two-stroke racers. The ignition mapping, port timing, crankcase volume, piston and head shape and exhaust pipe have become ultracritical in eliciting high power and consistent performance.