PC triple clamps look great...
PC triple clamps look great and allow a personalized riding position.
FAR's race motors benefit...
FAR's race motors benefit from Pro Circuit's MX and SX race team development.
The most exotic part of the...
The most exotic part of the FAR package is the PC Works suspension.
Like any top race bike, its...
Like any top race bike, its control detailing is first-rate.
The shock was amazing in the...
The shock was amazing in the whoops. Note the airbox detailing for sand riding.
The rear end uses PC, Zip-Ty,...
The rear end uses PC, Zip-Ty, RK, T.M. Designworks and Renthal products.
With the introduction of the new GNCC XC2 Pro Lites class, 125cc two-strokes and especially 250cc four-strokes will finally get attention from off-road's top riders and fans. To get a firsthand feel for what this class is all about, I arranged to ride a Fred Andrews Racing (FAR) Monster Kawasaki KX250F team bike for the opening GNCC round in Vero Beach, Florida. The 1993 GNCC champion offered me his personal bike, telling me, "It's got your name on it!"
I showed up in time to enter, shoot a few photos and hit the starting line-factory rider style but not the best way to prepare for a brutally rough two-hour race. The Pro Circuit "off-road-spec" motor combines head work, cams, valve springs and race piston plus a Pro Circuit exhaust and a Hinson clutch. This thing ripped and did not give up anything to the bigger-displacement bikes on the track.
The trickest parts on the bike were the Pro Circuit-modified Showa fork and shock that I quickly found worked incredibly well. In fact, I don't think I have ever gone faster through deep sand whoops. But with a price tag in the $7350 range, these are just a dream for all but the most serious racers. This bike was truly a dream to ride, especially in all of the switchback turns that made up most of the loop. My only nightmare was my inability to start the bike once it got hot.
The bike started easily at the wave of the green flag, but I managed to stall it on four occasions in the dreaded palmetto root fields. Each stall turned into a kicking marathon that Andrews and his team riders had never experienced, so I will take credit for doing something wrong (riding a two-stroke for the last several months probably didn't help my technique). In spite of this, the FAR KX250F is a really fun, competitive bike for GNCC racing. It's eligible for the four-stroke Lites class for us nonpros. With few two-strokes being upgraded and 450s too powerful for all but the best riders, I expect to see a lot more 250Fs in future GNCC fields.