When riders get more than a few miles on the clock, the bikes of their youth often stir memories of what may well have been better times. Who knows, is it simply nostalgia or were the eighties just that good? The bike in question today is Honda’ s quirky orphan of its enduro family, better known as the XR200. But before I go on, here’ s some perspective … The 70s and 80s were the Wild West of outrageous innovation – there was a lot going on, some good, some … not so much. It was an era when manufacturers were willing to try anything to get one-up on the competition, the rule-book on bike design was yet to be written. The race for suspension travel was at its peak. Slowly, inexorably, the motorcycling world was finding out that it was not just a model with a foot( 300mm to the young ones) of travel that won events, but it sure did help.
GIANT KILLER The sheer power-bragging war was also at a climax, so the blend of unruly power and the ability to jump tall buildings gave the brave( or stupid) bikes like the Yamaha YZ490, Kawasaki KX500 and then the Honda CR500 to play with. For the smart few, it was the other end of the blurry spectrum of new models that beckoned. A little bike that could. A little bike that did. Many a fire-breathing 500cc snarling two-stroke was felled in the tight stuff by the unassuming, yet capable, XR200R. Ok, on a motocross track, you’ d get roosted into the weeds, but in the
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