Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125844
.. iii WJ DQ iii!: DQ ..:I g ;... g -:t' rO"l ...... lC') >:'< ""':l ::l ""' .0 Ii) ~ Kawasaki • KX250 • The production model is better than the works bike. Photos by Art Fr iedman & John Ulrich The final Or iental irony in rno torcycling is upon us and, adding to the irony, it is a very , very pleasant su rprise. The works bike was goo d, bu t the p ro to typ e was better, and the produ ction mach ine is still better than th e p ro to ty pe. Sounds unreal? Yeah, but it 's true. .. ... The prod uction Kawasaki KX25 0 motocr oss bi ke is m o re toge ther, be tte r tho ugh t out, and easi er an d q uicker to ride Ihan any o f the R&D models that preceded it . As a matter of fact, it may be the best competition dirt bike ever to com e o u t of Japan. This ap p lies fo r 99 % o f the guys o u t on tracks today. So unds hard to believe after the Honda Elsinore and Yam aha YZ 250 's but the Kaw see ms mor e solid, more ridea ble, and easier to main tain than either of the other brands. It's a damn sh am e fo r Kaw asaki th a t the rel ease o f their mo to cross machines coincides with something called th e "energy cr unch" th at has kind of d etuned people about any form of spo rt that requires petroleum fuels. After all the work that Kawasaki R&D put into getting these th ings ready fo r the North American market, they now face a matter of both ra cer image an d limited sup plies of new 250 motocrossers. Bu t this in no way detracts fro m the machine itself. It is so right for so many dirt racers th at it may well be a raging suc cess in spite o f th e current econ om ic and cultural climate. The KX2 50 doesn ' t look pre t ty unle ss you apprecia te th e stark, fun ction al const ru ction of a no-nonsense works based mo to cross machine. It doesn't have mu ch ap peal unless you like a mo tocross bik e th at is torquey, fast, reli able, go od-handling and has a suggested retail price of $11 50. It d oesn't have much history unless yo u're aware of the fact tha t J im Wein ert rode his 25 0 to at least two National Mo tocross win s, Pet er Lamppu has done equ ally we ll, and Torlief Hansen leaped to fourth in 250 World Motocross Championship st andings in only four Grands Prix o n his new KX2 50. Admittedly, the GP bike had the long travel suspension but, as knowledgeable riders are aware, th at was a matter of personal pre ference, aile Pedersson ran his GP bike " stock " (if any works MXer can be consi dered th a t). The machine has been prove n in com pe ti ti o n poss ibl y more th an any other new 250 motocrosser to be offere d to the publ ic. The race breeding has paid off and the pri ce is incr ed ibl y low fo r a ma ch ine lik e this one. The fla t b lack engi ne prod uces ho rsepow er and torque in mo re useable , co m pe titive quantities than any mo tor in the curren t crop. It is reminiscen t o f the olde r OSSA Stilettos in torquiness and width of powerb and, and much like a well -t uned CZ in putting power to the ground. T he lo w R PM torque and the acceleration o n up in the po wer band are more noticeable than even o n Kaw asak i's 45 0 , probably because you know that only 246cc di sp lacemen t are d oing all th is. The engi ne's o nly d rawback, and it h ad nothin g to d o wi th its performan ce , is th a t it was difficult and aw kward to start. It always required th ree o r four kicks and t he kickstarter banged against the do wnp ipe, ju st like every o ther J apanese works mo tocrosser in th e wo rld . T he kickstarter also ru bs th e leg n o ticeabl y and, whe n you're up on the peg s, p okes the ins id e back of your boot. California Kaw asaki, wh o made the 25 0 availab le , had left th e bike stone st o ck : j ett ing con trol po s ition , everything. You co u ld probably rota te the kick st arter a bit on th e sha ft , bend it to be relieved o f this an noyance. The m ot or would also have a better chance o f lighting o n the first boot if t he ride r had a clean shot at the kick st art er , But that motor is incredibl y fin e when it's runnin g , w hic h was virtually the en tire ti me we ha d it except fo r taking the sti ll ph ot os. It wan ts to pull from the bottom o f the pow er b and in each gea r to get m ax imum tr actio n and forward speed. The revs a re transferred to t he terrain through a rear end that is an abs olute delight. It hooks up very qui ckly through a new de sign 4 .60 Dunlop Senior Sport, the best tire ever 10 come o n a Japanese dirt bike. an d the bike star ts to go ex actl y where it is p ointed. No wheelspin if you don't dial it o n and no fishtailing. T he Kayab a ha m merhead shocks hold th e tire to the ground and th e frame gives no sign o f twitch ing o r jerkin g. It just goes. Movin g ou t, yo u keep sh ifting to ge t spe ed. It wan ts to be upshift ed even o n hills. You fin d yourself using fo urth in stea d of third, thi rd in stead of seco nd , and you're wast ing a lot less time . Every gea r in t he faultless shifting long throw gearbox is useable fo r the bike's intended purpose: motocross. The stock l 3TCjS sprocket, 48T rear sprocket seem well matched to th e intern al ratios and availa ble power. The KX2 50 is an easy bike to ride .