Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Stock, the rear end sticks way up in the air. The KX can be a handful in sand. Front disc works OK. " Impression: 1983 Kawasaki K X 250-C1 Fresh mean for Team Green By Karel Kramer Photos by David Edwards and Kramer Despite offering competent motocrossers an d criticall y acclaimed enduro mach in es fo r the last few years, Ka wasaki m otocros s model "tests inevitably begin with someth ing like, "T h KX2-0' . bik hi e :J IS a nicer let IS year. but..." Kawasaki has been earnest about era sing that "but. " After scratching their 22 corporat e heads. Kaw asaki realized that. with th e exce p tio n o f a total engine redesign th at would a llow a footpeg pl acement other th an th e o ne that put the blackest ink in the " bu t" la st yea r. th ey co u ld remedy m ost o f the problem s. We wonder , did th ey do thi s yea r's red esign , take a close look at wh at they had crea ted a nd sigh wh en th ey realized th ey had erased art of th e "but." th en black' t ~ d ker? ened I In ar r. Kawasaki's new Pres rone-pumping 250 is a great bik e, but _ there it is again _ not for everyone. We qualify our statement this year because th e 250 is a very serious motocross weapon. not because of weakness as in the ast, Our complaints in fact. : are tmiled to th e footpeg pl acem ent a nd a gra bby clutch. Also , a s delivered. th e KX is not set u p in a n easi lyridea ble co ndi tio n. Last year th e KX h ad razor- sh ar p stee ring; this year it stee rs qu ick er. A bea u ti fu lly plu ~h rear suspension repl ~ces last yea r s harsh o ne, a ~d a n adj us ta ble fro.nt fork. o!,ce. di al ed. co m p leme nts It . :'0 go wit h. It S sta teo f-the-art suspenslOn~ th e KX frame cradles themost'powelfuI 25(kcmot~cro ss mot ,?ravail ab le acro~s a deal er s f1 C?0r. A giant eco IH;>my,slze burst of nlld -ran!?e and a ni ce top-end ru sh let s th e KX gen :rat e th e mo st horsep ow er ~ stock 2:>Occ rnorocrosser has ev:r twi sted t~ro~!!:h a cou nters ha~t. fh e co m bina tion o f th ese traits I d if if eq ua s goo I y~lU ar c; I you a rc o u t of sh.a pe, yo u lnl ?ht as well l,eave the KX !n your g~ rage o n r~ce day. A NOVICe ~a n rid e a nd Win on ! he Ka~asa.k.I , but .not a flabby . NOVI ce. Thl~ ~Ike rew ards aggressron a.nd precl~IO~. If you have those traits. - this bik e will Win for you. What's she got? Nobody will ever set th eir KX somewh ere and not be a ble 10 find it. A heav y ga u ge gree n pl astic shrouds much of the bike in a wa y that m ost peopl e found attractiv e, or at least striking. If th ere were co m p la ints, th ey were centered aro u n d th e rear fender /number plate co m bo. W e fo un d th e KX ver y att ractive. The pl ast ic is well-mad e a nd durable; it a lso cleans up easi ly and ages gracefull y, as th e wh ol e bike has. Un de r th e pl asti c is a new single do wn-tube frame with th e stee ring h ead pulled in to 28.5 degrees. Th e rear su bfra me is co nstructed to sui t the new single-s tr ut U n i-T ra k linkage a nd shock. The linkage attach es to a ni cel y welded, go ld-anodi zed swinga rm th at mat ches the gold o f th e rim s a n d shock stru t. Creen an d go ld co me across as classy o n th e KX. Di sc brak es ha ve o n ly been o n Kaw a saki m otocros s machines for a yea r, but th e fron i d isc looks norma l, a nd surprising ly, it works well o n ly well. The lever pulls a ll th e wa y to th e rid er 's fin gers without locking th e wh eel. Lever trav el seems directl y proporti on al to sto p p i n g p ow er . which is ni ce, yet drum brak es that don 't have th e dis c' s co nt ro l actually sto p faster. We bent th e lever away from th e bar s to allow us to use all the p ower available a nd still keep a co u- pI e of fin ge rs o n the grip. The rear br ak e is much like last yea r's KX, bUI h as a bett er sp roc ket-m o u nt ing system to prevent th e loo sening problem s of la st yea r. We received o u r bik e brok en in and never tighten ed a spoke: in fact. th e o n ly maintenance required wa s th e norm al lube cha nges a n d a ir filter cle aning , which was accompli sh ed eas ily through a sta nda rd-fare, side-entrance a irbox . We also cha nged one sp ark plug. A so ft. co m fo rta ble sea t cus h io ns th e rider a nd good grips a nd levers wait within easy reach. On ly th e gearsh ift lever required a ny sea rc h ing for, a nd then on ly until we were accustomed to its tucked-in posit ion. Du a l radiators carry the engine coo lant below and in front of the fuel tank , a la Honda, making necessary a vented fro nt n u m ber plate that is virtuall y worthless to affix ordinary sticky vinyl numbers to . T hat number plate rests on a 43mmtubed. o il-damped Ka yaba telescopic! for k. Front suspension travel is 11.8 1 inches and is adjustable for compression damping and air pressure. We used n o a i r. Rear suspension travel is 12.0I inches with pre load and rebound damping adjustable on the Kayaba shock. Optional sp rings are also available. As delivered, th e su spension is not ba lanced front to rear. but we were able to adjust it to near-perfection for our riders for th e price of a fork oi l cha nge. Other niceties incl ud ed good stoc k tires by Dunlop a nd a n a lu mi n um si len cer th at is rebu ilda ble. Oh veah, the stickers stayed o n th e fuel tarik for quite a wh ile , The ca rb u re tor jetting was pe rfect as deli vered . What' ll she do , mist er? When th e KX was unl oaded for o ur cur io us perusu a l, ' it sa t like a giant green bu g wit h its tail in th e ai r and th e front end relativelv lo w. Init ial ridin g impressi ons showed rocket pow er, cro nic fron t-en d d ive into corne rs and a rear suspensi o n th a t kicked on square-edged holes. For: tu na tely .rhe KX began 10 ope n its eyes in th e Ca lifornia desert . a nd 80 miles of g narly whoops la ter. th e rea r end felt grea t. ,O u t o f th e desert and in to th e garage we went with the KX. We low ered th e fork tubes in th e tripl e clamps until th e fork ca ps were inside th e clam p s. After drainin g th e stoc k oi l, 10 weight oi l went ba ck in th e tubes with th e level ra ised to si x in ch es from th e top. That may be too much for man y people a s our primary tester weighs around 200 pounds with riding gear, however , lighter riders had no com plaints after th e changes. With those cha nges and a liule cooperalion from th e weather that had forced us into th e desert in th e fir st place. we headed for th e track . With th e fork leg s slid down , a healthy swi ng is required to get a leg ove r th e bike. First gea r is engaged eas ily, bur th e bik e sh rieks a nd howls as th e rider tri es to move away from a sto p. The clutch resembles a sh ift lever more than a clu tch , In o r o u t are th e onl y o p tio ns . For motocross sta rts or fast riding the clutch is fin e, but no en duros pl ease. In its def ense, we m ad e about 20 run s in a row up an eno rmous sand hill. Brutaliring th e clu tch was a necessity it endured without wh imper. ditto the eng ine. Other 250s and a fast 125cc we had a lo ng did n't even co rne close to topping the hill, but th e KX went over four times. At th e tra ck, we dropped th e clu tch a nd ch urned away for, hopefully , a n ew rid ing impressi on . Acceleration o n any su rface is impressive - scary under some maximum traction situa tions. Bod y position is critica l as the new single-strut Uni -Track is extremely effective at getting th e bursts to th e ground.

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