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/127129
instantlv because it featured what end uro ' rid er s wanted : simpli cit y, light weigh t, exce lle nt sus pe ns io n, respectabl e power o ut of a n aircoo led engi ne a nd realiabi lity . It 's ready to zero checks right out of the crate. and its price tag is relatively inexp ensive at $2249. . Lik e previous models. the 1988 Kawasaki KDX200 is pretty much unchanged, and that's no surprise. However. it did receive a ca rbu reto r swap. Kawasaki trashed last year's 34mm Mi kuni ca rbu reto r for a more technologically advan ced 35mm Keihin carburetor with a cresce ntshaped slide. The higger carb uretor necessi tared th e en largement of the airbox intake d uet in order to boost needed extra air flow. T ha t's abou t a ll that has been ' cha nged in th e 198cc. 66.0 x 58.0m m bo re a nd stroke mot or, and even less has been a ltered in th e KDX 's chassis. O ne o f th e b iggest gr ipes we had with last year's KDX was its p last ic cha in gu ide. ,We broke 'em off more th an once . T he '88 KDX h as a n a lu m in um gua rd mounted to th e cha in guide w h ich hel ps el iminate th e p roblem . . However , th e mount th at th e gu ide is a ttached 10 is still a little weak an d . has th e tenden cy to ben d. In 1985 Kawa sak i o ffered th e KDX in trad iti onal Kaw asaki green, or red. The red model has lo ng si nce vanish ed, but, o nce aga in. the KDX is avai la b le in so me thing ot her th an gree n - w hi te. Th e new w hi te pl astic, blue sea t, green deca ls a nd silver-pa irued engine a nd frame co lor scheme is very appea ling. The gree n model has gree n p lastic and a green painted fra me with a silver motor. It loo ks good, too. The KDX sti ll comes stock with plastic ha nd guards (mo re firml y a ttached than o n last year's model), a monsterous U.S. Forest Servicea p proved spark arres ter /si lencer, a large 3.3·gallon gas tank, a rear fen der pack, Dunlo p tir es, a nd a p ro ven e lec tro nic odo meter a n d en d uro cloc k co mbo. B ut can it zero c hecks? Even though Ka wasak i made o nly o ne ch ange to th e mot or. the KDX performs nori cahl vben er. The new Keih in g ives th e KDX cr ispe r throttle response -and stro nge r punch in the middl e o f th e pow erband. Pow er off th e bottom and on top remain p rett y much th e same, bu t the KDX pulls m uch ha rder th rough the m id range. The KDX sh ifts reasona b ly well under pow er , but th e cl u tch sho u ld be used wh en cha nging gea rs. Un fortunat el y, th e clu tch isn 't , as stro ng as it sho u ld be. Wh en cl imb in g rocky The 1988 KDX200 is still one of the bel!t all ·aroun~ dirt bikes on t he market. . Test: '988 Kawasaki KDX200 Little change, big difference By Kit Palmer Photos by Ki nney Jones Some m otorcycles don't warrant many changes - th e Kawasaki KDX200 is one of them. Ever since i ts inception six years ago, the KDX2'OO ' hasn't undergon e any 24 drastic changes, pretty much justthe addition of an exhaust . power-valve, a front dISC brake and moderate styling altera- tions, T hroughou t its exis ten~e th e KDX. h as ch an ged little, yet it has rem ained o ne o f the m ost popular enduro bikes of all time. Th e KDX rose to p opularity --.. once again. now availab le in two colors - white and green .