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/127174
A 19-inch rear tire is fitted to the KX125 wh ich helps it to hook up better. The new seat foam doesn't break down like last year 's did. . There is plenty of power for getting good drives out of the corners or for tra il riding, once again making the KX a good all-around performer. I on a motocrosser. After a ride or two it broke down , making the seat way too soft. T his year Kawasa ki replaced the foam with sti ffer mat erial, and even after severa l rides it 's still firm a nd comfortab le; T he rea r of th e seat is also flush wi th the rear fender, so hanging off over the back end is simple. Climbing aboa rd the Ka wasak i for th e first ti me is a little stra nge it' s big and wid e com pared to most o ther rriot ocrossers, La rger rid ers will feel rig h t a t home on th e KX, but it isn 't so big that sma ller ride rs will feel un comfortabl e. O nce th e Kawasa ki is ' ro lli ng, the largen ess q uickly goes away. A careful kick is requ ired in order to get the engine go ing. T he kickstarter comes down just below the footpeg and lea ves just enough room to cat ch a fool. T hankfu lly th e Kawasa ki is easy to sta rt. Only a few, so meti mes o n ly o ne, kicks a re req ui red whe n co ld , a nd it will almost alway fire on the first kick wh en warm if you get a good stro ke. The KXI25 ta kes some revs before it rea lly wan ts to get up a nd go. Ignition timing is controlled by a new digital COl"unit. There is some low -en d power, but it isn' t until the revs rise into th e midrange th at th e engine begin s to pull with any authority. O nce th e midrange is reac hed, there is a good surge of power th at lasts all the way th rough th e top end. There isn' t a stro ng hit, but rat her a smoo th , steady pull. Since th ere isn't a who le lot of low end power, th e clutch gets a lot of use, especi ally exiting corners, Using the clutch is easy, though , a nd one fin ger is all th a t's needed. Cl utch ac tio n is good a nd there is no g ra bbi ness, bu t aft er p ro lo nged heavy use, such as a difficu lt tra il ride, it tends to hea t up a nd begin to feel m ushy. Sh ift ing th e Kawasa ki was a li ttle diffi cult a t first, but afte r some time the tra nnv seemed to brea k in and shifti ng became a cinch. Each gear is easy to find a nd missed shifts are rare. Overall handl in g on the KX is excellent . It can q ui ckly cut to th e in side of turns o r just as easi ly ra il an ou tside berm. There's a trace of headshak e when backing off th e t hro tt le a t th e e n d o f cho p py straig h ts, but it's only eno ug h sha ke to mak e th e rid er take no tice a nd nothing frightening. The Kawasak i is not o nly stable on the ground, but a lso in credib ly sta ble in th e air. It can eas ily be fli cked aro und in flight a nd brought back upright quickl y wi tho u t ge ttin g o ut of control. Its stability in the air gives you much more confiden ce wh en a tte mp ting mid-flig h t, stylish maneuv ers. And landing from any a ttem p ted sky-shots isn 't much of a problem eithe r thanks to the good suspension. Bot h ends easi ly soak u p the big land in gs bu t also remain respons ive to smaller bumps as well. Once we got the for ks and rear sho ck dialed in, the Kawasaki often felt li ke it was floating over the bumps. T he switch to a du al -pi ston front brake cal iper gives th e KXI 25 one of the stro nges t brakes around. One finger will easi ly bring it to a halt, so easily tha t some riders may feel it's a bit too stro ng. T he rear brake is a lso j ust as stro ng and a little tou ch y so that th e rear wh eel is easily locked. Rider co mfor t is a lso top-notch , T he new sea t foam is cu sh y, but not so soft that th e ri der sinks into it like o n last year's soft sea t. Kawasaki has some of the best stoc k grips around. They're just a little bit so fter th an most o ther grips and didn 't gi ve our testers a ny bli sters or add to previous hand callo uses. Basic maintenance is bo th a dream and a nightmare. Kawasak i has one of the best and foolproof air filt er arrange men ts around. T he sea ling edge of the filt er fits into a .raised plastic cu p , ins uri ng pro per alignment and making th e center screw easy to lin e up. Cha in adjus tmen t can be a ni ghtmare, th ough. Actua l adj us tment is easy using the push-style bolt ad j uster, but just ge tti ng to that stage can be tric ky. Two wrenc hes a re requ ired to loose n the axl e, and th e really di fficu lt part comes wh en it's time to loosen or tighten the adj uster lock - nut. Our test uni t's adjusters weren't centered in th e swinga rm, making it very diffi cult to get a 12mm ope n end wrench onto the lock nuts. Kawasaki's KXI 25 is o ne serious mo tocr osser. Except for cha in adj ustment it 's hard to find a ny flaw s with the Kawa saki sin ce it does everyth ing so well. Wh il e it 's no doubt a serio us motocrosser, it can a lso make a good a ll-around pl ay bik e. The power is smooth , pl entiful a nd predi ctable, a nd it has excellent handling. But for those who are serious abo u t racing, so is Kaw asak i. Privateer pro and amateur racers ridi ng Kawasaki KXI25s ar e eligi ble for either cash or T eam Green Bucks, whi ch are redeemable at Kawasaki dealers for Kawasak i parts a nd accessor ies. Pros can earn as much as $1000 for a Su percross Series main event win, a nd fir st overa ll in a 125cc Nati onal will earn $1200. Ama teurs can earn as much as $300 in T eam G reen Bucks for a win a t th e AMA Amateur Nationals, wh ile wins a t a nyone of a number of o ther major amateur even ts pay $ 100-$ 125. Since Kawasak i's KXI2 5 has the pow er and handling to pu t j ust abo ut anyo ne th e winner's circle, riding one in '89 co uld very wellline your pockets with gree n. • m