Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

edge, th e average rider probab ly wo n't be a b le to utili ze a ll th e benefits o f th e perimeter frame. Ou r run-of -the- mill Intermedia te-l evel tester who rode th e new KX co u ldn' t. H o wever , the re was one insta nce where the rigidity of th e frame a nd t he suspension's action shi ned. There is this one jump with a turn a t the approach on our test track that conti n uous ly ki cked the bik e sideways in the air. There was no need to back off tho ug h , as upon each and every landing, with the back wheel pi tched to the side, the bike quick ly straighe ned out with no swaps. Excep t for that one instance, there was no rea l apparent difference th a t we could feel. The KX I 25 does handle quite nicely though. The rear suspension works extremely weI I a nd keeps the bike tracki ng s traight through the rough , whooped-out straights, whi le th e the steep steer ing angle makes the Kawasaki tu rn very q u ickly. The o n ly drawback to h avin g a steep steering a ngle for quick cor- There is plenty of m idrange and top-end power to send the front wheel skyward. although low-end power is a little weak. Carburetor ' and motor access is excellent due to the tank shape. nering is tha t yo u lose some hi ghspeed stab il ity o n th e straigh ts. Th is is exactIy the case wi th the KX I25 as it tended to shake its head often, especia lly when back in g o ff th e th rottl e i n c ho p py si tuatio ns. Although the shake w.as n ot iceable, it was easily co ntrolled and didn 't demand too much of th e rider's a ttention . Wh ile every body else was introducin g inv erted forks and then having to so rt o u t damping problem s wit h th em la st yea r, Kawas ak i sh ine d with th eir co n ventio na l forks. T his yea r the inverted fork grem lins seem to have been so rted o u t and Kaw asak i obviously did th e ri ght thing waiting a yea r until th eir R &D department had the Kayaba forks worki ng correctly . T he KXI 25's u pside-down fo rks work very we ll. They soak u p the big la nd ings w ith ease while still remaining resonsive to the sma ller bumps. We fo u nd them a li ttl e stiff at the stock settings, but backing off the compression damping a few clicks made them feel just fine. Like all o ther inverted front ends, i t quickly goes where it's pointed due to th e rigidity. Last year's KX l 25 had a deceivingly fast motor. lt didn't have a burst of power anywhere to make it feel fast, but th e po wer transi tion was so smooth that you co uld go fas ter o n it because it required less effort. Bu t th at was la st year. T he 1990 mo tor h as a defini te burst of power, a nd it s tarts in the m id range a nd keeps p u lli ng all th e wa y th rough th e top-end until it h i ts the rev limiter. There isn' t much lo w-end power, so th e KX must be kept o n th e gas for th e best results. There isn't much o f a transi tion fro m th e weak low-end to th e p otent m idrange, so it 's easy to break th e rear wheel loo se in tricky sit ua tio ns such as loose hi llclimbs. It 's easy to bring th e revs u p into the meat of th e power ba n d with the smooth acti on of . the cl utch. Very little effo rt is requi red to pull the lever and there is no grabbiness. Since we o nly had the bik e fo r a short time, we tried abusing the clutch to expose any fau lts, but none were to be found. Even wh en hot, there was still no grabbiness or slip p age. Shifting was al so smooth, with o r without th e cl u tch. At h igher rprns, cl utch less sh ifts are a little m ore difficu lt and require a sligh t reduction o n th e thrott le. Bo th fro nt a nd rea r brakes provide exce lle nt stopping power, a lt hough the front brake has a bit of a spongy feel to it . We had the front brake bl ed wh ich gave it better feel, but there _ was sti ll too much play in the lever for our li king. This didn't hamper front brake performance though, as it still brought the KX to a halt in a hurry. The wider footpegs feel almost like floo r boards, but it's a co m fo rta ble feeling. The whole layout is comfortable and a llows the rider to easily move about on th e bike. Wrap up Sometimes all-new isn't always all -good, but that's not the case wit h the KX125. Except for a little headshake, the Kawasaki h a s su perb ha ndli ng and excellent suspens io n . Add a mo tor th at works equa lly as well , a n d Kawa sak i has a nother KXI 25 tha t's sure to take many riders to the winner's circle. As an added incentive fo r Kawasaki riders to get those victories, Ka wasaki is posting more than $1. 1 millio n i n co ntingency m o n ey. Several maj o r races a nd series are covered i n the co nt ingency p rogram , with amateurs paid up to $300 in Team G reen Bucks, redeemab le at participati ng Ka wasa ki dealers, a nd pros eligible for up to 5000 for a supercross win. _ 0") 00 0") ..... ..... iJ.) s: a iJ.) ;> o Z (Left) Kawasaki f ina ll y f itted t he KX125 w ith an upside -d ow n fork. and it works well . (Ri ght) The seat/tank j un ction is considerably slim mer. Wider footpegs give your boots plenty of area to stand on. A new floating type clutch is concealed underneath the removable cover. Kawasaki KX125 Eng ine type Liquid-cooled . two-stroke. single Bore x stroke 56x50.6mm Displacement 124cc Compression ratio 7 .8 /8 .5:1 Ca rburetor 35mm Keihin Horsepower N/ A Torque N/A Starting system Primary kick Ignition _. COl Lubrication Premix Primary dr ive Straight-cut gear Final dr ive __ #520 chain Frame Semi double cradle pe rimeter Rake 25.5° Tra il ~ 4 .3 in. Front suspension Kayaba inverted cartridge fork Fork tube diameter 41 mm Front wheel travel Rear suspension 12.2 in. Kayaba single shock Rear wheel travel _ 1 3 .0 in. Front brakes Disc Rear brakes Disc Front tire 80/100-21 Bridges tone M23 Rear tire1 00/90-19 Bridgestone M22 Cla imed dry wei g ht 1 90 .7 Ibs Overall length 84.1 in. Overall width 32.1 in. Overall height 47.8 in. Wheelbase 56.9 in. Fuel capacity 2 .2 gal. Ground clearance 15.6 in. Seat height 37.4 in. Colors Green Retail price $3249 17

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