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/127693
1995 Kawasaki KX250 By Chris Jonnum Photos by Kit Palmer Ost companies would be ic to have Kawasaki's " mance record this yea green team was impressive on th National MX circuit, winning n than 10 of a possible 12 rounds. Not that, but the '94 KX250 fared quite wen it! the motorcycle pre ss shootouts, earning "best suspension" honors in almost every case. But wa s Kawasaki satisfied? Not even. The company won't rest until they reclaim the Supercross title, a crown they haven't held since 1987. Admittedly, the ' 94 indoor seas on was nothing to be ashamed of. Though Team Honda /l 800-COLLECT 's Jeremy McGrath once again dominated th e series, KXs won four of 15 rounds and took the second and third positions in the final point s tand ings. Still, we 'd be willing to bet that Kawasaki would trade their outdoor title and their runner-up supercross finish for next year's indoor championship , and their '95 KX250 reflects this fact. This bike screams supercross. Last year, Kawasak i gave the KX a qu icker handling chassis, more suited for the tight confines of a stadium than their sta ble '93 machine. This yea r, the engineers' primary goal was to give the bike a motor to match. Few people complained abou t the '94 mill, but the '95 is clearly more supercross oriented. Supercross riders demand instant throttle response and a health y midrange, provid ing them the gru nt they need for launching over long triples and such. Top end is not a vital concern, as these riders spend the bulk of their time in the bottom and middle portions of the powerband. Kawasaki engineers wanted to move the bike's hit lower in the rev range, and they were serious about achieving their goal. So serious that they built a new crankcase, moving the reed valves closer to the crankshaft and raising the compression ratio. They also beefed up the case around"the swingarm pivot area, to better deal with the stresses of landing from sky-shot jumps. The Kawasaki integrated Power valve System (KlPS) now features 6mm-smaller sub-exhaust port valves .Also, the main exhaust port slide valve is thicker, lowering the port at low speeds, shortening the port timing and boo sting the compression ratio . Th e power valve is redesigned to open over a very narrow rpm ran ge, and the governor is larger and mad e from a stronger material. The crank is larger , the combu stion chamber has more squish area, the ignition timing map is all-new and a new ignition coil sup plies a longer duration spa rk. Also, the expa nsion cha mber is longer by l00mm. Kawasaki' s effo rts to achi eve mor e low-rpm boost are obvious from the first ride on the bike. The KX hits hard as it makes the transition from bottom end to midrange, then stays strong until the top end . Once up there, the pow erband flatte ns o u t not iceabl y. Th e Kawasaki ' s motor work s best on tight tracks, especially when there is an abundance 'of traction . That's because top-end power is a bit lacking for a faster track, and the hit down low can be a little hard to control on a slippery surface. That being said, we must add that the KX can be made to work on hard-packed courses as well. You just have to get used to dealing with the hit, usually by riding a gear higher than would at first seem normal. And M ~ 0'1 0'1 ,....... \0' ,....... .... Q) E Q) :> o Z 26 once you're past the hit , power builds predictably and controllably until flattening out in the upper confines. Overall, we'd have to say we were very pleased with the changes to the motor on the new KX, especially after we raised the needle clip one notch to lean out the midrange slightly. If Kawasaki had left the suspension completely alone, they probably would have still remained at or near the top of the class in that department. But for