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By STAFF
OF CYCLE NEWS
PHOTOS CO URTESY OF KAWASAKI
robably the biggest news coming
out of Kawasak i is what's no!
coming ou t of Kawasa ki for
2005. At least for now. Kawasaki
te lls us that the much-anticipated
KX450F will not be rolling off the assembly
line anytime this year, but the company will
instead sta nd by its o riginal schedule of
releasing the big four-stro ke some time in
2005 as a 2006 model. So it looks as though
we'll have to wait a little lo nger for the
450cc KX thumpe r. even though the prototype is being raced inJapan.
Meanwhile, t his co uld be good news fo r
Kawasa ki two- st ro ke fans. In order to stay
competitive in t he 250/45Occ class for '05,
the KX250 got most of the att entio n, and
Kawasaki claims it to ok on a co mplete
overh aul for 2005 . You can expect a mor e
powerful, lighte r and bette r-handling
KX250 whe n it hits showroom floo rs late r
this year.
The KX125, on the other hand . didn't
quite get the same treatment, but it did
receive several refine me nts, as did the second-y ear KX250F.
Rather tha n making big changes to the
250cc four-stroke, Kawasaki instead tidied
up w hatever loose en ds the first KX250F
might've had. such as impro ving engine
coo ling(large r radiators) and strengthening
P
the t ransmission.
KX250F
56
JULY 7, 2004 • CYCLE NEWS
It appears that Kawasaki w ill not continue producing the venerable KX5oo.
No ne of Kawasaki' s "little " KXs - KX65.
KX85 and KXI00 - took o n any significant
changes for 2005 .
eN
40th Anniversary
