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/128629
2001 Kawasaki KX250 Well , that chan ce recently ca me, a nd now we know - first hand - just why the Kawasaki guys were smiling. Earth-shattering changes or not, this bike really is improved. The KX250 's best selling po int is its motor. O ve r the years , th e bik e has been known for it s ha rd -hitting and exp losi ve motor, wh ich pleased the Pros but intimi da ted the novice s . In recent ye a rs , however, wh ile tryi ng to find a happ y m edium , Ka wa s a k i ma yb e went a little too s oft with the KX's moto r, and it' s no w try ing t o rega in some of th a t e xplo s ive ne s s witho ut goi ng too fa r. It's a delica te b al a n c e , but th is yea r's m o to r ju st migh t be t ha t p erfe c t m ed iu m tha t th e y've been looking for. S om ehow, Ka wa s aki m a nag ed to get m uc h of that ha rd hit ba c k witho u t s ac rific in g much in th e way o f co ntro lla bility . From th e mome nt you o pe n up th e KX ' s th r ottl e to t h e m om ent yo u d e c ide it ' s tim e to g et o n th e bra k e s , t he Ka wi just keeps pu lling a nd pu lling , a nd doe s so in a s moot h a nd pr e d ictab le man ne r: It ha s decent over- rev , too, which kept ou r Expert- skill test rider plenty con te nt. He felt th at the KX ha d a good , stro ng hit, e na bling him to clear s pa- STOR Y A N D PHOTOS BY KIT P ALME R h e n Kawasaki introduced its new ' 01 KX250 t o us last month , we could not help but s uspect that the company reps were holding something back - not tell ing us someth ing . After all , Kawasak i d id not make what we would call earth shattering changes t o th e KX250 , but inst e ad w ent th e le ss - th anthrilling ref i n em en t rou te. So one would 'nt have thoug ht that they'd be so , well .. .smug. Perhaps it' s because th e y had alr e ady ridd en the bike a nd kn ew. Th e y a lready kne w that th e num ber of small ch a ng es th at were m ade to th e KX250 's cyli n der, the KIPS p o wer -valv e , the e x ha us t syste m , the KTR IC ignit ion and th e Kei h in PWK 38S car b ure t o r s ig nifica ntly e n ha n ce d th e KX's al rea d y -p o te nt m o tor. Th e y al so k n e w th at th e s hock' s stiffer s pring ra te , com bine d with t he fork s' new damp in g se tti ngs, improv ed th e KX's rid e o ve r rough g ro u nd . And t h e y k new that we would b e h a ppy wit h t h e ir ne w KX2 50 once we got the chance to ride it. W 38 S EPTEM BER 6 , 2 0 00 ' cue I e n e vv s cious doub les with sho rt approa ch runs. Overall, he thought the KX had a good, strong and usa ble motor. Ou r Novice-skilled riders pretty much felt the sam e way , saying the KX had a b ro a d pow er band and a good -enough hit to ke ep things ex cit ing , but no t s o mu ch that it made it difficu lt to ride th e b ike . J u s t for k icks, we e xperimented with different ge a ring on the KX. With p le nty of power o n tap, we tr ied wha t was equiva lent to a to oth -and -a -ha lf s ma lle r spro c k et o n th e re a r, but everyone a greed th at th is was just a little too m uch g e aring fo r a KX o n the track (tho ug h it probably wo uldn 't be bad for tra il ridi ng) . Th en we we nt in the o pposite d irec tion a nd tried a one-tooth la rg e r (49T) s p rocket on the ba c k , whic h seemed to g ive th e KX a b it m ore s na p out of th e turns wh ile no t harmi ng to p speed a t th e ends of th e stra ights too mu ch. Ov er all , we ca n go with e ither the 4 8T o r 4 9T sp rocket , bu t o ur E xp ert rid er sa id he p referred the stock ge a ring . Kawas a k i mad e s om e mi nor cha nges to th e KX's tra ns m ission to make it shift a little easier , a nd those c ha nges seem to work . Missed s hifts just did not ha ppen o n o ur KX250 . Many small changes made big differences to the 2001 Kawasaki KX250. We defi nitely approve of th e stiffer shock spr ing in th e back, mainly because it gives the KX a more bal anced feel. There is far less rear-e nd squat when throttl ing out of the turns, wh ich in turn allow s th e shock to better soa k up th e s m a ller a cceleration bumps. Even in th e c orn er s , th e KX sta ys m or e le v el , wh ich s im p ly m a kes the b ike fe e l better. The stiff spring , ho we ver, is n 't a c u re -a ll. T h e KX s t ill is n ' t the best tu rner on the bloc k, as it still has the tendency to ris e up and pop out of rut s whil e be in g ra iled th rou gh th e corn e rs . S ett ing u p a nd getting into the t u rns s moothly isn 't a problem , bu t finis h ing off th e t urn is . A littl e m or e m u sc le an d inc rease d co nsc io us effo rt , th ough , a nd th e problem d isappea rs , but it will come back as s oon as fat igu e sets in, o r wh en co nce n t r atio n t ak e s a s h o rt b ut untimel y br e a k . If t here 's a n ic e , loamy berm a round . go for it. Th e KX lo ves to be b urie d into the soft d irt a nd p ivot ed m ore tha n it does trying to stay in a rut.