2018 250CC DUAL-SPORT SHOOTOUT
SHOOTOUT
P122
The 2018 KLX250, which
sells for $5349, took on a few
other minor changes besides
FI. Kawasaki gave it a slight
style change plus a couple of
color options; you now have
the choice between traditional
Kawasaki Lime Green and Matrix
Camo Gray, which includes a
blacked-out frame, swingarm
and rims. You'll pay $200 more
for the Camo version.
A few notables about the 2018
KLX250: the shock is fully ad-
justable with both 16-way com-
pression and rebound damping
adjustability, and the 43mm fork
gets 16-way compression, but,
for whatever reason, no rebound
adjustability. It also has petal-
style disc brakes, generous 11.2
inches of ground clearance,
sturdy engine guards, a large and
informative meter and a claimed
ready-to-ride weight of 298
pounds.
>>TIME TO RIDE
All three of these bikes are fun,
simple and easy to ride, and for
these reasons alone, are ideal
options for the entry-level rider
for both street and dirt bike rid-
ing. Of the three, however, the
Yamaha takes it one step farther
for also being a fully capable
off-road motorcycle for the more
experienced rider. The number-
one reason for this is its suspen-
sion. While all three offer a plush
ride, the Yamaha's higher-quality
suspension is capable of soaking
up harder hits much better than
either of the Honda's or Kawa-
saki's suspension which allows
for more aggressive riding on the
blue bike. It takes lot more to get
the Yamaha's suspension to bot-
tom out compared to the Honda's
or Kawasaki's. The Yamaha's fork
and shock also just dampens
and feels better than the Honda's
and Kawasaki's, and overall, the
Yamaha has a better and more
compliant ride both on and off
the pavement than the other two.
Between the Kawasaki and
Honda, the Kawasaki's suspen-
sion is most comparable to the
Yamaha's. The KLX's suspension
