Kawasaki Kx250f

Kawasaki KX250F

.04newrides

The Green Version

CROWDED. THAT’S WHAT THE 125CC MOTOCROSS CLASS has just become. Now that everybody has a 125cc two-stroke and a 250cc four-stroke, there are no fewer than eight bikes vying for supremacy in the lightweight class—and that’s just from the Japanese manufacturers. Four-strokes have arrived, and the mini-Thumpers (which really isn’t the right name, because the last thing these bikes do is “thump”) are the hottest things at the track.

For 2004, Kawasaki struck first with its introduction of the KX250F, the first competition model jointly designed with alliance partner Suzuki, beating the identical yellow version just in time to meet our deadline.

No doubt you’ve seen the tech previews in previous issues, so onto the “How’s she work?” stage. Great, we say! So good, in fact, that after our one-day riding impression at southern California’s Cahuilla Creek MX Park, the only thing our testers had to say was that they hadn’t had this much

fun since they first rode the bike that started the category, the Yamaha YZ250F. If it hadn’t been for that, they’d have been beside themselves. Buzzkill, that blue bike! In Kawasaki’s press materials, a green line on a circular performance-analysis graph represented the KX250F, while a blue line represented the “competition’-namely the YZ250F. In terms of power, engine braking and vibration, the green line showed slight advantages over the blue. But

in weight, engine character, handling, starting and styling, there were significant improvements. A tough order, for sure, since the Yamaha excels in all of these areas.

We’ll have to ride the two bikes back-to-back to make the final call, but our initial impression is that the Kawasaki is right on target. It’s an easy starter-though no more so than the Yamaha-even if it’s sensitive to fuel screw and idle settings. And the ignition mapping-hyped as a sort of anticompression-braking device by raising the idle speed through advanced ignition timing once the bike is in gear-is more of a way to get the bike to idle when it isn’t in gear.

Handling is phenomenal. The KX-F, plain and simple, goes exactly where you put it and handles better than any Kawasaki we can remember. And it gets better the harder you ride it-the trademark character of a light-feeling bike. More than one tester commented that it responded better the more throttle you gave it-even going into turns! Engine braking, therefore, wasn’t much of an issue; really, there isn’t that much. If you want less, just turn up the idle!

The suspension, with its new shock linkage, is also exceptional. Like past KYB-equipped Kawasakis, it has a very progressive nature and doesn’t bottom, even under the repeated thrashing of CW tester “Big Air” Tod Sciaqua trying to live up to his nickname over Cahuilla Creek’s launcher downhill jump.

Power is a big area of concern in the lightweight class, and no doubt the KX-F is competitive. How competitive will have to await another day, but the engine’s character emphasizes top-end, just as you’d expect from a small-bore. It seems more linear than the Yamaha, but not as meaty on the bottom and mid, maybe with a bit more on top. We’ll ride the red one and the yellow one, bang some bars, and get back to you on the flipside. -Jimmy Lewis