2006 Kawasaki KLX250 Review

Dual sporters used to looking at the tried and true Kawasaki KLR650, recalling the dowdy KLR250 and the docile 250 Sherpa, the new KLX250 looks strikingly aggressive. Unlike its quiet quarter-liter ancestors, it is tall, lean, and painted in Kawasaki’s lime-green racing livery. It shouts its intentions from enormous radiator scoops facing forward like twin megaphones. From the upside-down forks, to the perimeter frame, the new Kawasaki sports many of the technical innovations of the company’s front-line motocross bikes currently having a banner year in Supercross racing.

Feeling intimidated? Don’t bother. With the possible exception of the seat height, this bike’s true character shouldn’t intimidate even the greenest of novices. Still not sure? Take a look at the tiny tailpipe poking out of the robust spark arrestor. If you find it hard to believe that a high-performance engine could breathe powerfully through a hole that small, you would be correct. Pull out the carburetor-mounted choke knob and press the starter button, and you’ll get another clue: this bike is no raucous thumper, but instead one of the quietest dual-sport motorcycles ever produced.

Put it in gear and ease out the clutch, and you’ll find that the KLX250 has a reassuringly low first gear, and plenty of flywheel making it difficult to stall. Open the throttle more and you’ll get gentle acceleration instead of the wheelies delivered by similar-looking motocross machines. Get the picture? This is a nerd in an Elvis costume, Dr. Jekyll instead of Mr. Hyde, Superman on Krypton. The KLX250 is a good old-fashioned trail bike dressed up for the starting gate at the Anaheim Supercross.

In fact, its roots are in a trial bike—the Kawasaki KLX300—an off-road only four-stroke machine that’s been around for ten years, and not surprisingly, started out life as a 250cc machine. Read a little further and you’ll find that the engine specifications of the KLX250 are virtually identical to the 300, with the exception of the cylinder bore. So the truth is the KLX250 really is a trail bike, one that’s been around for quite a while, but has never been let loose on the street, at least in the USA.

In the transition, the KLX gained full street gear including lights, turn signals, mirrors, passenger pegs, complete instruments with a tachometer, a battery to power the new electric starter-and about 30 pounds. And along with losing 50cc, it also lost 0.7 gallons of fuel capacity with just 1.9 gallons total. Fortunately, the KLX250 delivered between 60 and 70 miles per gallon on the road giving it 90 miles or more range before reserve.

On my first street ride, the KLX's engine was a disappointment. Its acceleration felt more like the humble Yamaha TW200 we recently tested than the bigger dual sports, such as the Suzuki DRZ400S that it resembles. I had been taken in by the KLX's aggressive styling. As I pitched it easily from corner to corner along the sinuous roads of the Santa Monica Mountains, the KLX was a breeze to ride, and provided another reminder of the benefits of a truly lightweight motorcycle. The engine sounded strained as I watched the tachometer needle slowly move toward the 10,000 rpm redline between each corner. This is no point­-and-shoot machine. Graceful lines and high cornering speeds are the only way to make time on the pavement.

To that end, the KLX's skinny 80/80-21 and 100/100-18 Dunlop tires do a remarkably good job, despite their large, open knobby tread. The Kawasaki can be leaned over almost as far as it might be on real street tires, although it exhibits an unnerving bit of falling-in tendency when cranked into a corner. That feeling is exacerbated by a slight hesitation in the KLX's throttle response just as it's cracked open when exiting a corner. This hesitation was more apparent when the air was cool. It appears the KLX suffers from the same lean carburetion that afflicts many new motorcycles whose manufacturers must meet strict emission standards without using catalytic converters.

Turn off the pavement and the KLX's breathlessness on the street turns the bike into a calm and capable companion on the trail. Bigger bikes often reward aggressive riding and punish timid maneuvers with stalls and tipovers. By contrast, the KLX is suppler, requiring less machismo and allowing the rider to choose a cow-trailing pace if desired.

On the trail, the KLX's tame power band made it easy to manage tight trails and slow-speed maneuvering. It was simple to roll around tight corners and grunt out in second gear, even at a sedate pace. The KLX's combination of low-end power and plenty of flywheel made it hard to stall, and when it did, one push of the button got it going again.

Off-road is where the KLX's sophisticated suspension makes itself felt. With 11 inches of wheel travel at both ends, the KLX can deal with the big rocks and sand whoops of the desert, as well as logs and other trail obstacles. The fancy inverted-slider front fork has adjustable compression damping, while the rear shock has both compression and rebound damping adjusters. As delivered, the suspension feels stiff, as if the bike is intended to be used for fairly serious off-road riding. While it lacks the power to wheelie with just the throttle, the front end feels light enough for the rider to loft it over big bumps and whoops with a firm tug on the bars.

The combination of competent suspension and tame power means it’s relatively hard to get into much trouble with the KLX250. Not to say that a novice rider couldn’t find a way to crash, but it’s simply less likely that someone will enter a rocky trail or deep sand whoops and accelerate enough to overcome the suspension the way one could on a more powerful and heavier bike.

Given the 250’s tame power band, it seemed a shame the seat is high enough to discourage shorter or beginning riders but that’s the price of long-travel suspension. We tried installing a pair of Kouba Link KLX300 lowering links on the rear shock linkage to make the rear end a little lower. Those brought down the seat a little over an inch, and added a good measure of confidence for a new rider who tried the KLX before and after they were installed. The links do, however, change the steering geometry, and made the 250 noticeably slower-steering. And while it’s possible to also lower the front end by sliding the fork tubes up in the triple clamps, there’s only room to move them up a half inch before they contact the underside of the handlebars.

Once a novice rider has mastered the stock KLX250, it’s likely he or she will be interested in more power. Given there is little mechanical difference between the KLX250 and its off-road cousin, the KLX300, enterprising owners and tuners have already discovered how to retrofit parts from the bigger-bore bike. For instance, the displacement difference is simply a matter of bore diameter, which means some riders have already ordered the 300 cylinder and piston at the Kawasaki parts counter and installed them on the 250. The stroke, valve size and carburetor on both models have identical specifications.

The KLX250 has been sold as a dual sport motorcycle in other countries before its introduction here. In most countries, unlike the United States, there is a big step in licensing requirements between 250cc bikes and larger models. In bringing the KLX250 to the US, Kawasaki simply brought Americans the same model other countries already enjoyed.

This marketing change may have been brought about by the demise of the KLX400 from Kawasaki's lineup, leaving the company with just one dual sport model, the KLR650. The 400 was actually built by Suzuki and dressed in green by Kawasaki under a joint marketing agreement that began a few years ago, but has since gone by the wayside. So Kawasaki's own 250 was a logical machine to fill the need for a lightweight dual sport machine.

While the addition of the KLX250 to Kawasaki's US customers was expedient for the company and fortunate for us, there's a caveat: the motorcycle will not be sold in California since it doesn't have the extra emissions equipment necessary to pass the state's strict emissions laws.

The KLX250 comes with a small rear rack, something that must be purchased from the aftermarket for many bigger bikes. The rack doesn't preclude a tool pouch on the rear fender. Unfortunately, the tools included are woefully inadequate lacking a wrench sized for the rear axle nut and excluding all the low-quality tools we've come to expect from Japanese bikes. [Editor's note: It's possible the tools were raided before we opened it for inspection.]

The Kawasaki has a full instrument panel with includes a tachometer, something not always seen on bigger dual sport bikes. While it's not likely that a rider will flirt with the redline on this bike-it takes a long time to rev that high, and power has long since tapered off once you get there—the tach does serve to provide some useful information about what gear the bike is in. This may be particularly beneficial for novices, in part because of another useful feature of the 250—a six-speed transmission.

The KLX250 has a wide-range six-speed box that provides a usefully low first gear for trail-riding, and a overdrive top gear for highway cruising with a ratio of 3.3 between first and sixth—an unusually large spread for any motorcycle. The only drawback is that with a headwind or even a slight grade, the bike must be downshifted from 6th to 5th gear to maintain speed on the highway. Under normal conditions though, we saw speeds as high as 90 mph indicated on the open road, and the Kawasaki made a remarkably good highway cruiser for a 250. The seat is also quite flat and relatively comfortable for such a small machine, making it possible to sit comfortably for an hour or more.

Being a dual sport bike, it also retains the benefits of a tall and slim motorcycle in traffic, allowing the rider to see over the top of most cars, and slip through traffic. In fact, the KLX is a perfectly civilized town bike. With its quiet exhaust and modest power, it doesn't annoy the neighbors, nor inspire hooligan wheelies like more powerful bikes might. It also has good but not astounding disk brakes at both ends. The front lever has an adjustable engagement point, and there's less dive under heavy braking than you might expect from a bike with 11 inches of travel thanks to plenty of compression damping in the front fork. The rear is controllable enough, considering there's also plenty of engine braking available.

What wasn't always so controllable was the transmission. One rider complained it was difficult to move from neutral to 1st gear and from 1st to 2nd. Others didn't seem to have the same problem.

There are also other mixed bag features depending on a rider's level of experience. The fuel petcock is a good old-fashioned unit with a real off position, unlike modern vacuum-operated units. This means the rider has to use it-and remember to turn it on and off-in order to avoid relying on the carburetor float valve.

Behind the petcock, in an awkward place to reach with thick gloves, is the single-position choke knob. Pull it all the way out, and the engine starts easily with a push of the starter button. However, there's no halfway position, as experienced riders might expect, the chock is either on-or-off ... period.

The KLX comes with plastic hand guards good for both deflecting light brush and keeping hands warmer in cold air. They aren't as good as real aluminum hand guards and one of the stock hand guards cracked in a simple tip-over leaving the levers unprotected. The KLX250 has a chain with a real master link, unlike most other bikes with endless which require breaking for removal. The bike sports a decent horn—always a benefit in traffic—especially considering how quiet the KLX is. Most people will see the KLX250S coming before they ever hear it with its lime-green racing color, number plates and graphics.

It takes a ride on this motorcycle, both on the street and on dirt, to discover it is really a friendly, forgiving machine, and the aggressive looks are just for show.

Originally published June 2006.

Click to enlarge image Gallery1.jpg

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•