2020 Kawasaki KX250 | Track Tested

2020 Kawasaki KX250 | Track Tested

2020 KAWASAKI KX250 | COMPLETE COVERAGE

Kawasaki invited Swapmoto Live to join them at the legendary Castillo Ranch motocross course in Los Alamos, California, today, to take our first laps on the new 2020 Kawasaki KX250. When the new bike information was released a few weeks ago, many assumed that the KX250 – because it looks the same save for the awesome new green plastic – remained unchanged from 2019. Well, that could be further from the truth! Though the bodywork – with the exception of color and in-molded graphics – remains the same, the 2020 Kawasaki KX250 enjoys many changes that make it stand head and shoulders above its predecessor.

What’s New

Arguably, the biggest changes are in the engine, as a new cylinder head equipped with the exact same finger-follower valve train as the ZX-10 road race biker, matched with a new larger piston, a shorter stroke crank, an all-new airbox intake tract, a shorter muffler, and a larger-diameter throttle body. All told, the new KX250 is claimed to be up by three horsepower and is dubbed as the most-powerful KX250 four-stroke Kawasaki has ever produced.

To handle the newfound power, a new set of KYB suspension graces both ends of the KX250, replacing last year’s Showa components and most notably, the Single Function Fork that we have never been fans of. The 48mm KYB fork is the latest mechanical spring component from Kayaba, and both ends are sprung one-rate stiffer than last year’s machine.

The KX250 chassis boasts a seemingly small, yet very important update in the form of new front engine mounts. While last year’s aluminum mounts were secured with through bolts, this year’s frame is tapped on each side and is equipped with threaded studs that the engine mounts are secured to on each side, individually. This different mount system is designed to allow the frame the exhibit a more compliant feel to complement the action of the rear suspension.

Other changes include a larger 250mm Braking rear brake rotor, a new front rotor shape (size remains the same at 270mm), the aforementioned green plastic body parts, and in-molded radiator shroud graphics.

On The Track

From the moment the kickstarter brings the bike to life, it’s apparent that Kawasaki did a lot more than just change the color of the bike. Likely due to the 30mm shorter muffler, the bike has a different exhaust note than before, and the throttle response feels clean and snappy, even when warming the engine up. On the track, it is easy to tell that the power has been shifted with the new engine design. While the previous KX250 had great low-end throttle response and excellent mid-range power before flattening out on top. The 2020 machine pulls much, much further up, and it is no doubt a machine that young 250-class rippers will love. Though the transmission ratios between second and third seems a bit short, the bike purrs like a kitten when the RPMs are kept high and the rider is skilled. The low-end and mid-range power that we loved last year was sacrificed for the impressive high-RPM power, but that’s not to say that the bike has no bottom and mid. Let’s just say that the Kawasaki now performs more like a KTM or Husky now than a Yamaha or Honda. The Castillo Ranch track is tight and somewhat slippery, and we can’t wait to get the little green machine on more familiar territory to open her up. As always, the optional fuel couplers offer distinctly different power personalities. When we take delivery of our test bike next week, we plan to try all the couplers, as well as some different gearing, to see if we can better tune the powerband to our liking. Again; faster riders will love the new powerband as is…we’re just looking for something that’s a little easier to make good use of.

The new KYB suspension is by far, the biggest improvement for 2020. The mechanical spring fork exhibits great control and predictability in all instances; from the small chop to G-outs, to hard landings and more. Where last year’s Showa SFF fork would blow through the stroke and dive excessively, the new KYB front end stays up in the stroke and offers great feel for the traction the front end is gathering. Both ends are firmer than they were last year and that’s a good thing, but larger riders will still need to opt for firmer springs and/or valving. As is, we went in on the compression and rebound adjusters on both ends of the bike and found that this yielded a great, balanced ride, that inspired a ton of confidence.

The KX250 has a very even front-to-rear weight bias, and the bike enjoys ample front end traction that inspires confidence when cornering. The rear end stays planted and clawing for forward traction when accelerating hard in choppy conditions, and the bike is impressively stable at speed when considering how nimble it feels in corners. The bike is comfortable and widely adjustable thanks to the Kawasaki fit system that includes four handlebar mounting positions and two choices in footpeg mount heights. 

Last year, we had some issues with the oversized 250mm rear brake rotor that came equipped on the 2019 KX450. When ridden by a rider who likes to drag his rear brake, the system would overheat and fade to the point that the only way to regain braking performance would be to completely bleed the system. After suffering a loss of brakes more than once during race conditions, we swapped the rear rotor and caliper hander with the smaller stock 2018 parts. We didn’t encounter brake fade to the same extent on the KX250 today, but there was a bit of detectable sponginess. We will post more once we log more time on the KX250.

Our only real complaints about the bike are centered around its lack of electric start and the high feel of the stock 7/8″ Renthal handlebars. The first thing we plan to do is replace the stock bars with a lower bend of bigger 1 1/8″ ODI Flite bars in a lower bend. 

For now, with one day of ripping around on the green machine, though, we are duly impressed. Stay tuned for more!

Oh yeah, and with all the improvements, the price of the 2020 bike is only $50 more than last year’s at $7799.00