234 | JANUARY 2018 http://www.adbmag.com.auFACTORYRIDE/READERSRIDE/HERITAGE/ACTION/OAS/BUYERSGUIDE
THE BASICS
“A SLOW GREEN Meanie but
a fast gherkin. Who needs
power when you are having
this much fun?” That was the
opening line of ADB’s test on
the Kawasaki KLX250A2,
which was said to be the
“perfect thumper”.
To keep that in perspective,
the general thinking in those
days was that serious riding
and racing was the domain of
two-strokes. Four-strokes
were in a category of their
own as “fun” bikes. The KLX
was the brainchild of Kawasaki
U.S, which asked: “Why can’t
we have a light four-stroke
that handles?”
They raided the parts bins
and built one to show the
factory how to do it. The
chassis of the KX125A5
motocrosser was a proven
thing so they slotted in a
KL250 engine, softer
suspension and a few KDX
enduro parts such as lights,
sidecovers and mudguards.
The KL mill was a bit of an
underpowered non-entity so
the points ignition was
swapped to a CDI, 1mm bigger
valves were added, a 32mm
Mikuni replaced the 28mm
unit and a new exhaust was
fi tted to improve
performance. The bike was
completed with the addition of
a KDX400 swingarm which
was slightly shorter than the
KX one and the top shock
mounts were relocated to give
250mm of travel.
It could spin 500rpm higher
and produced a handful of
horsepower more but it was
lighter and handled better. If a
further increase was desired
then Powroll made a 310ccconversion kit but ADB’s
testers were happy with the
KLX in standard trim.
It was its light weight, at
106kg (less than both the PE
and IT250), and good handling
that won over the hard-bitten
test crew. Despite a statement
that the motor was bulletproof
because it didn’t make enough
power to wear out, the testers
loved the fact that the gentle
power gave no nasty surprises
and didn’t tire anyone out.
“Flat strap was the order of
the day, charge into corners,
forget about the brakes, slap
it down a cog so as to have a
little power coming back out
of the corner, then throw the
whole thing sideways. You
quite simply don’t shut the
engine off.”
Steering was rated as the
best out of Japan at the time,and equal to most of the bikes
out of Europe and that was
with the standard front tyre. It
was thought a Metzeler or
Carlisle would make the
steering brilliant. Testing was
done at the now-defunct
Jilliby MX track northwest of
Sydney and Vaughn Style did
a lap of 1m27s, only 5s slower
than he lapped on his
YZ465G. Rob McCulloch loved
the KLX as it was so easy to
do long wheelies on.
In conclusion, it was
declared that everyone who
rode it loved it. It wasn’t
meant to be a serious
motocrosser or enduro bike
but a casual fun bike and ADB
loved it. “As a fun bike, the
KLX is the best thing ADB has
ever had the pleasure of
getting hold of.”
Heritage Editor Warren JacksMOREFUNTHAN
YOUCANHANDLE
WHAT
Kawasaki KLX250A2
WHEN
ADB#23, May/June, 1980
PURPOSE
Trail
HOW MUCH
$1495BIKES FROM THE DAYS WHEN DINOSAURS ROAMED THE PITS
REAR GUARD
MAIN. The test crew had a ball at Jilliby- Vaughn Style lapped near race pace
- KX frame made the engine look good
12H
ER
ITAGE
RIDE
KAWASAKI
KLX250A2