Kawasaki Introduces Updated KX250 Series For 2023

[advrider]

Good news: Kawasaki appears to be ready to give the kinda-sleepy offroad motorcycle world a much-needed caffeine boost—the KX250 series is getting overhauled for 2023.

Normally, the dirt bike scene is where you see the most turnover year-over-year, as these are the only production bikes that are still widely flogged at the enthusiast level. In this scene, “Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday” actually still holds true. But, since COVID-19 hit the moto supply chain, the year-over-year developments have slowed down a bit, with more Bold New Graphics and fewer technical updates.

Now, we see the standard KX250 motocrosser does get some changes for next season, and they’re not just skin-deep. Kawasaki has tinkered with the engine to increase more performance, including some tweaks to the valvetrain and other top end parts. The ignition timing advance also sees some revisions, as does the air intake system. And, Kawasaki also tweaked the gearbox, with longer first and second gears. We don’t get any horsepower numbers, but Kawasaki claims the new bike has increased performance at all rpm. You’ll have to wait to see the on-track results before you know whether that’s true …

The rest of the bike also sees improvements, with revised suspension settings, along with wider rear rim and Dunlop MX33 tires as standard. The footpegs are wider, too.

On to the KX250X! This is basically the same machine, but made for closed off-road courses in woods or desert settings. This machine gets an 18-inch rear wheel as standard, and the suspension is aimed at cross-country racing, not an MX track. Generally speaking, it gets the same tweaks as the standard KX250, though.

Kawasaki also confirms the return of the KLX and other KX models you’d expect, and interestingly, also confirmed the return of the ZX-6R in its press release. Looks like supersports aren’t quite dead yet…

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