KX250XC The 250 feels completely different ... but also the same . It has all the ergos of the 450 but the chassis just seems to work a lot better . KYB suspension was selected for the lite bush bike and it just works - plain and simple . The bike feels really agile and the balance is incredible . It is easy to see why the 250 has been the favourite at all of the Kawasaki Demo days , according to the Kawi team . The internals are off-road specific and the front forks get one spring rate softer than the MX version . The bike never feels like it wants to push through turns or knife in the tacky stuff . And the rear just seems to track and follow the front really well . You kinda really can ’ t beat KYB suspension . The engine package for this year has really brought this bike up to the likes of the Yamaha in my opinion - which has , arguably , the best 250 engine package . The bottom-end is stronger than at least two other bikes in its class , with a mid-range and singing top-end that could rival anything . Where on the 450 , bottom to mid is your goldilocks zone . On the 250 you want to hang in
that mid to top and have the engine really working for you . The rev limit has been raised in the 250 this year and it ’ s worth every ignition . This bike is also really good at not stalling so Kawasaki has clearly got the mapping bang on . For a version 1.0 of these Cross Country machines , Kawasaki has done a very good job of not toying around too much with them and going overboard . It was a real tough test on the rock hard , slick track and I can only imagine how both of them would fare in some soft terrain like pumice or loam .
SECOND OPINION - LIAM CALLEY Having raced an XC-kitted 2019 KX250 I was super keen to try the new bike . When first swinging a leg over the 250XC I found that the flat seat and smooth guards of the bike made it easy to move over the length of the bike . The bar bend was quite flat and Narrow feeling which didn ’ t feel comfortable . Out on the track the suspension on the bike felt out of balance and was skipping and not following the ground well making it quite hard to ride compared to my 2019 kx250 . Making some changes to the
54 KIWI RIDER