Kawasaki KX250
The Kawasaki KX250 is a 2-stroke motocross motorcycle that was introduced in 1974. The 2-stroke KX-250 was to be discontinued being last made in the US in September 2007 although the Kawasaki Heavy Industries factory in Japan continued to make a small number of limited edition KX-250 motorcycles using the remaining stock held in their 'marketing department' since they had already been signed out as 'marketing' therefore they did not require any remanufacturing or re-licensing. These OEM and several Non OEM parts (*DID, Bridgestone, Pro Circuit) were added to the small batch which were then sent and sold in Australia as 2008 KX250 models.*(full list tba).
It was initially believed that the '2 stroke' line was ceased due to the rise of the four-strokes but in fact was due to EPA emissions laws. It is understood that due to a worldwide interest and strong demand,Kawasaki is currently looking into remanufacturing the KX125, KX250 (homologated for 250f races), and a new KX350 (homologated for 450f races) to be added to the two stroke production line currently being used by the KX65 and KX85 models which are still being manufactered.
The Kawasaki KX250F introduced in 2004 and KX450F was introduced in 2006 and both utilize a 4-stroke DOHC engine. Many factors came into play with the demise of the 2 stroke market, however 2 strokes are once again becoming popular due to the costs associated with maintenance of the very complex workings of the 4 stroke design.
This bike has been ridden to several AMA Motocross Championship wins, including a number of titles, in the hands of Jeff Ward, Jeff Emig, and Ricky Carmichael.
The current KX250 has a four stroke engine, previously it has factory/model designation KX-F250.