2025 Kawasaki KX250X Preview

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2025 Kawasaki KX250X Preview

Kawasaki's KX250X gets major updates for the 2025 model year for easier tuning, more power, and better handling. (Kawasaki/)

Kawasaki finally joins the 250cc off-road competition segment with its KX250X dirt bike. Based off its KX250 motocrosser, this new motorcycle model benefits from many of the same upgrades introduced in last year's flagship KX450 lineup.

Editor's note: Kawasaki's KX250X competes with bikes, like Honda's CRF250RX which we last tested during the 2022 Honda CRF250RX Review.

The KX250X distinguishes itself from Kawasaki's dedicated motocross bike, the

KX250, with softer suspension settings, an 18-inch rear wheel, Dunlop Geomax AT81 tires (learn more about Dunlop's newer Geomax AT82 enduro tire during the Top 5 Features of Dunlop's Geomax AT82 Rear Tire review), a side/kickstand, and a sealed and more heavy-duty O-ring final drive chain. The new bike is set to retail for $9,099 and is due out later this summer.

The first and most significant update to the 2025 KX250X is a heavily reworked engine, which Kawasaki has redesigned to boost low and midrange power. The 249cc DOHC engine now inherits a lighter and stronger piston from Kawasaki's factory racing efforts, and also sees the addition of a single-shaft primary balancer for smoother power delivery with less vibration.

A flatter piston, combined with a revised combustion chamber, improves efficiency and helps boost low and midrange performance. (Kawasaki/)

Aside from those changes, fans of Kawasaki's last major update to the KX250 back in 2022 will recognize a few familiar themes here. Valve angles have once again been narrowed to improve combustion efficiency, and the downdraft-style intake tract has been further straightened to better align with the exhaust ports. Kawasaki says the intake and exhaust tracts are now fully symmetrical, a feat which also required shifting the cylinder itself five degrees further forward.

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You'll notice a few other major updates on the left handlebar, which now includes buttons for ECU mapping and traction control in addition to the launch control feature carried over from last year. That means you no longer need to carry around color-coded dongles to tune engine behavior, a long-overdue upgrade for Team Green.

Fuel maps are now swapped on the fly from the left handlebar, as is traction control and launch control. (Kawasaki/)

Kawasaki has also integrated the same smartphone connectivity found on its flagship 450 into the new KX250X, which includes fine-tuning of the bike's fueling maps and ignition timing as well as real-time monitoring of the engine's rpm, intake pressure, coolant temperature, and more. All this is controlled via Kawasaki's

Rideology the App, which also includes convenient logs for routine maintenance and bike setup.

Kawasaki's Rideology app allows for fine-tuning of the KX250X's engine maps using any smartphone. (Kawasaki/)

The 250X will also get the same lightweight aluminum perimeter frame design found on the current KX450, which Kawasaki says is optimized for better front-end feel when cornering. The new frame is thoroughly reinforced for improved rigidity, but still weighs over half a pound less than the previous model.

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As for suspension, Kawasaki has swapped the outgoing bike's KYB suspenders for Showa components front and rear, and the 250X now comes spec'd with a 48mm inverted coil-spring fork and a shorter rear shock riding on Uni-Trak linkage out back. Kawasaki says that despite the new shock's more compact dimensions, suspension stroke has increased over the outgoing model.

The 250X's notoriously firm KYB suspension has been swapped for Showa components front and rear. (Kawasaki/)

2025 Kawasaki KX250X Technical Specifications and Price

PRICE:	$9,099
ENGINE:	249cc, DOHC, liquid-cooled single-cylinder; 4-valve
BORE x STROKE:	78.0 x 52.2mm
COMPRESSION RATIO:	14.0:1
FUEL DELIVERY:	DFI w/ Keihin 44mm throttle body, dual injectors
CLUTCH:	Wet, multiplate; hydraulic actuation
TRANSMISSION/FINAL DRIVE:	5-speed/sealed O-ring chain
CLAIMED HORSEPOWER:	N/A
CLAIMED TORQUE:	N/A
FRAME:	Aluminum perimeter, engine as a stressed member
FRONT SUSPENSION:	48mm Showa inverted coil-spring fork, compression and rebound damping adjustable; 12.0 in. travel
REAR SUSPENSION:	Showa Uni-Trak, spring preload, low/high-speed compression damping, rebound damping adjustable; 12.1 in. travel
FRONT BRAKE:	2-piston caliper, semi-floating 270mm disc
REAR BRAKE:	1-piston caliper, 240mm disc
WHEELS, FRONT/REAR:	Aluminum spoked; 21 in./18 in.
TIRES, FRONT/REAR:	Dunlop Geomax AT81; 80/100-21 / 110/100-18
RAKE/TRAIL:	27.5°/4.8 in.
WHEELBASE:	58.5 in.
SEAT HEIGHT:	37.2 in.
FUEL CAPACITY:	1.6 gal.
CLAIMED WET WEIGHT:	243.2 lb.
WARRANTY:	N/A
AVAILABLE:	Summer 2024
CONTACT:	kawasaki.com

Source: 2025 Kawasaki KX250X Preview

Courtesy of Motorcyclist Magazine