Most were hoping the trickle-down effect would happen fast enough for this year’s bike to trade its carburetor for digital fuel injection, but it wasn’t to be. Try not to be too disappointed, though. Try to remind that the ’09 was a damn fine machine, and a list of improvements aimed at bettering the handling characteristics is a good thing.
Kawi’s quarter-liter gets a bridged-box piston design like the KX450F as well as the wedge-shaped crank web and larger radiators. But, unlike its big brother, the exhaust pipe is longer out of the head and shorter in the middle for boosted low-end grunt. Crankcases are thicker and the tranny is beefed up as well with bigger dogs on third and fourth gears.
Suspension and chassis changes are just like the 450 except that the KX250F uses Showa components. The steering stem has less rigidity and the suspension tuning aims at leveling the bike’s stance so that there is less pressure on the front wheel. Showa twin-chamber fork, along with revised frame geometry are designed for quicker steering. The suspension also features a super-hard titanium coating on the outer surface, and a friction-reducing Kashima Coat on the interior. The 450 uses Kayaba forks
That doesn’t necessarily equate to quicker handling in the hypothetical world, but we’ll wait and see how this thing turns at the press launch.
Sure seems like there’s a lot in common with the 450F, and the price hike is no different. If this is the bike for you, the 2010 model rings in at $6999 - an extra 500 bucks over the ’09.
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