Kawasaki is bringing the two stroke back!

FMB2.0
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Divide, CO US
1/12/2026 5:25pm

New Street Legal 2 stroke from Kawasaki kids could ride to school.

1000023837.jpg?VersionId=UN4x3AfTWMWNSq9OyWkFJgO

 

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3
1/13/2026 4:27am Edited Date/Time 1/13/2026 4:27am

All this tariff talk and Harbor Freight generators haven’t gone up a penny 

26
6
nskerb
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Kelso, WA US
1/14/2026 7:28am

What do we see first?

-updated rmz450

-kawi 2 stroke.

26
1/14/2026 7:44am
nskerb wrote:

What do we see first?

-updated rmz450

-kawi 2 stroke.

Haha. ^^^^ This is a legit race to bet on. ^^^^

9
1

The Shop

uncledaddy69
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Huntington Beach, CA US
1/14/2026 7:55am

All the talking heads are saying Kawi is about to release more info and that it’s still happening. 

10
Freakazoid
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Tahoe, CA US
1/14/2026 8:45am
nskerb wrote:

What do we see first?

-updated rmz450

-kawi 2 stroke.

Would you rather buy one of those, or a YZ350F?

8
3
1/14/2026 8:49am
nskerb wrote:

What do we see first?

-updated rmz450

-kawi 2 stroke.

HonDawg17 wrote:

Haha. ^^^^ This is a legit race to bet on. ^^^^

Polymarket exists.

1
1
dadofagun
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Satan's Hollow, OK US
Fantasy
1/14/2026 9:39am
Falcon wrote:
The next time I hang out with my Kawasaki friend, I'll see if I can get him to drop any hints. It sure has been a...

The next time I hang out with my Kawasaki friend, I'll see if I can get him to drop any hints. It sure has been a long time since any official mention of a 2-stroke. This smells like someone in Japan isn't convinced it should be made at all. 

I am probably going to be cussed for saying this from the Vital masses, but Falcon you may be onto something.....  I was wondering last Fall about this as well.  Lorettas came and went, nothing.  Then thinking Mini O's, nothing.   Then,  Holiday season, nothing.  Expo shows, nothing.  A1, nothing.......  

It's starting to look like that PR stunt a year ago was a real bad idea.......  They either had good intentions, and the project shit the bed.  Or, it is being delayed for various reasons, and they are praying to God folks will stop asking about it eventually.  Either way, it is not good for their image to brag that you listened to your customers comments and requests, only to go completely silent for the next 12 months to the very people you advertise  to care about.  Dick move.......

5
uncledaddy69
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1/14/2026 9:55am
Falcon wrote:
The next time I hang out with my Kawasaki friend, I'll see if I can get him to drop any hints. It sure has been a...

The next time I hang out with my Kawasaki friend, I'll see if I can get him to drop any hints. It sure has been a long time since any official mention of a 2-stroke. This smells like someone in Japan isn't convinced it should be made at all. 

dadofagun wrote:
I am probably going to be cussed for saying this from the Vital masses, but Falcon you may be onto something.....  I was wondering last Fall...

I am probably going to be cussed for saying this from the Vital masses, but Falcon you may be onto something.....  I was wondering last Fall about this as well.  Lorettas came and went, nothing.  Then thinking Mini O's, nothing.   Then,  Holiday season, nothing.  Expo shows, nothing.  A1, nothing.......  

It's starting to look like that PR stunt a year ago was a real bad idea.......  They either had good intentions, and the project shit the bed.  Or, it is being delayed for various reasons, and they are praying to God folks will stop asking about it eventually.  Either way, it is not good for their image to brag that you listened to your customers comments and requests, only to go completely silent for the next 12 months to the very people you advertise  to care about.  Dick move.......

Per Matthes, it was supposed to come last year but they had issues with performance, so they delayed it. The decision to release it has already been made and a lot of resources have been put into developing it, so they’re not backing out. We should be hearing more very soon. 

14
1
gt80rider
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Boulder, CO US
1/14/2026 10:10am

59 pages..... loll

6
4
chuckie108
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Mira Loma, CA US
1/14/2026 10:13am

Not to be a Debbie downer, but considering Kawi has been blowing out the KX inventory for cheap the last year, and how slow the market is, why would they be hustling to get a new dirtbike to market? Probably hedging their bet a bit trying to time more favorable market factors.   

5
1/14/2026 10:33am Edited Date/Time 1/14/2026 10:43am
chuckie108 wrote:
Not to be a Debbie downer, but considering Kawi has been blowing out the KX inventory for cheap the last year, and how slow the market...

Not to be a Debbie downer, but considering Kawi has been blowing out the KX inventory for cheap the last year, and how slow the market is, why would they be hustling to get a new dirtbike to market? Probably hedging their bet a bit trying to time more favorable market factors.   

6
2
FreshTopEnd
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Sacramento, CA US
1/14/2026 10:54am
chuckie108 wrote:
Not to be a Debbie downer, but considering Kawi has been blowing out the KX inventory for cheap the last year, and how slow the market...

Not to be a Debbie downer, but considering Kawi has been blowing out the KX inventory for cheap the last year, and how slow the market is, why would they be hustling to get a new dirtbike to market? Probably hedging their bet a bit trying to time more favorable market factors.   

Maybe they want to offer something people actually want to buy? 

10
1/14/2026 10:54am
chuckie108 wrote:
Not to be a Debbie downer, but considering Kawi has been blowing out the KX inventory for cheap the last year, and how slow the market...

Not to be a Debbie downer, but considering Kawi has been blowing out the KX inventory for cheap the last year, and how slow the market is, why would they be hustling to get a new dirtbike to market? Probably hedging their bet a bit trying to time more favorable market factors.   

selling for cheaper than the other updates brands doesn’t tell us anything about profit margin. 

4
1
soggy
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UT US
1/14/2026 11:01am

We bitch when a bike has problems when it was released to the public too soon. We bitch when a manufacturer takes more time in development to give us a good product. 

They can’t win. 

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7
3strokemx
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US
1/14/2026 11:03am
soggy wrote:
We bitch when a bike has problems when it was released to the public too soon. We bitch when a manufacturer takes more time in development...

We bitch when a bike has problems when it was released to the public too soon. We bitch when a manufacturer takes more time in development to give us a good product. 

They can’t win. 

That's not what's happening here, there was an announcement that there will be a product, but no actual product.

4
15
40acres
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Houston, TX US
1/14/2026 11:25am
soggy wrote:
We bitch when a bike has problems when it was released to the public too soon. We bitch when a manufacturer takes more time in development...

We bitch when a bike has problems when it was released to the public too soon. We bitch when a manufacturer takes more time in development to give us a good product. 

They can’t win. 

3strokemx wrote:

That's not what's happening here, there was an announcement that there will be a product, but no actual product.

Actually, they just said “we heard you” and now we have a 59 page thread of assumptions, rumors and conjecture. Par for the course on VitalMX😂

7
2
KurtJ99
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CA US
1/14/2026 11:26am
Falcon wrote:
The next time I hang out with my Kawasaki friend, I'll see if I can get him to drop any hints. It sure has been a...

The next time I hang out with my Kawasaki friend, I'll see if I can get him to drop any hints. It sure has been a long time since any official mention of a 2-stroke. This smells like someone in Japan isn't convinced it should be made at all. 

dadofagun wrote:
I am probably going to be cussed for saying this from the Vital masses, but Falcon you may be onto something.....  I was wondering last Fall...

I am probably going to be cussed for saying this from the Vital masses, but Falcon you may be onto something.....  I was wondering last Fall about this as well.  Lorettas came and went, nothing.  Then thinking Mini O's, nothing.   Then,  Holiday season, nothing.  Expo shows, nothing.  A1, nothing.......  

It's starting to look like that PR stunt a year ago was a real bad idea.......  They either had good intentions, and the project shit the bed.  Or, it is being delayed for various reasons, and they are praying to God folks will stop asking about it eventually.  Either way, it is not good for their image to brag that you listened to your customers comments and requests, only to go completely silent for the next 12 months to the very people you advertise  to care about.  Dick move.......

Yeah, especially when you have folks waiting for the release and deciding to go another route (Yamaha, Beta, KTM group) out of frustration when they would have held out for Kawasaki if there was some meaningful communication. 

13
1
BoxcarWilly
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Thunder Bay, ON CA
1/14/2026 11:59am

All the talking heads are saying Kawi is about to release more info and that it’s still happening. 

They were in November too. 

6
Indy mxer
Posts
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Location
The Villages, FL US
1/14/2026 2:01pm

My Kawasaki dealer in Indiana was told they will be able to order this spring or early summer. Word is still the same, going to be 300 2 stroke and a new 85/112. We will see.

9
1
1/14/2026 2:30pm
40acres wrote:

Actually, they just said “we heard you” and now we have a 59 page thread of assumptions, rumors and conjecture. Par for the course on VitalMX😂

If their social media team was any good, they'd include screenshots from this thread in their next social media announcement.

That is, if they ever get around to releasing the bike.  😂

2
3
Falcon
Posts
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Location
Menifee, CA US
1/14/2026 2:46pm
Falcon wrote:
The next time I hang out with my Kawasaki friend, I'll see if I can get him to drop any hints. It sure has been a...

The next time I hang out with my Kawasaki friend, I'll see if I can get him to drop any hints. It sure has been a long time since any official mention of a 2-stroke. This smells like someone in Japan isn't convinced it should be made at all. 

dadofagun wrote:
I am probably going to be cussed for saying this from the Vital masses, but Falcon you may be onto something.....  I was wondering last Fall...

I am probably going to be cussed for saying this from the Vital masses, but Falcon you may be onto something.....  I was wondering last Fall about this as well.  Lorettas came and went, nothing.  Then thinking Mini O's, nothing.   Then,  Holiday season, nothing.  Expo shows, nothing.  A1, nothing.......  

It's starting to look like that PR stunt a year ago was a real bad idea.......  They either had good intentions, and the project shit the bed.  Or, it is being delayed for various reasons, and they are praying to God folks will stop asking about it eventually.  Either way, it is not good for their image to brag that you listened to your customers comments and requests, only to go completely silent for the next 12 months to the very people you advertise  to care about.  Dick move.......

Per Matthes, it was supposed to come last year but they had issues with performance, so they delayed it. The decision to release it has already...

Per Matthes, it was supposed to come last year but they had issues with performance, so they delayed it. The decision to release it has already been made and a lot of resources have been put into developing it, so they’re not backing out. We should be hearing more very soon. 

It happens a lot more than you think. Someone leading the project gets fired, the business conditions change, or the new division president decides not to release anything for the dirt. It could also be that the team responsible wants to release a brand-new bike which sells 10,000 units so they look good, instead of the 1,500 they think it may sell right now. That matters, too. 

Lots of projects come and go - just because Kawasaki has dumped "a lot" of resources into this thing doesn't mean they won't shelve it. Ask me about the aluminum frame RM250, Suzuki side by side, or the YZ150F, for that matter. Lots of rumors that there was one of those floating around. Sometimes the manufacturers cut their losses and accept a little embarrassment, instead of losing their asses on production time and resources for a bike that doesn't sell. This is why the information embargoes happen; they don't want too many rumors spreading around until they are sure everything is ready. I'm pretty surprised Kawasaki leaked anything, TBH, as long ago as it was. 

9
1
1/14/2026 6:35pm Edited Date/Time 1/14/2026 6:36pm

What comes out first

Kawi 2st's 

OR

Trumps phone

OR

$2000 stimulus check.

5
18
uncledaddy69
Posts
2340
Joined
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Location
Huntington Beach, CA US
1/14/2026 6:36pm

What comes out first

Kawi 2st's 

OR

Trumps phone

OR

$2000 stimulus check.

I want that free money so that I can buy a Kawasaki 2 stroke. 

16
1/15/2026 11:43am

I want that free money so that I can buy a Kawasaki 2 stroke. 

thats not how it works.  Kawasaki would simply raise the price of their KX by about $2000

4
9
1/15/2026 11:48am

How many people were actually serious about getting one but ended up buying something else? How long did you wait before saying F it and buying a different bike? 

12
1/15/2026 12:57pm
Kindasmoky wrote:
How many people were actually serious about getting one but ended up buying something else? How long did you wait before saying F it and buying...

How many people were actually serious about getting one but ended up buying something else? How long did you wait before saying F it and buying a different bike? 

I bought a yz250x because I got tired of waiting 

5
2
Tokyo_Tiddler
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2104
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Location
Somewhere in, NJ US
1/15/2026 1:12pm
Kindasmoky wrote:
How many people were actually serious about getting one but ended up buying something else? How long did you wait before saying F it and buying...

How many people were actually serious about getting one but ended up buying something else? How long did you wait before saying F it and buying a different bike? 

I bought a Beta 300 RX because I got tired of waiting.

5
2
agn5008
Posts
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PA, PA US
Fantasy
1/15/2026 2:56pm
Kindasmoky wrote:
How many people were actually serious about getting one but ended up buying something else? How long did you wait before saying F it and buying...

How many people were actually serious about getting one but ended up buying something else? How long did you wait before saying F it and buying a different bike? 

I bought a yz250x because I got tired of waiting 

Same here. 

1
1
soggy
Posts
8527
Joined
12/3/2018
Location
UT US
1/15/2026 3:21pm
soggy wrote:
We bitch when a bike has problems when it was released to the public too soon. We bitch when a manufacturer takes more time in development...

We bitch when a bike has problems when it was released to the public too soon. We bitch when a manufacturer takes more time in development to give us a good product. 

They can’t win. 

3strokemx wrote:

That's not what's happening here, there was an announcement that there will be a product, but no actual product.

Several insiders have said that’s what has happened with the delay. Could Kawi have said something themselves? Yea but just because they stayed silent doesn’t prove that didn’t happen. And with the information we do know that seems to be what happened. 

4

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