Kawasaki is bringing the two stroke back!

280driver
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280driver 1/23/2026 3:06am
1/23/2026 3:06am

Would think we’d see it today if it really is at A2.  Too much of a distraction for the team to pull the sheet off on race day right?

Thisusernameisavailable 1/23/2026 3:31am
1/23/2026 3:31am
Thisusernameisavailable wrote:

Everything you say is correct, but it ain’t gonna change. 

The YZ125 & 250 aren’t the “affordable” option anymore either. 

AVL28 wrote:
You’re not wrong, but a YZ250 at $8,100 is much more palatable than a YZ450F at $10,300. Plus the reduced maintenance costs for the YZ. Agreed...

You’re not wrong, but a YZ250 at $8,100 is much more palatable than a YZ450F at $10,300. Plus the reduced maintenance costs for the YZ. Agreed they are pretty overpriced for mostly ancient tech though.


I know it’ll never happen but I firmly believe if Suzuki came out with a half decent RM125 & RM250 at around the $6-7k mark it could single handedly pull Suzuki cycles out of purgatory. They’re already looked at as the “budget” choice in the 450/250f markets and still have a healthy following despite putting out nearly untouched bikes for over a decade. They should lean into that more.


Fuck it, be the Toyota Corolla of the moto world. It may not be flashy but if it’s affordable and it works you’ll sell a ton of them.

I’m afraid I don’t agree with the reduced maintenance costs. 

Buy a new 450 and you won’t need to put a spanner to it for three years. 
My mate’s ‘24 YZ250 needed a crank at 30hrs. The crankshaft was baggy in the main bearings. 

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mx317
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mx317 1/23/2026 5:17am
1/23/2026 5:17am
mx317 wrote:

I would love to see a KX350 4-stroke alongside a 2-stroke KX300X and KX MX version. Realistically though, a KX125 would probably sell the best.

agn5008 wrote:

No way. A 300 off-road bike would absolutely sell better than a 125. 

Maybe, but there is a lot of youngsters coming off of 85s and superminis that would buy a 125. I was thinking more moto, but you are right on the woods crowd.

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AMetts
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AMetts 1/23/2026 6:13am
1/23/2026 6:13am
agn5008 wrote:

No way. A 300 off-road bike would absolutely sell better than a 125. 

bluesmoke wrote:

An offroad specific 300 would make alot of folks happy except ktm. They couldnt sell them fast enough.

moto9 wrote:
It's by far the biggest 2 stroke market, trail, hard enduro, hare scrambles.If I had input with kaw, a 300 or 325 just to 1 up...

It's by far the biggest 2 stroke market, trail, hard enduro, hare scrambles.

If I had input with kaw, a 300 or 325 just to 1 up the Austrians.

If it's TBI then it really needs a tuner app. And map switch, fuel, timing, pv mapping, live data, code diag and clearing.

Mirror the tsp erm but in a phone app.

Needs to be tight turning with an adjustable dog bone to allow 3 lowering settings. 5mm,10mm, 20mm

Peg adjustments 5mm back, 5mm down.

Gobbs of torque and low end grunt.

I have a dream lol

 

Why does everyone assume that this new Kawasaki 300 will be better than the KTMs in the first year? KTM have been making 300s for a long time and have had the reputation of the best offroad bike for most of that time. 

They have been developing the fuel injected two strokes for almost 10 years now and these TBI bikes are very good despite what people that have never ridden one on the internet say. 

There is no doubt Kawasaki has leaned heavily on all of the development KTM has already done to engineer their injection system whatever it may be. 

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HonDawg17 1/23/2026 6:49am
1/23/2026 6:49am
Thisusernameisavailable wrote:

Everything you say is correct, but it ain’t gonna change. 

The YZ125 & 250 aren’t the “affordable” option anymore either. 

AVL28 wrote:
You’re not wrong, but a YZ250 at $8,100 is much more palatable than a YZ450F at $10,300. Plus the reduced maintenance costs for the YZ. Agreed...

You’re not wrong, but a YZ250 at $8,100 is much more palatable than a YZ450F at $10,300. Plus the reduced maintenance costs for the YZ. Agreed they are pretty overpriced for mostly ancient tech though.


I know it’ll never happen but I firmly believe if Suzuki came out with a half decent RM125 & RM250 at around the $6-7k mark it could single handedly pull Suzuki cycles out of purgatory. They’re already looked at as the “budget” choice in the 450/250f markets and still have a healthy following despite putting out nearly untouched bikes for over a decade. They should lean into that more.


Fuck it, be the Toyota Corolla of the moto world. It may not be flashy but if it’s affordable and it works you’ll sell a ton of them.

Thisusernameisavailable wrote:
I’m afraid I don’t agree with the reduced maintenance costs. Buy a new 450 and you won’t need to put a spanner to it for three years. My...

I’m afraid I don’t agree with the reduced maintenance costs. 

Buy a new 450 and you won’t need to put a spanner to it for three years. 
My mate’s ‘24 YZ250 needed a crank at 30hrs. The crankshaft was baggy in the main bearings. 

You can "disagree" for whatever that means. The fact is a piston kit, cylinder and head replacement on a 2 stroke is $1000's less than a 4-stroke..

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GrapeApe
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GrapeApe 1/23/2026 6:57am
1/23/2026 6:57am
bluesmoke wrote:

An offroad specific 300 would make alot of folks happy except ktm. They couldnt sell them fast enough.

moto9 wrote:
It's by far the biggest 2 stroke market, trail, hard enduro, hare scrambles.If I had input with kaw, a 300 or 325 just to 1 up...

It's by far the biggest 2 stroke market, trail, hard enduro, hare scrambles.

If I had input with kaw, a 300 or 325 just to 1 up the Austrians.

If it's TBI then it really needs a tuner app. And map switch, fuel, timing, pv mapping, live data, code diag and clearing.

Mirror the tsp erm but in a phone app.

Needs to be tight turning with an adjustable dog bone to allow 3 lowering settings. 5mm,10mm, 20mm

Peg adjustments 5mm back, 5mm down.

Gobbs of torque and low end grunt.

I have a dream lol

 

AMetts wrote:
Why does everyone assume that this new Kawasaki 300 will be better than the KTMs in the first year? KTM have been making 300s for a...

Why does everyone assume that this new Kawasaki 300 will be better than the KTMs in the first year? KTM have been making 300s for a long time and have had the reputation of the best offroad bike for most of that time. 

They have been developing the fuel injected two strokes for almost 10 years now and these TBI bikes are very good despite what people that have never ridden one on the internet say. 

There is no doubt Kawasaki has leaned heavily on all of the development KTM has already done to engineer their injection system whatever it may be. 

I don't think the excitement is about it being better, just being different. Maybe it's simply nostalgia but there's just something different about the prospect of a new Japanese two stoke.

7
AVL28
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AVL28 1/23/2026 6:59am
1/23/2026 6:59am
Thisusernameisavailable wrote:

Everything you say is correct, but it ain’t gonna change. 

The YZ125 & 250 aren’t the “affordable” option anymore either. 

AVL28 wrote:
You’re not wrong, but a YZ250 at $8,100 is much more palatable than a YZ450F at $10,300. Plus the reduced maintenance costs for the YZ. Agreed...

You’re not wrong, but a YZ250 at $8,100 is much more palatable than a YZ450F at $10,300. Plus the reduced maintenance costs for the YZ. Agreed they are pretty overpriced for mostly ancient tech though.


I know it’ll never happen but I firmly believe if Suzuki came out with a half decent RM125 & RM250 at around the $6-7k mark it could single handedly pull Suzuki cycles out of purgatory. They’re already looked at as the “budget” choice in the 450/250f markets and still have a healthy following despite putting out nearly untouched bikes for over a decade. They should lean into that more.


Fuck it, be the Toyota Corolla of the moto world. It may not be flashy but if it’s affordable and it works you’ll sell a ton of them.

Thisusernameisavailable wrote:
I’m afraid I don’t agree with the reduced maintenance costs. Buy a new 450 and you won’t need to put a spanner to it for three years. My...

I’m afraid I don’t agree with the reduced maintenance costs. 

Buy a new 450 and you won’t need to put a spanner to it for three years. 
My mate’s ‘24 YZ250 needed a crank at 30hrs. The crankshaft was baggy in the main bearings. 

Well yeah it’s no secret two strokes have shorter service intervals, but you can do 2-3 rebuilds on the 2t for less than the cost of one on the 450. And it’s much lower on the pain-in-the-ass scale to do it too.

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AMetts
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AMetts 1/23/2026 7:02am
1/23/2026 7:02am
moto9 wrote:
It's by far the biggest 2 stroke market, trail, hard enduro, hare scrambles.If I had input with kaw, a 300 or 325 just to 1 up...

It's by far the biggest 2 stroke market, trail, hard enduro, hare scrambles.

If I had input with kaw, a 300 or 325 just to 1 up the Austrians.

If it's TBI then it really needs a tuner app. And map switch, fuel, timing, pv mapping, live data, code diag and clearing.

Mirror the tsp erm but in a phone app.

Needs to be tight turning with an adjustable dog bone to allow 3 lowering settings. 5mm,10mm, 20mm

Peg adjustments 5mm back, 5mm down.

Gobbs of torque and low end grunt.

I have a dream lol

 

AMetts wrote:
Why does everyone assume that this new Kawasaki 300 will be better than the KTMs in the first year? KTM have been making 300s for a...

Why does everyone assume that this new Kawasaki 300 will be better than the KTMs in the first year? KTM have been making 300s for a long time and have had the reputation of the best offroad bike for most of that time. 

They have been developing the fuel injected two strokes for almost 10 years now and these TBI bikes are very good despite what people that have never ridden one on the internet say. 

There is no doubt Kawasaki has leaned heavily on all of the development KTM has already done to engineer their injection system whatever it may be. 

GrapeApe wrote:
I don't think the excitement is about it being better, just being different. Maybe it's simply nostalgia but there's just something different about the prospect of...

I don't think the excitement is about it being better, just being different. Maybe it's simply nostalgia but there's just something different about the prospect of a new Japanese two stoke.

I agree, I'm excited to see the new Kawi as well. I'm just questioning the people that think its going to be better than the KTM right off the bat. 

I think the question mark is going to be the functionality of the fueling system, I have a lot of faith in their ability to build a motor and chassis. Stew Baylor has already said the one he rode was way too aggressive and hard to ride for the average consumer so im sure that brought up some changes. 

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Fouled Plug 1/23/2026 7:04am
1/23/2026 7:04am

Zoom, where are you at? Any truth to this weekends rumor?

1
1
Spoonguy
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Spoonguy 1/23/2026 7:06am
1/23/2026 7:06am
bluesmoke wrote:

An offroad specific 300 would make alot of folks happy except ktm. They couldnt sell them fast enough.

moto9 wrote:
It's by far the biggest 2 stroke market, trail, hard enduro, hare scrambles.If I had input with kaw, a 300 or 325 just to 1 up...

It's by far the biggest 2 stroke market, trail, hard enduro, hare scrambles.

If I had input with kaw, a 300 or 325 just to 1 up the Austrians.

If it's TBI then it really needs a tuner app. And map switch, fuel, timing, pv mapping, live data, code diag and clearing.

Mirror the tsp erm but in a phone app.

Needs to be tight turning with an adjustable dog bone to allow 3 lowering settings. 5mm,10mm, 20mm

Peg adjustments 5mm back, 5mm down.

Gobbs of torque and low end grunt.

I have a dream lol

 

AMetts wrote:
Why does everyone assume that this new Kawasaki 300 will be better than the KTMs in the first year? KTM have been making 300s for a...

Why does everyone assume that this new Kawasaki 300 will be better than the KTMs in the first year? KTM have been making 300s for a long time and have had the reputation of the best offroad bike for most of that time. 

They have been developing the fuel injected two strokes for almost 10 years now and these TBI bikes are very good despite what people that have never ridden one on the internet say. 

There is no doubt Kawasaki has leaned heavily on all of the development KTM has already done to engineer their injection system whatever it may be. 

Isn't there a "standard" bore and stroke all makers of 300s adhere to? And Kawasaki certainly will use an aluminum frame, certainly not WP suspension, probably at least 2K cheaper, and not owned by Bajaj either.

6
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AMetts
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AMetts 1/23/2026 7:21am
1/23/2026 7:21am
moto9 wrote:
It's by far the biggest 2 stroke market, trail, hard enduro, hare scrambles.If I had input with kaw, a 300 or 325 just to 1 up...

It's by far the biggest 2 stroke market, trail, hard enduro, hare scrambles.

If I had input with kaw, a 300 or 325 just to 1 up the Austrians.

If it's TBI then it really needs a tuner app. And map switch, fuel, timing, pv mapping, live data, code diag and clearing.

Mirror the tsp erm but in a phone app.

Needs to be tight turning with an adjustable dog bone to allow 3 lowering settings. 5mm,10mm, 20mm

Peg adjustments 5mm back, 5mm down.

Gobbs of torque and low end grunt.

I have a dream lol

 

AMetts wrote:
Why does everyone assume that this new Kawasaki 300 will be better than the KTMs in the first year? KTM have been making 300s for a...

Why does everyone assume that this new Kawasaki 300 will be better than the KTMs in the first year? KTM have been making 300s for a long time and have had the reputation of the best offroad bike for most of that time. 

They have been developing the fuel injected two strokes for almost 10 years now and these TBI bikes are very good despite what people that have never ridden one on the internet say. 

There is no doubt Kawasaki has leaned heavily on all of the development KTM has already done to engineer their injection system whatever it may be. 

Spoonguy wrote:
Isn't there a "standard" bore and stroke all makers of 300s adhere to? And Kawasaki certainly will use an aluminum frame, certainly not WP suspension, probably...

Isn't there a "standard" bore and stroke all makers of 300s adhere to? And Kawasaki certainly will use an aluminum frame, certainly not WP suspension, probably at least 2K cheaper, and not owned by Bajaj either.

Have you rode the new WP spring forks? Also the perimeter aluminum frames kind of suck for 2 gallon tanks, be smart if they went to a backbone design like the triumphs. 

5
Andy7
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Andy7 1/23/2026 8:04am
1/23/2026 8:04am

Man, I started this topic. Proof of how long it's been since that day, is that I have just discovered how to embed an Instagram link and edited my topic. LOL

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profeshenal125 1/23/2026 9:52am
1/23/2026 9:52am
mx317 wrote:

I would love to see a KX350 4-stroke alongside a 2-stroke KX300X and KX MX version. Realistically though, a KX125 would probably sell the best.

agn5008 wrote:

No way. A 300 off-road bike would absolutely sell better than a 125. 

mx317 wrote:
Maybe, but there is a lot of youngsters coming off of 85s and superminis that would buy a 125. I was thinking more moto, but you...

Maybe, but there is a lot of youngsters coming off of 85s and superminis that would buy a 125. I was thinking more moto, but you are right on the woods crowd.

The 125 class is Very popular as big as 250c at some tracks. I saw a kx125 at a race last yr , it sounded pretty Dam good & looked like it handled  good. 

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bluesmoke
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bluesmoke 1/23/2026 11:03am
1/23/2026 11:03am
agn5008 wrote:

No way. A 300 off-road bike would absolutely sell better than a 125. 

bluesmoke wrote:

An offroad specific 300 would make alot of folks happy except ktm. They couldnt sell them fast enough.

moto9 wrote:
It's by far the biggest 2 stroke market, trail, hard enduro, hare scrambles.If I had input with kaw, a 300 or 325 just to 1 up...

It's by far the biggest 2 stroke market, trail, hard enduro, hare scrambles.

If I had input with kaw, a 300 or 325 just to 1 up the Austrians.

If it's TBI then it really needs a tuner app. And map switch, fuel, timing, pv mapping, live data, code diag and clearing.

Mirror the tsp erm but in a phone app.

Needs to be tight turning with an adjustable dog bone to allow 3 lowering settings. 5mm,10mm, 20mm

Peg adjustments 5mm back, 5mm down.

Gobbs of torque and low end grunt.

I have a dream lol

 

I like the factory dogbone idea!

Drunkonunleaded 1/23/2026 11:08am
1/23/2026 11:08am
Spoonguy wrote:
Isn't there a "standard" bore and stroke all makers of 300s adhere to? And Kawasaki certainly will use an aluminum frame, certainly not WP suspension, probably...

Isn't there a "standard" bore and stroke all makers of 300s adhere to? And Kawasaki certainly will use an aluminum frame, certainly not WP suspension, probably at least 2K cheaper, and not owned by Bajaj either.

I'd happily pay Bajaj prices for a KDX300SR equivalent.  Better yet, make it a KDX300 Pro Circuit edition and give me all of the PC goodies from the factory.

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Pit Row

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Thornton_Melon 1/23/2026 11:19am
1/23/2026 11:19am

My dealer says the 85/112 will be revealed, no news on a big bike.

1
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dnolder15
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dnolder15 1/23/2026 1:17pm
1/23/2026 1:17pm
Thornton_Melon wrote:

My dealer says the 85/112 will be revealed, no news on a big bike.

Revealed when? 

1
Zoom
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Zoom 1/23/2026 1:57pm
1/23/2026 1:57pm
Fouled Plug wrote:

Zoom, where are you at? Any truth to this weekends rumor?

I'll be at A2, but don't think there will be an announcement in conjunction with A2. Getting closer though...

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Fouled Plug 1/23/2026 2:16pm
1/23/2026 2:16pm
Fouled Plug wrote:

Zoom, where are you at? Any truth to this weekends rumor?

Zoom wrote:

I'll be at A2, but don't think there will be an announcement in conjunction with A2. Getting closer though...

Excellent!

1
Thornton_Melon 1/23/2026 2:18pm
1/23/2026 2:18pm
Thornton_Melon wrote:

My dealer says the 85/112 will be revealed, no news on a big bike.

dnolder15 wrote:

Revealed when? 

A2, but take it for it's worth. This dealer is a good one though, I asked about rhe full size and there wasn't any info about that.

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Andy7
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Andy7 1/24/2026 8:13am
1/24/2026 8:13am Edited Date/Time 1/24/2026 8:13am

So, is there anybody in the pits? Is there anything that runs on premix under de PC tent?

Johnny_Utah 1/24/2026 8:20am
1/24/2026 8:20am
Andy7 wrote:

So, is there anybody in the pits? Is there anything that runs on premix under de PC tent?

No chance they debut a new model at A2

5
3strokemx
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3strokemx 1/24/2026 12:51pm
1/24/2026 12:51pm

Hearing reports that it's going to be a 50cc kids bike to compete with the KTM.   Source was Pen Island .com

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mxaniac
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mxaniac 1/24/2026 6:46pm
1/24/2026 6:46pm
Markopolo400 wrote:
Thats cause it was. SLS aluminum 3DP. Actually a really good application for it, and can be done overseas now for CHEAP. Most parts I have seen...

Thats cause it was. SLS aluminum 3DP. 

Actually a really good application for it, and can be done overseas now for CHEAP. Most parts I have seen SLS have better surface finish though.

Village Idiot wrote:
Interesting.Any links to some info on it? I'm curious as to how dense/hard the base metal is for cylinder applications and holding up to the vibrations...

Interesting.

Any links to some info on it? I'm curious as to how dense/hard the base metal is for cylinder applications and holding up to the vibrations from the exhaust spigot (not wallowing out, etc.). Anything that helps reduce the price of precision parts in a 2T is great news - make the affordable more affordable. 👍

gantry25 wrote:

At very low volumes it makes sense but for a production run, that technology is not competitive with traditional permanent mold castings.

Interestingly, the fuel nozzles in jet engines are often 3D printed. Prior, a lot of manual welding and brazing was involved, so clearly that's a differentiator.

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