My latest Classic Steel is a look back at Kawasaki's all-new 1988 KX250

tblazier
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tblazier
Edited Date/Time 4/3/2021 12:19pm
Classic Steel #156 - 1988 Kawasaki KX250


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mb60
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mb60 4/2/2021 6:41pm
4/2/2021 6:41pm
Man coming off my 87 to that thing was a major let down.
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nickm
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nickm 4/2/2021 6:50pm
4/2/2021 6:50pm
mb60 wrote:
Man coming off my 87 to that thing was a major let down.
Same here, the forks were great but went from the thinnest bike to the thickest in 12 short months!
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burn1986
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burn1986 4/3/2021 6:35am
4/3/2021 6:35am
It was fat, but I loved mine, and I’m a smaller guy. Easy to ride fast for me.

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dirtworldmx 4/3/2021 6:45am
4/3/2021 6:45am
mb60 wrote:
Man coming off my 87 to that thing was a major let down.
Completely different ergonomics...didn't feel comfortable at all....we raced the 87 for another year.
TeamGreen
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TeamGreen 4/3/2021 9:54am
4/3/2021 9:54am
burn1986 wrote:
It was fat, but I loved mine, and I’m a smaller guy. Easy to ride fast for me.
It was a smaller-engine in a 500!
Woohoo
‘89 was a great year at Kawi. You could go from a 125 to a 250 to a 500 and all your settings were identical...
Ergonomics? Identical.
Awesome Suspension? Identical.
It was Good year to be Green.
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Ted722
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Ted722 4/3/2021 10:17am
4/3/2021 10:17am
mb60 wrote:
Man coming off my 87 to that thing was a major let down.
I was coming off an ‘87 CR250. On the test ride, fell in love with the engine and thought I could make this work. Sent my suspension to Race Tech in ‘88 and he did “make it work”.

But, my Dad said it best. “You were better on the Honda”. All in all, good couple years of racing mx and off-road(not as much as I’d like as I was right in the middle of college).

My buddy got an ‘89 KX and it was better in every way especially the handling and “big” 46mm conventional fork.
BigBoreFan58
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BigBoreFan58 4/3/2021 12:19pm
4/3/2021 12:19pm Edited Date/Time 4/3/2021 12:20pm
One of my all time favorite bikes, great motor.

I'm not much of bike restorer, but if I was an 88 or 89 KX250 would be on my list.

Listen to the Dennis Hawthorne interview from Matthes. Dennis says his favorite KX was the 89 250.

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