1973 Kawasaki Kx on 2040-motos

By early 1972, Kawasaki decided to build a competitive MX bike to fill the growing market in the United States.   They went out and hired riders Brad Lackey, John Desoto among others to race and help developed the bikes.   The bikes showed early promise and Lackey rewarded them with their 1st National title in the Open class later that year.  In 1973 Kawasaki was prepared to release a limited production open class bike that they dubbed the F12MX.   They also released the 250 F11MX version.  Bryon Farnsworth, Kawasaki’s American R&D Manager at the time, said, “We used Peter Lamppu and Jim Cook as test riders, and Kawasaki Japan contracted Thorlief Hansen! Our riders were impressed with the power, and the finish was good, but the suspension and handling still left something to be desired. The Japanese focused on the 250s, as their test riders were smaller. Both of these bikes were produced with many light components that brought them both in near 200 lbs.    The projected number of these bikes to be made available was rumored to be about 200 of each.   This is number 82.

It is believed by many sources that significantly less than 200 bikes  were ever released from Kawasaki  They were made available only to sponsored riders that had interviewed for them.  They were extremely light and powerful. The bikes featured magnesium hubs,  chromoly frames, custom Kayaba shocks, plastic fuel tank and levers. Kawasaki fed these sponsored riders parts over the course of the year to try out.  

  We have 30 pictures of the bike - google East Coast Vintage MX...... Jason Weaver 919 790-2235