2012 Kawasaki KXF for sale on 2040-motos

Kawasaki KXF tech info

Engine Size (cc):250 Warranty:Unspecified Type:Off-Road For Sale By:Private Seller

Kawasaki KXF description

Very few hours on the bike, it is in excellent condition and is up for sale after having bought a new bike.

There is no doubt the Kawasaki KX250F has a winning racing heritage with well over 200 victories in

the Lites class since its debut in 2004. The masterminds at Pro Circuit are the main reason for the

quarter-liter Kawi’s success, but without a platform that is competitive out of the box, Mitch Payton’s

trophy case would be much smaller. In the past few years the KX has languished mid-pack during our

shootouts despite its racing domination. For 2012 Kawasaki sought to increase the KX250F’s standing

with an additional dose of horsepower and suspension tweaks.

The biggest news on the 2012 KX250F is the addition of a second fuel injector in the air intake before

the throttle body to increase top-end power and over-rev performance. With the second injector came

a new intake boot to accommodate the unit while maintaining a smooth flow of oxygen, and now fuel,

to the 43mm Keihin throttle body. Internal engine tweaks include a revised crankshaft that is better

balanced than any before, a beefed up connecting rod, and reworked stator.

The KX250F was the hands-down favorite of our testers, especially on the faster and more wide-open tracks.

On the track the Kawasaki was the king of motors. Everyone raved about the spread of power put

forth by the KX’s mill. Although the dual injector fueling is aimed at increasing over-rev and top-end,

the power is impressive from the first crack of the throttle until the rev-limiter screams. On the smaller

layout of Piru Motocross Park the extra juice was almost wasted, but the next day of Racetown 395 it

became immediately apparent how stout the Kawi’s motor really is.

“The Kawasaki had a great bottom and mid-range grunt that pulled longer on top than the Suzuki,”

claims pro-ripper Nick Thiel. “The motor inspired a lot of confidence in tighter sections, yet had plenty

of power to pull you over the biggest jumps and deeper sand sections. This by far was my favorite

motor.”

With such high praise being laid on the Kawasaki’s powerplant we were surprised to find it did not

produce the most horsepower or torque out on the Two Brother Racing dyno. However, it trailed in

both categories by the slimmest of margins putting out 35.12 horsepower at 12,300 rpm and 18.31 lb-ft

of torque at 8,700 rpm. Both numbers are made much higher up in the revs than the class leading

Suzuki, which makes the power feel so impressive. It just keeps building while the others have

already peaked. It just goes to show that feel and numbers don’t always jive.

Putting the power to the ground on the Kawasaki is a bit more difficult in the crusty hard pack

conditions of our holeshot and roll on testing. Once again we were perplexed when the KX250F did

not dominate both tests. In the 120-foot blast to the first turn, a fourth-place 4.06-second and 40.2

mph result was the result of copious wheel spin on the launch. With more practice than the standard

one-and-done in our testing, the Kawi should be an effective starter. But as it stands it was not the

easiest to get off the start line. Once again on the 3rd-gear roll-on test, wheel spin put the KX to the

back of the pack, covering 15-40 mph in 3.08 seconds at 124.6 feet.

The suspension on the Kawasaki was stiffened up for 2012 and was a welcome change for our faster riders.

Kawasaki is the only manufacturer equipping its motocrosser with Showa’s Separate Fork Function

(SFF) suspension that uses one fork for damping and the other for springing. For 2012 the spring rate

was increased and the rebound spring was lengthened. At the back shock the spring rate was also

increased to balance with the changes to the front along with revalving.

Last year the crew ranked the suspension second to the Honda, but this year it gets the nod as top

dog. It seemed the harder you rode the KX, the better the suspension worked, giving maximum

confidence when the track got rough towards the end of the day and on high speed sections.

“It had great feel on the jumps and had a progressive set-up that worked better the hard you pushed

it,” says Thiel. “This bike outshines the other bikes – no doubt.”

The excellent suspension performance equates into improved handling scores. Although dominance

was not total, the Kawasaki can stand toe-to-toe with the Honda as the top choice for handling

prowess. Our testers praised the stability of the Kawasaki while still having the ability to corner with

the best of the bunch.

“The Kawasaki had a lot of front end traction and was easy to put the front where I wanted,”

comments pro-level rider, Matt Armstrong. “The KX was very stable and predictable which made it

easy to hit my lines lap after lap.”

The cockpit of the KX250F feels larger than the others in the shootout. The entire layout is just slightly

more spacious making it more comfortable for the bigger riders, but not so big that the more

diminutive riders had issues. The one issue that knocked the Kawasaki from the top of our tester’s list

was the hard feel of the grips. After three or four days of riding, things like that begin to make a big

difference.

Kawasaki did a little tweaking on the shift action of the KX250F for 2012 to make the gearbox more

precise, stiffening the shift

The suspension, handling and motor of the 2012 Kawasaki KX250F create an almost complete package, the only

thing missing is a decent set of brakes.

forks and making the rods solid rather than the hollow units of 2011. However, we still ran into the

occasional false neutral, although it was not as prevalent as last year. The gear spacing was a little

short in second gear, forcing the rider to rush into grabbing third when dropping the hammer. The

clutch was rock solid with no signs of fading with a nice light feel at lever.

The Achilles heel of the mighty green giant is at your right index finger. The braking category was the

only place where the Kawasaki ranked last and most likely cost it the overall win in this shootout. The

feel at the lever was acceptable, but the outright lack of power was disappointing. Slowing the KX

required getting out of the meaty power early and then braking way before even the next lowest

performer on the binder totem pole. An aftermarket oversized front disc and braided line would be

the very first purchase for any serious racer.

After the votes were tallied and the numbers crunched, the Kawasaki finished just one point out of

first place. With the ever tightening competition in the 250 class, even the smallest issues are enough

to knock a stellar machine out of the top spot, and this was the case with the green machine in our

2012 250 Motocross Shootout. With a monster motor, well sported handling and dialed suspension

the 2012 KX250F should be on the short list for any serious racer – or race team. Just ask Mitch

Payton.

Kawasaki KXF for Sale

2017 kawasaki kxf(US $8000)
2014 kawasaki kxf(US $4,599.00)
2013 kawasaki kxf(US $13000)
2014 kawasaki kxf(US $4,250.00)
2008 kawasaki kxf(US $2,500.00)
2013 kawasaki kxf(US $4,300.00)

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