KAWASAKI Offroad! Does Japan have it Figured Out?

0:03 [Music] wheel is [Music] good hello my friends I'm R starson and I'm the RSC tire guy today we almost need no introduction we've got the 2025 Kawasaki KX 250X uh it's been a while since I've been on a fourstroke I'm very excited to test this thing in fact I've actually been testing this thing for the past 3 days putting in the time making some

0:49 changes feeling the bike out it's very different um it's taken a little time to adapt to but I think we're fine in a setting that I really like I'm going to talk about those suspension changes that I've been making and uh the little things that I'm noticing about this bike a little bit later but first I got to say this is the first Japanese bike that I've tested full-size Japanese bike that I've tested um I did ride the klx230 you can check that video out right here but I mean this has been since I was 13 years old I had a cr25 so it's been a long time since I've been on a Japanese bike and I'm very excited about how this bike already feels and really putting it through the ring or getting into the

1:34 more technical hardened Earl stuff we're riding sand trck right now that's what we're going to start with that's where we're going to find our settings and then we're going to move forward now it's been a while since I've been on a fourstroke if you guys remember I did a tm300 fourstroke review that was a really fun bike to ride you can check that review out right here uh lot of fun on that thing you know put it through the paces in the technical stuff also the higher speed stuff very well-rounded bike getting on this it's a it's kind of a similar feel uh but it has its own personality and and it's actually really really interesting the little things that I've noticed about this bike already um we've got a lot of new tech on this bike and as you guys know we see some Rumblings about a Kawasaki TW

2:19 stroke coming out soon so I'm like dude this is like perfect timing I got myself a KX 250X we're going to review this thing and I I'll tell you what hopefully when that Kawasaki two-stroke comes out we get to put a little time on that one too but let's start here Kawasaki has been pushing into the off-road Market uh we obviously have the KX 250X and the 450x uh with the 18-in rear wheel and some changes to mappings and some other minor things uh that make it a suitable off-road bike uh it's it is amazing you get on this thing and you kind of realize okay this is definitely a motocross bike but they've made some changes to make it suitable for that off-road side I think we're going to see more of Kawasaki pushing into the off-road and I you know hopefully competing with KTM that's what we need

3:06 in this industry I've said it a thousand times with all the bike reviews that I do the more Brands the better you guys know I've been riding the ru uh I get excited about more Brands coming into our sport to the different disciplines just not just doing Motocross and Supercross but going into hardend Duro I mean obviously hardend and Dural cross that's what I love so much and and uh I want to see more Brands represented there I would love to see Kawasaki come back to Enduro crft if you guys remember this was late ATS early 10s uh 2008 2009 we saw a factory Kawasaki effort in endurocross uh we saw Damon Huffman Ricky Dietrich obviously destri Abbott was on the CO's back in the day and uh yeah I mean they had that kind of

3:51 endurocross push and man wouldn't that be neat to see Kawasaki get back into Enduro Cross and hard uro I mean that that's wishful thinking I'm looking way ahead but I'm excited to get into the testing on this bike explaining to you guys exactly how this thing feels and uh yeah let's get after it with a little bit of sand trck action [Music] [Music] [Music]

4:39 [Music] [Music] all right so let's talk about the characteristics of this bike now I'm on my third day of testing out here I've done three days in a row uh it actually rained yesterday so the dirt's like really good right now um and we've made some huge strides forward that being said when I first got on the bike I actually had a tough time getting a good lap and I'll explain why um as we kind of move forward but let me first start with talking a little bit about the engine characteristics now this is the

5:25 off-road model now they say that they've tuned it back a little bit to make it kind of a Smo smoother power curve uh they've also done different gearing this has 1350 gearing which is I think a really solid off-road gearing and truthfully it lugs pretty dang good in first gear uh but has the ability to pull me in third all the way around this whole track so I don't shift at all and that's pretty awesome on previous bikes like the beta I usually do one shift I'm riding in second most of the time shift up to third this has the ability to pull me out of third gear which was really surprising and honestly helps to get your lap time down when you don't have to think about shifting it's pretty awesome it actually has a pretty impressive uh torquey power to it I mean it allows me to ride around in third

6:11 gear the whole time into some of these deep sand ruts it still has the ability to kind of chug down into the bottom of the power but pull me out on the exit one huge thing about this bike is uh I feel like the engine braking is significantly less than other four strokes that I've put time on I love that uh I've come out here I remember when I was on the TM out here that was actually something I had to get used to was every time I chopped the throttle I felt like I was getting thrown over the bars this does not have a lot of engine braking that engine braking thing you especially if you're a two-stroke Rider it's something that takes a lot of time to get used to you don't realize how much you Coast until you get on a fourstroke and then you're like oh man I need to learn how to kind of hold the throttle on all the time and this bike

6:59 it has the ability to Coast which I really like um like I said significantly less engine braking than other now obviously we're just doing sand track right now we're going to get into the technical stuff but let's talk about the biggest difference that I feel jumping onto a Kawasaki um I got to say it's the show of suspension so this is the first time I've really tested showa suspension and I've got to say right off the bat it is significantly stiffer than any other off-road bike that I have rode this is very important for everyone to understand I actually went the wrong direction with my testing uh at first this is why it's taken me 3 days to get a setting I like um cuz it was surprisingly stiff and and here's kind of where my head was at within my testing so let me talk about my testing

7:45 protocol now you guys may have seen the video where we broke down kind of how I go about testing suspension um I did it exactly the same on this bike I set the bike at Comfort settings I always say setting it at Comfort puts it at that place where it's kind kind of soft and you have the ability I always find it's easier to feel the bike when it's too soft than it is when it's too stiff and this actually proves that theory because I said it at 15 went out and usually when you're riding higher speed stuff the uh general rule of thumb in my opinion is you go stiffer with the compression and you go slower with the rebound as the speeds increase you go stiffer and slower as you get more technical you go softer and faster so I did my same testing protocol and started

8:31 going stiffer and slower as I went stiffer it actually kind of started to go the other way and honestly I kept crashing uh I just kept tipping over I couldn't keep the bike in these ruts and this track is very challenging because it's very on line it's kind of like riding a tight RPP right it's it's very technical as far as a sand trck goes so I was a little bit frustrated and I rode off I was like okay there's this jump over here I rode off and hit this jump a few times so this is like a you know a little 60ft tabletop type thing that's just right across from this turn track and kind of feeling the jump out coming a little short at first and then clearing it when I was coming up short I was going dude this thing is taking these short Landings where any other bike would be bottoming this thing is taking it up really good so that kind of

9:18 clicked in my head I'm like dude this thing's too stiff you got to start going the other direction again I've been in the habit with the wp and the KYB the beta the KTMs all of the other off-road bikes they tend to be more on the soft side and you end up going stiffer and slower on this bike I was backing it out three clicks at a time back back back I actually went all the way to 21 clicks out 21 clicks out on a on a KTM or a beta that would be very very soft and this actually I think I could go even softer so I I did the zip tie test that's another piece of this testing so as I've gone further and further out I did the zip tie test this is a good way for you guys to kind of see how much of the stroke you're using now it's all

10:05 dependent on the situation but in my opinion you want to be using all of the suspension your suspension should be pretty dang close to bottoming at least once a lap or you know I shouldn't say that cuz I I'm I'm sure you guys will almost come after me for saying that but you wanted to be as close to bottoming as possible you want to be using all of the stroke uh as I did this zip tie test rote a few lefts this is again at 21 clicks back with the compression I'm going dude I still got 6 in of travel left so I think I could keep going and find more Comfort uh but that being said my lap times have significantly gotten faster um I feel significantly more comfortable um I'm actually able to put the bike where I want to put it so this

10:51 whole long thing I'm talking to much here this is all about the show of suspension Kawasaki has put a pretty dang stiff setup in the show of suspension so if you get one of these KX 250xs be prepared to back it out quite a ways to find that Comfort if you feel like you're having trouble putting the bike where you want it that is the exact reason that being said as I've come back it's actually a very Progressive Suspension it has the ability to take those hard hits uh but still has the ability to track where I want it to um it's it's been a lot of fun honestly doing this testing it was a little frustrated at first like I said I had to ride away and go hit a couple jumps for a minute to clear my mind and I'm glad I did cuz it it it set me up to get the

11:36 setting that I wanted now that I've softened it up I'm really starting to jive with the bike I'm excited to get into a little bit of Enduro Cross so that is going to be the next T I've got a natural endurocross track you guys saw me test a little bit of the ru with the 36mm carb on it I'm going to get out there and see if I can avoid bashing this thing on rocks uh it is very pretty I like the look of it but that being said man I'm excited I think getting into some technical stuff we're going to really learn the exact characteristics of the engine on the 2025 KX 250X [Applause]

12:23 [Music] [Music] all right guys we are essentially on to day five of testing now the intention was to come out to this natural Enduro Cross track uh yesterday I got out here it was covered with snow so I didn't really want to be slopping around in the mud so I went to a different turn track now we've done some videos on this turn track I always say it's the closest

13:09 thing to endurocross without the rocks and logs it's a very technical tight turn track and I'm actually stoked uh that I ended up doing that because I came away with a few more suspension settings that I'm really happy with I really started to drive with the bike yesterday and I learned a little more about the engine characteristics so first off let's start a little bit with that suspension setup uh I made a couple adjustments we still went a little bit softer and we actually took away a little bit of that low speeed rebound dampening and I always say that low speed the clicker adjustment on the shock that's almost like a moving sag if you roll that back just a little bit you'll find that the bike sits just a little bit deeper in the stroke and that seemed to really help me track in those corners and really settle into those

13:55 Corners now in fact yesterday I set the fastest lap time I've ever ran at that turn track so I'm very happy with the strides that I've made on the suspension I felt really comfortable yesterday now the other thing that I noticed is the engine characteristics now something to me that's so huge with four strokes is the confidence they give you to jump um and there's nothing on that track that's like a a big jump or anything like that but there is one thing that I've looked at there there's a little section that I've looked at before but I never pulled the trigger on it and essentially it's a lip that's maybe a foot tall and it acrosses about a 15t ditch and usually you just kind of ride through it and for some reason yesterday I was like you know what I think I can just jump this

14:41 thing and I did it worked out great cut a second off my time felt really fast it's not to say that I couldn't do that on a 300 but I honestly think that the fourstroke gives me the confidence to do that I really believe that that's in the power delivery of the bike they have a very long torque curve it's easy to find that traction I always say it's almost easier to do splatters uh or tight doubles out of a corner on these bikes cuz you can put the power down and they kind of just spring off of the ground which I really like now that brings us to today now today we are finally at the natural endural cross track the track turned out great today we worked it in a little bit laid down quite a few laps and today was all about gearing now let's talk about that the stock gearing on the KX 250X is 1350 now that is a

15:27 pretty off-road Style gearing for sure I will say it definitely has closer to a Motocross transmission uh in 1350 it's great on the turn track feels awesome really anywhere where you've got that speed um here this is technical this is a very technical endural cross trck again we've kind of strung rocks together and and tied a a really technical andural cross trck together and I have to say I'm doing a lot of Shifting in between first and second uh and second gear is right on the edge of Just Too Too Tall second I I almost can't pull it I'm right on the edge of stalling and I actually stalled a couple times so that being said I would probably run 1250 out here so I'd go one to smaller on the front SP sprocket I think that that would make a huge

16:13 difference in my ability to almost I'm I would bet I could probably hold second all the way around this track now uh just last week we did the 36 mm carbon the ru and I was going in between second and first on that bike as well so very similar um on the r who I was in first through that kind of Double Rock undercut technical section and I was in first on this as well the goal would be to be in second through that section although it's very slow you still would want to be able to pull second through that I wouldn't be able to do that right now with this current gearing so changing it to 12 I bet you it would make a huge difference I mean shortening it up just a little bit and uh yeah allowing me to pull second all the way through it does feel like even in first there is a little bit of a tendency to

16:58 want to stall so I wonder about maybe a flywheel or something like that I'm not really even sure what aftermarket stuff you can do to the C but I'm thinking the first thing we're going to do is go 1250 make that adjustment and I think that's going to be big now as far as suspension goes out here we're dialed in we're using the entire stroke again we put the uh zip tie on the fork to see how much of the stroke we're using lay down a lap see where we're at we're using the entire stroke which is great I don't feel like I'm bottoming I mean honestly if there was a few like Boulder field sections that you would get in a in a regular endural cross track I might even go a little bit softer um or even quite a bit softer I think that this bike set up really really good for that kind of single track high-speed stuff I think as it gets a little bit more technical you're going to want to change that

17:44 gearing maybe go to a 1250 maybe even just a few teeth on the back 1352 that might be better for the average guy I mean for this track you know I'm I'm really looking for that ability to not shift the whole entire time so 1250 might be the move I think we're going to go to that um we need to test this in some hard andural I think that's going to be a huge piece and before we do that I got to change the gearing for sure now the other thing I will say about this bike is it runs hot every fourstroke runs hot right uh we put a Trail Tech fan they make a universal fan we put that on um it was definitely running we've got it set at 200° and these for strokes you know they tend to run about 20° higher than the two strokes so that's a huge piece of that Harden Duro sign I think maybe double fan setup if doing specific harden a row on a

18:30 fourstroke um that being said most guys don't ride the four strokes in hardened a row one for the tendency to stall just a little bit more and the heat um I will say there's times where I feel like the four strokes almost hold traction and momentum better like Traction in momentum situations like after you establish momentum sometimes I feel like the four strokes hold better traction um but on the other side of things it's harder to establish that momentum with a for stroke you really have to ride these things a little bit different and I was even kind of like man I got to get used to riding a fourstroke in those endurocross specific situations um just because even like as you do that double blip it's a different form than a two-stroke you're a little more steady with the throttle you're not chopping so heavily and kind of using that

19:17 dispersing power as much I mean you still kind of time it the same but you have to be a little bit more careful with the Precision of throttle and clutch together and I think we'll talk a lot about that as we kind of of move forward with the videos on this bike maybe some technique specific fourstroke stuff um to show you guys how you kind of adapt and change from bike to bike but that being said I am psyched about the feeling on this bike I think it's very flickable it's very controllable after I've got that suspension dialed in I honestly Jive really well with the Eros of this bike I felt like on the TM for stroke the tm300 um I felt like that one was a little bit more cumbersome like I had a tougher time kind of working it around and throwing it about this bike I I do feel like I have a

20:03 higher ability to kind of Kick the rear end around and and make adjustments those quick movements I feel like I'm able to do quite a bit more on this bike so I'm really excited about the Eros of it I think with the right settings within the gearing maybe a flywheel something like that I think we can really find some strides with my ability in the endurocross and I think we could probably lay down another heater um out here and set the record on this thing I'm excited we've got so much more to talk about on this thing I mean there is a full mapping setup that I haven't really even messed if I know there's kind of like some traction control I think that's what we're going to say for the Hard Enduro episode coming up soon but I'm excited I hope you guys are to this has been a lot of fun um we're going to put this thing through the ringer find out what this thing is

20:49 capable find out if we can make kind of a proper hard andural fourstroke out of one of these Japanese brands um I'm excited to do it and I think this is the bike to do it on uh prove to you guys that all these bikes are really good and I think everybody kind of knows that that's kind of my opinion on everything all the bikes are really good nowadays it's just the adjustments that you have to make within the bike every bike has adjustments and uh yeah we're running you guys through it to to kind of show you uh what you would run into if you decide to get yourself a cowi and also maybe one day we'll be able to ride that two-stroke that they're coming out with um man I hope it's an off-road two-stroke that would be sick right I'm excited I'm going to keep going I hope you guys are enjoying this stuff uh let me know in the comments what you want to see me do on this thing and uh yeah make sure to like comment subscribe follow us on Instagram RC Moto my personal

21:36 Instagram page at Rich Larson 511 I'm traveling around the us right now doing clinics get signed up for one of my clinics at Rich Larson 511.com and until next time keep shredding [Music]