| Kawasaki KX250 The making of a Woods Machine |
| Riding Green |
| Thinking about riding a motocross 2-stroke bike in the woods? The KX Experience |
| I bought my 2003 KX250 from Motorcycle Brokers in Vancouver, BC Canada. Who are they and what's their deal? Those Crazy Canadians |
| Hebo hydraulic clutch conversion: Just Like Butter! |
| As with KTM's, parts for the KX250 can be expensive. Now for Green Machines: I've continued my Quest for Cheap |
Background: Ryan's Farm hare scramble, September 2006 (Morrison, Illinois)
| Ever wonder what a motorcycle looks like in the crate? 2003 Kawasaki KX250 Purchased from Motorcycle Brokers |
| The cardboard makes a great floor mat. |
| Note the placement of vertical frame members next to the radiators. |
| The crate was light and effective in protecting the '03 KX250. I mounted the front wheel, handlebars, front fender and number plate, added some transmission oil and gas, and it was ready to ride. |
| The 2004 KX250 at its second race (Colona, Illinois 3/26/06) |
| In 2003-04, Kawasaki apparently produced more KX250's for the U.S. market than they could sell, resulting in some pretty low prices for leftover models. The '03 KX worked well enough after a couple years of hard racing, so when I had a chance to pick up a new '04 KX for a decent price in July 2005, I jumped at the opportunity. Naturally, I rarely take the conventional route when buying motorcycles, and this one was no exception. The KX came from Racing Unlimited (Fort Dodge, Iowa), delivered to me on a flatbed trailer full of drywall studs at a weigh station on I-55 in Bolingbrook, Illinois. Prior to that, I'd had only a few e-mail exchanges and phone calls with a guy who runs the dealership. When I overnighted that cashier's check, let's just say I was putting my full faith in human decency. Thankfully, the semi-truck arrived on schedule. |
| Many of the aftermarket parts that turned the 2003 KX250 into a woods machine were interchangeable with the '04 KX, which only added to the attraction of owning a really leftover dirt bike. Since it was July when the new bike arrived, I finished out the racing season on the '03 KX and let the '04 KX sit patiently (I never even started the engine until December '05). Its first ride was in January 2006. Naturally, the '04 KX is very similar to the '03 KX. A few tweaks to the engine gave it a bit more response. Other minor changes were a different front brake line routing, repositioning of a exhaust pipe bracket, and slightly different shock linkage. Unlike the '03 KX, on which I stuck with the stock pipe almost exclusively, I've been using an FMF Fatty on the '04 KX, not so much because of the extra responsiveness with the FMF pipe, but more because I smashed all the used (eBay) stock pipes I had in my inventory. The Fatty pipe was the last I had, so I bolted on a fancy ELine carbon fiber pipe guard and haven't looked back. |