Driving the Kawasaki factory for a day….
By Axel Martin – Image Kane O’Rourke
After the introduction was made at Empire Kawasaki ProMX team debutsfollowed by a quick lunch, it’s time to get in the car.
As a base, I decided to start with an available 2023 KX250. And that’s some base! I was shocked with the torque from the new model. It feels like a completely different bike in terms of power than the 2022 KX that I regularly ride around the City MX Circuit. There’s a lot of bottom section, and then it carries that power throughout the spin range.
The bike’s ergonomics make it feel very natural to sit on. You can go straight from a bike like a Honda or a Yamaha and feel right at home on a Kawasaki. Thanks to its relatively long wheelbase, the Kawasaki gives you excellent stability both through corners and in the air.
The suspension feels great. The 48mm KYB fork takes on sharp braking with confidence, ensuring plenty of grip at the front when entering the trail or out of a bumpy corner.
Overall, I’m amazed at how perfect this bike is, given the power and maneuverability a racer needs. If you want to make the most of it all the tweaks Kawasaki has made to the KX250 for 2023, then check out our preview of the model here.
However, I still have a conundrum… how does it compare to a race modified Empire Motorsport KX250, and are all their mods necessary for a club racer? normal set?
The excellent first cab was Haruki Yokoyama’s racing bike. This is a 2022 bike, but still as full of fruit as last season’s race. It’s like staring into my dreams and is easily the prettiest bike out there, looking like it’s speeding through the pit.
What makes this bike so special are all the trick parts, such as the xTrig triple clamp that ensures maximum Showa A Kit suspension efficiency. And a trick Pro Circuit TI-6 pipe.
All this outside work is nothing if it is not able to support them all. This is where the engine comes in and the Vortex ECU works, pushing the KX250 past the revs of a standard bike to squeeze every bit of power possible out of the engine. It’s much more important with 250 than the monster grunts pumped out by modern 450s and is more than enough for all but the best.
The first thing I noticed while riding the bike was the height of the pins. I’m 1.8m tall, a bit older than Haruki and his working posture doesn’t suit my lanky build. However, I put that aside and started watching with the feeling of sitting on a KX85. Did I mention it is a tight fit…
However, the amazing factor is that it has almost never-ending power, the bike continuously generates really strong power to the limit. It’s more like a 350 than the standard 250s I’m used to.
All this power is useless if you can’t control it, and that’s where the A Kit Showa forks and shock absorbers come in. Keep in mind it wasn’t set up right for me, but the car still handled amazingly, just like it was on the tracks. However, I passed after a few laps because the bike was too small for me and started giving me cramps.
I stood there after my ride looking at all the other bikes and another one after that really stood out to me.
This is Jai (Constantinou)’s bike. It has KYB A Kit forks and a Pro Circuit muffler, but the real thing on display is a set of factory-fresh Dunlops tires. These tires are much better than the original rubber you and I use. I find them almost impossible to slip out of my hand and they give me a lot of feel, so they’ve been planted in the ground. Unlike standard tires that slide and slide all the way through the track.
I like Jai’s bike more than Haruki’s. It may not have as many obvious deceiving parts but the biggest difference is the setup and the better base it’s the 2023 model. There isn’t too much difference between the specs though. of last year and this year, but the changes made have raised the bar for the whole car.
After riding through Taylah’s super soft bike, and then Campbell’s, I was completely exhausted, but pleased that I had just fulfilled a dream I’ve been cherishing since I knew what it’s like to be a biker. factory bike.
I still have the question, is all these modifications worth it? In my opinion you don’t need A Kit suspension to race in C or B, what I would do the most for those two classes is a tubular and tuned suspension
However, for an A student, I would splash a bit more cash to get the top-of-the-line A Kit suspension as I feel the difference when cornering and tilting the car into the tracks is impractical.
All in all, I was amazed at how radically different all five bikes were through their own setup choices. It really illustrates the level of adjustment the working riders have and how the team works with the riders to make them feel as comfortable as possible, to make their bike theirs.
The KX250F is a great bike, but after Empire Kawasaki let them loose, they took them to the next level.
Big thanks to Empire Kawasaki and Kawasaki Motors Australia for making one of this teenager’s dreams come true… One day factory is much better than no day..
