Air-assisted 35mm forks with 3-way adjustable AVDS
anti-dive
Rear Suspension
Adjustable damping and 5-way preload
Front Brakes
2x 260mm discs 1
piston calipers
Rear Brakes
Single 350mm disc 1
piston calipers
Front Tyre
100/90 VR16
Rear Tyre
110/80 VR18
Rake
27º
Trail
84 mm / 3.3 in
Dry Weight
133 kg / 293 lbs
Fuel Capacity
16 Litres / 4.2 US gal
Standing
¼ Mile
13.6 sec / 95.5 mph
Top Speed
180.2 km/h / 112 mph
With the stoplight about to turn
green, our guide through Tokyo looked back and winced. he was unnerved by
the raspy wail of the K.R250 behind him preparing to launch away from a traffic
light at 8000 rpm. It was a racetrack sound, out of place in most cities. But in
Tokyo, even the taxi-cabs come off the line hard. And to stay ahead of traffic
and keep up with our guide's quick and torquey Yamaha RZV500, the peaky Kawasaki
demanded drag strip starting techniques.
Indeed, one way or another, the KR250 brings out the closet
racer in the most conservative of riders. That's its heritage. In 1981 Kawasaki
won a world championship with another bike named KR250. But while the street KR
owes its basic design to the racer KR, the two share no parts. Both have at
their heart a twin-cylinder two-stroke engine that is, in effect, two 125cc
Singles mounted one behind the other in a common crankcase, their cranks
connected by large gears. Rotary-valve induction is used on both racer and
replica, with dual carbs feeding into the side of the crankcase. An exhaust pipe
from the front cylinder tucks under the engine; the other pipe snakes its way
from the back of the rearcylindertoexit high nearthe seat. Both KRs are narrow,
light and powerful.
That racer heritage shines through in the street KR250. The
engine pulls cleanly everyplace, but it's happiest between 8000 and 10,500 rpm.
When the engine hits eight grand at full throttle in first gear, the front wheel
claws for the sky while the KR leaps forward almost as quickly as a
catalyst-equipped RZ350 Yamaha. And the Kawasaki cruises smoothly and
effortlessly at speeds unheard of for a 250: 80, 90, 100 mph. Top speed is well
over 110 mph. The penalty is that, much like a racing 250, the KR only makes
good power in one gear at any given speed. Come out of a corner a gear too high,
the engine will drone ineffectively.
Handling-wise, the KR is quick-steering yet stable, and the
suspension is supple over small bumps, rather harsh over large ones. The only
real handling defect, however, comes from the slightly rearward weight bias: The
front end lightens so much under power that the steering can be vague and
imprecise when charging out of slow turns.
Still, for a thoroughbred racer that's been tamed for street use, the KR250
has few weaknesses. It's racy enough to be more high-revving fun on the street
than just about anything on two wheels.