2018 Kawasaki KLX250 First Look | Fast Facts

September 21, 2017

2018 Kawasaki KLX250 | Now With EFI

After three years in the wilderness, the Kawasaki KLX250 returns to the fold. While it was gone, it acquired an important update—fuel injection to replace the Keihin carburetor. Here are the essential fast facts you need to know about the 2018 Kawasaki KLX250.

EFI is the big news on the returning 2018 Kawasaki KLX250. The DOHC motor gets a 10-nozzle injector to better feed the oversquare combustion chamber. This should help the motor work better on- and off-road in the mountains, where the altitude can change by thousands of feet during a ride.

Emissions have been reduced to satisfy the government tailpipe sniffers. The new KLX250 is 50-state legal, and features a catalyzer to clean up the exhaust.

The chassis returns from the earlier KLX250S (note that the S is gone from the name or 2018). The fork has compression-damping and spring-preload adjustments, and it’s an inverted 43mm design with cartridge internals. The new shock is fully adjustable, and linkage-assisted. The frame is the same perimeter design. Ultimate Motorcycling last reviewed the KLX250S in 2014 and noted its lack of EFI—we’re glad to see that rectified.

There is also a Camo version. If Lime Green isn’t to your liking, the 2018 Kawasaki KLX250 is available with Matrix Camo Gray/Metallic Matte Carbon Gray graphic for an additional $200. The base KLX250 runs $5349, which puts it within $200 of the Honda CRF250L and Yamaha XT250.

2018 Kawasaki KLX250 Specs

ENGINE

Type: Single-cylinder
Displacement: 249cc
Bore x stroke: 72.0 x 61.2mm
Compression ratio: 11.0:1
Fueling: EFI
Transmission: 6-speed
Final drive: Chain

CHASSIS

Front suspension; travel: Compression-damping and spring-preload adjustable 43mm inverted cartridge fork; 10.0 inches
Rear suspension; travel: Linkage assisted fully adjustable shock; 9.1 inches
Front tire: 3.00-21
Rear tire: 4.60-18
Front brake: 250mm petal disc
Rear brake: 240mm petal disc

DIMENSIONS and CAPACITIES