To say that Kawasaki had a good year with the KX250F in 2006 is pretty much an understatement. The bike was well received by the press, sold well and gathered in a bunch of championships culminating with the MX Lites title for Ryan Villopoto. Icing on the cake was Villopoto's MX2 individual best score at the MX of Nations. So what to do for an encore? Kawasaki kept the changes basic, but keyed on the important. The chassis flex is changed to feel less rigid, but still have accurate handling. Engine power is boosted at lower rpm, and an entirely new transmission with wider and stronger gears handle the abuse of the additional ponies. Naturally the suspension settings are updated, and a curious-looking new chain roller that looks like a toothed saw is given credit for better manners under deceleration.
The '06 KX250F turned great, and chassis and suspension changes make this one even happier to change direction.
The changes work well on the track. The '07 pulls hard from right off idle, and it never seems to find a soft spot or hesitation in its acceleration curve. When the track was wet, and the engine spins up in the rpm easily, the engine improvement was subtle. When the surface grew hard, chopped and beat-up, the extra urge gets to the ground better and accelerates harder. The suspension action is more controlled with no wallowing yet absorbed jarring hits and landings better. The shock is a smaller improvement than the fork, but both ends work well together.
No doubt the KX250F will win more on the track in '07, and at $5999 we see no reason they will languish in the showroom either.