2012 KX250F and KX450F

Kawasaki has announced upgraded versions of its KX250F and KX450F off-roaders for 2012.



In a world first for a production motocross bike, the KX250F’s single-cylinder engine gets dual fuel injectors. This novel system is claimed to give a smooth and instant throttle response, combined with extra power.

The chassis has also received attention. Included in the specifications for 2012 is Showa’s Separate Function front Fork (SFF), which benefits the handling by separating out the shock absorption and damping actions. The rear hasn’t been forgotten either, and the Uni-Trak suspension set-up has been given some tweaks.



A major innovation for the larger KX450F is its launch control feature. Similar to the system used by Kawasaki’s factory racers, it’s activated by the push of a button and works by switching to a separate engine map that’s designed to reduce wheel spin in slippery conditions.

There are also three switchable engine maps for soft, standard or hard terrain. Each of these can then be modified by using the optional KX FI Calibration Kit, which also allows riders to record and analyse data direct from their bike.



UK prices for the 2012 KX250F and KX450F have yet to be confirmed but, to give an idea of where they’re likely to be, the 2011 models currently retail for £6,249 and £6,449 respectively.

2011 Kawasaki W800 price

Following a debut at 2010’s Cologne Intermot motorcycle show, Kawasaki has now confirmed pricing for its new W800.

In the UK it’s £6,649 which includes VAT at the new rate of 20%, but excludes on the road charges.



By comparison Triumph’s Bonneville - the obvious main rival - costs £6,149 in standard trim. The higher spec Bonneville SE is slightly more at £6,549, while the very retro Bonneville T100 model with its wire wheels, peashooter exhaust, fork gaiters and lots of chrome is £6,949.



However, an important difference to note is that those Triumph prices are all ‘on the road’.

Elsewhere, Australian buyers will have to pay $11,999 (plus on the road charges) for a Kawasaki W800, while in Germany the suggested list price is €8,190 plus freight and other costs.



Admirers of the W800 in the United States and Canada are going to be disappointed, though, as it seems that for now Kawasaki won’t be importing the bike into those markets.



Related posts:

Kawasaki W800 revealed

Retro Kawasaki W800

ZX-10R recall explained

A couple of weeks ago, Kawasaki announced a ‘technical hold’ notice for its new 2011 Ninja ZX-10R in North America - in other words, a recall.

Under the notice, all bikes already delivered to customers and those at dealers had to be returned to Kawasaki. The cause was said to be unexpected engine behaviour, but an official reason wasn’t disclosed at the time.

Now, though, it seems that Kawasaki engineers have got to the bottom of the problem. A statement from the company reads:

"It had been discovered that when some examples of the new 2011 Ninja ZX-10R were operated at high rpm under unique riding conditions - such as operating on a racetrack - the intake valve springs could surge. Should this rare incidence occur it could cause one or more intake valves to seat improperly, resulting in poor engine performance.



"Having examined the very small number of machines which exhibited this surge phenomenon, the Kawasaki factory engineers have designed and fully tested a countermeasure which solves the problem without affecting any facet of the new engine’s outstanding performance.



"On the limited number of machines produced so far, the camshaft, valve springs and spring retainers for intake valves are being replaced to prevent the valve spring from surging. The same design update is automatically being incorporated into the ongoing production run of the newest and most powerful Ninja yet produced."

The European launch of the bike, which was delayed because of the technical issues, is now expected to be at the end of January 2011. In the UK, the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R will be priced at £11,699, with ABS costing an additional £1,000.

Honda CBR250R first look

With the Ninja 250R, Kawasaki has had the quarter-litre sports bike class pretty much to itself of late.



But now that’s set to change. Honda has just announced the CBR250R, which is designed to plug the gap in its supersports range between the CBR125R and the CBR600RR.

Due to make its debut at next month’s EICMA Motorcycle Show in Milan, power for the CBR250R will come from a 249.4 cc PGM-FI fuel injected engine driving through a six-speed transmission. There’s no word on output yet, but it’ll need to be close to the 32 bhp (24 kW / 33 PS) of the Ninja 250R to be competitive.



However, unlike the Kawasaki which features a parallel twin, the Honda is a single cylinder bike. Although it gets a counterbalancing shaft to help combat any inherent roughness, it might well be that some buyers just prefer a multi-cylinder set up.

The styling of the CBR250R, particularly around the fairing, is reminiscent of the Honda VFR1200F. That’s either a good or bad thing, depending on whether or not you like the unusual looks of the VFR.



Beneath the bodywork lies a steel frame, connected to which are non-adjustable 37 mm forks at the front and Honda’s Pro-link rear suspension with five-position preload adjustment at the rear. Braking is taken care of by single discs, and ABS will be an option.



The Honda CBR250R will be available in North America for the first time, where buyers will get a choice of black or red / silver colour schemes. It’ll also appear in Europe, painted white / blue / red or black, although it’s to be confirmed whether that includes the UK.

Pricing has yet to be revealed, but one thing’s for sure - it won’t need to cost much more than the Kawasaki Ninja 250R, which currently retails for £4,099 (plus government charges) in the UK, and $3,999 (MSRP) in the US.

Kawasaki W800 revealed

19 January 2011 Update:

For confirmed Kawasaki W800 pricing, please click here.

Kawasaki has unveiled its retro W800 at the Cologne Intermot motorcycle show.

There are a few differences between this production-ready version and first image of the W800, which was released last month. The most obvious is that the limey-green paint has been ditched, replaced by a much more attractive dark green and silver metallic colour scheme.



Other changes include the seat unit, which looks a bit plusher but loses its contrast piping around the edge. There are now knee pads on each side of the fuel tank, too, that sit just behind very large chrome ‘W’ emblems.

No surprises in the engine department - it’s an air-cooled twin with a capacity of 773 cc, driving through a five-speed gearbox. Unfortunately Kawasaki hasn’t released any power or torque figures yet, but given that its W650 predecessor managed to get 49 bhp (37 kW / 50 PS) from its 675 cc, somewhere approaching 60 bhp (44 kW / 60 PS) shouldn’t be an unreasonable estimate for the W800.



Front suspension is taken care of by a 39 mm telescopic fork unit, which comes complete with rubber gaiters. Meanwhile, at the rear, there are twin shocks and five preload settings for the springs. The frame is a double-cradle item, made from high tensile steel.

Although the W800 gets a single 300 mm disc brake with twin-piston caliper at the front, the arrangement for the back wheel remains very old fashioned - it only has a 160 mm drum.



Ready to ride with all fluids and a full fuel tank, the W800 tips the scales at 216 kg, which is not bad considering that Kawasaki has tried to manufacture as many of the components as possible out of metal, rather than plastic. Seat height is 790 mm (31.1 inches).

Probably the one thing that most potential customers want to know about is the price but, in the UK at least, Kawasaki is keeping quiet about that for now. Seeing as the main rival for the W800, the Triumph Bonneville, costs £5,899 (or £6,699 in even more retro T100 guise), that surely has to be the kind of price that Kawasaki is aiming to sell the W800 for?

Kawasaki Z750R unveiled

Kawasaki has announced a sharper version of its middleweight Z750, the Z750R.

Handling is one of the two areas that has received most attention, with the ‘R’ getting new adjustable 41 mm upside-down front forks, a revised aluminium swing arm and a remote reservoir piggy-back rear shock.



The other is the brakes. As well as thicker 300 mm petal discs and radial-mounted four piston calipers, the bike is fitted with steel braided brake lines for improved feel.



Visually, the main differences compared to the standard Z750 are a redesigned cowl, two-tone paint and special ‘R’ instruments. One thing that remains unchanged though is the 748 cc engine, which still produces 104 bhp (77 kW / 106 PS).



Prices have yet to be confirmed, but the Z750R - which will be sold alongside the existing Z750 - is due to make its UK debut at the Carole Nash Motorcycle Live event at the NEC in November.

Retro Kawasaki W800

11 October 2010 Update:

For details and images of the production-ready Kawasaki W800, please click here.



19 January 2011 Update:

For confirmed Kawasaki W800 pricing, please click here.

The first image of Kawasaki’s forthcoming W800 has been released. Like the defunct W650 which it replaces, the W800 will be powered by a parallel twin engine.

With a bigger motor, output should be up on the 49 bhp (37 kW / 50 PS) of the W650 which, despite its name, had an engine capacity of 675 cc.



The obvious rival for the Kawasaki will be the bike it’s trying to imitate: the Triumph Bonneville. The Bonneville has an 865 cc air-cooled twin producing 66 bhp (49 kW / 67PS) and, in the UK, it’s priced at £5,899 in basic form.



However, to get the true retro look, buyers have to opt for the T100 version. Costing £800 extra, its specification includes two-tone paint, fork gaiters, wire spoke wheels and plenty of chrome.

Doubtless the Kawasaki will be able to compete on price, but somehow the Triumph just seems more genuine. And that authenticity could be enough to convince many customers to buy British.

New Yamaha Fazer

The Yamaha FZ6 Fazer is no more. After a prolonged teaser campaign, Yamaha has finally revealed its replacements, the semi-faired Fazer8 and naked FZ8.

As the names imply, their engines have increased in size to 779 cc, putting clearer distance between them and Yamaha’s more budget-orientated XJ6 range. The new engine isn’t actually that new, as it’s based on the 998 cc unit from the FZ1 Fazer.

The capacity reduction has been achieved by decreasing the bore size, while keeping stroke the same. That approach was taken to maximise torque, a characteristic that Yamaha is emphasising for the new bikes. To a certain extent it has worked, as the Fazer8 / FZ8 produce 82 Nm of torque, compared to the 63.1 Nm of their 600 cc predecessors.

It’s a partial success since it seems they are going to be needing all of that torque, as well as the extra 8ish bhp that brings power up to 104 bhp. That’s because the Fazer8 / FZ8 have grown to accommodate the larger engine. Indeed, the aluminium frame used for both bikes isn’t new either - it too is borrowed from the FZ1. Consequently, the Fazer8 weighs 215 kg, which is fairly hefty against the 207 kg of the old FZ6 Fazer.

There aren’t many other bikes in the 800 cc class to compare the Fazer8 / FZ8 against. The F 800 series from BMW springs to mind, but that’s about it. The twin cylinder engines in the BMWs are down on power against the Yamahas (producing 85 bhp in the S version, for example), but with 86 Nm have more torque. The F 800 S does only weigh 204 kg fully fuelled and ready to go, however.



Nowadays there are hardly any 750 cc bikes around, either. An obvious competitor though - especially to the naked FZ8 - is the Kawasaki Z750, with its 105 bhp 4-cylinder engine.



The one question that remains unanswered is how much the Fazer8 and FZ8 will cost. Unlike the other Japanese manufacturers, Yamaha seems reluctant to mention prices for any bikes on its UK web site, instead inviting you to consult a dealer.



Nevertheless, if you hunt hard enough on Yamaha’s site, the information is there (hidden away on the finance calculator, if you’re interested). Alas that page has yet to be updated for the new arrivals.



So, in the absence of facts, it’s worth having a guess.



The UK on the road price for the XJ6 Diversion is £5,902 (£6,302 with ABS), and the FZ1 Fazer costs £10,120 (£10,520 with ABS).



On that basis, the Fazer8 might be around £8,000, with ABS another £400 on top.



To put those figures into perspective, the BMW F 800 S is £6,725 on the road (ABS is £620 extra), and the Kawasaki Z750 is £5,999 (plus first registration fee and road tax).



Perhaps then it’s understandable why Yamaha wants people to check with their dealers - at least they can ensure potential customers are sat down before the news is broken to them. Alternatively it could, of course, mean there’s a nice discount to be negotiated?