Proof: Behind the Bike
Thursday, August 11, 2011 | 10:00 AM
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Now the team manager of Monster Energy Kawasaki, Mike Fisher's roots at the green team run very deep--first as a support rider on the race team to the R&D department before his current gig. We took one of Kawasaki's ads, scanned it and had Mike give us his memories of developing one of the motorcycles that put Kawasaki on the map.
Mike Fisher: I remember a lot about this bike. This is the 1990 KX250 and it was pretty radical in its time. I was still racing for Kawi and working in the R&D department developing these bikes. A lot of people might think it’s real glamorous being a test rider for these companies, but really, it was the exact opposite. You couldn’t tell anyone what you were working on, you couldn’t go out riding with your buddies, and everything you did took place behind closed doors.
I first rode this bike in late 1987 when I went to Japan for about four weeks. It wasn’t this exact bike, it had some different routing as far as the radiator hoses are concerned, and then the next year, the fall of ’88, I went back for five weeks and rode the more finished prototype. The first bike I rode had the hoses in front of the frame and the actual frame was a bit different from this. We went out to almost every track in Japan. I remember that it wasn’t too cold in Japan yet, you could still get in some riding. The bike was really different in that it had the perimeter frame and those aluminum extrusions that you see holding the upper shock. The bike was cool, for sure.
There wasn’t anything on this bike that shared the same part as the ’89 model, at least I don’t believe there was much shared. Everything was new. There was some big controversy internally at Kawasaki because we went with upside-down forks and the 46mm conventional forks we had in ’89 worked awesome. Those forks were sweet and I think we had to go to the USD forks no matter what, but with the new forks and that frame, it didn’t work very good. These forks were not very good! [Laughs]
The hardest part of that bike was those forks. My wrists still hurt from being slapped down at Carlsbad Raceway with that bike. I used to have to tape my wrists really good to avoid the pain!
This bike won some shootouts and was a good bike even with those forks. The old bike won pretty much everything as well. Even the ’88 bike was considered to have the best chassis around. I think this bike was a little heavier than the previous model but it didn’t feel like it. It was still really stable and I think it cornered well, but that was probably due to the USD forks. Those types of forks really make everything stiff and help tighten everything up so that you feel like you corner better.
I think it vibrated more than the other bikes, if I remember right, and that wasn’t good. But overall, the bike was bitchin' and we thought every year after this it got better and better. We got that shock mount better and better each year. We went from these aluminum struts that were forged to some steel towers coming off there and then we made it all incorporated into the frame. The bike also got skinnier and skinnier. This bike was a little wide.
This time was the heyday of motocross bikes and there were new bikes almost every other year for everyone and this was about when the sales started dropping off in the early '90s. We had new plans all the time for bikes.
We tested this bike at Carlsbad a lot and everyone is always interested in everyone else’s deal. There were these little dead-end roads that were built and we would go there to park. We were instructed to stop riding by the Japanese if anyone ever stopped to look at us or if anyone got nosy. We would have to go back and cover it up.
My feet and ankles used to hurt all the timem, maybe it was my boots at the time. Mike Preston and I were testing and we just thought, "Dude, why don’t we widen these pegs?” There was no reason to not do it. We made a set in Japan that were wider and were like “Wow!” They weren’t even that much wider but they made a big difference. The late '80s Kawasakis came with the pegs and everyone soon copied that.
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I had 2 125's that year, same bike as the 250. That frame started it all. Now all but KTM use it.
Guess what? I've got "Spy photos" of those bikes from waaayy back then. I even have pictures of them running conventional forks on the bike when they were (still) trying to mellow out that chassis.
There was no way possible to hide from the roving lens of my disposable camera.
Zero chance of my eagle eye missing any test mules, prototypes, one-offs, etc. back when I was an absolute sponge for all things moto.
I turned my dad onto HOT ROD magazines editors who looked over some of his old color slides of his drag racing days and bought quite a few, suprising the heck out of him in the process.
Sooo, my question is, how much does somebody want to pay for licensing my 22-year old spy photos????
that was seriously cool
I remember the shock factor when these bikes came out...peremeter frame was the big deal back then.. I was still racing 80's just getting ready to jump up to the 125s....My buddy picked one of these up and i remember our first trip out to LACR with his new bike, one of the first ones on the track....so many people came by just to look at it.... I ended up getting a 1991 KX 125 which had a few improvements over the 1990 and had the blue anodized fork.....awesome bike in my opinion....but my 1993 KX123 was even better....after that I jumped on a 1994 CR250 and never turned back....
1993 KX125 that is......
I rode one of the production bikes and it had suposudly Pro ciuciut fork mods?? It was no match for my 250 YZ with my Ohlins mods. Thw cowie did track pretty staight through the whoops thogh but ya still felt the fork impack through my wrists. (gotta find my puter glasses)
iremember 1990 the kx 80 had a totally different look to it...i got to test the pre production model out in califonia...first look at it was paris raceway..we were shocked when we saw the new look..we rode that thing 30 mins at a time trying to test the endurance of it ...i finally blew it up at carlsbad after 4 days of me Reynard and Decker puttin endless motos on it....the kx80 of 1990 was a head above its class
you can explain me how the hell a brand who make bad bikes over 30 or 40 years didn't finish in bankrupt? and how the hell, after that, they have all the money to made so many good bikes today? are you telling me that KTM never copying (or copied?) the nippons? really? during they history KTM ingeniors are looking into the J-bikes more then one million gynecologists looking under the ladies skirts during all they lives! sorry for my bad puter
look at Husqvarna, my favorite Euro brand, they made the best bikes in the 60's, they made good bikes in the seventies but not in the 80's, then in 1987 they sold their company (Husqvarna Motorcycle) at Cagiva, it's a logical process imo
@Rand77-
Wasn't it the '91 that had the big change (perimeter frame, etc)? I had a fully modified '92, and it was faster than anything else on the track, but the motor wouldn't stay together (lower rod bearing kept failing).
cmc262 - you are correct. The 1990 KX80 looked just like the 88 and 89 model, it just had the facny paint splatter graphics......the 1991 was the KX80 that looked like a space craft....I had one of those and the 1991 KX125....I must of blown up atleast 10 KX80 motors from 1989 - 1991 always the rod/crank going out.. I had a 88 which I had Damon Huffmans pops bore out to a 105 rocket ship eventually. The 1991 was quick but I got to big for the thing and wanted to race the 125
KTM "ingeniors"...really? Do you mean "engineers"? lol!
Darn American language. Get's you every time.
I had a 91 KX125, that thing ripped!! I wish I would have kept it!!
I had 1991 KX 125s & 250s...... after spending 2 years on Hondas that shook like a wet dog when you'd decelerate this perimeter frame was a dream !
...sweet looking bike to this day, and since i am tall, i actually liked the width. the butt-ugly KX500 was also super comfortable. But the best Kwacker that I ever had was that wonderful '98 KX250. The only 250 since that could rival my affection for those splendid 86--96 CR's, modern YZ's included...
Way cool read. Would like to see an 'expose' as to just how the occasional uber-obvious design-flaw would occur on an otherwise great bike/model...who at Jay-pan authorized that? Flaws so apparent that you KNOW the company knew about it way before production, and had to know what it was going to do to their sales/reputation, so---?? Did/do the bean counters really have veto power?
I bought a new KX250 in 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993. and mike is right, the bike got better every year. those things were awesome. my cousin bought the 1993 from me and he still has it. the thing is still in mint condition!
Welker he must have seen my hat that reads REDNECK INJUNEARIN
I remember this bike well, my buddy had one. I also recall with some very minor mods it was a holeshot machine. Cool article - I love this new column... I'm sure its planned but call up Wardy and have him talk about that bad ass works 125 he used to kill everyone on!
Great job RacerX
Man thats takes me down memory's lane. Had this bike, great motor i thought, forks ok, looks..futuristic, loved em ! Then they did it again in 94. That sexy curve in the frame did it for me:) the look of it was mint, just had to have the 94 250. great looking bike. Didn't think it was much faster than the 90 i had but it handled soooo much better. Felt like a 80 in the corners compared to the 90 KX.
@BillC It was Honda that started the frame that was copied (1997). Frame was way two stiff at the time. One reason McGrath left.
Bradshaw rode the 97 Honda and hated it, bike was known to boing riders when the suspension bottomed their was nothing to soak it up, suspension settings became very critical they have come a long way with the frame. I think kawasaki didn't come up with an aluminum frame till they fixed their problems with the bank. Meanwhile Suzuki stepped in to share their 250 thumper with them. What was Suzuki thinking?
I rode this bike, smooth, stable, but an absolute dog compared to my '89 CR250! Stanton will back me up on that!
I rode this bike, smooth, stable, but an absolute dog compared to my '89 CR250! Stanton will back me up on that!
Brian Swink at Loretta's 1990 was awesome, quading the ten commandments and doubling the entire finish line section. I went right out and bought a leftover 1990 kx250 and had Mike Rossini put in a 285 kit. That was my first year of riding vet classes and that was the PERFECT bike. I won lots of races on that bike and made Team Green News magazine twice that year!
Btw, out of about 60 bikes i owned over the last 30+ years, that was the only kwacker.
I had one of those - they came jetted all f'ed up in Europe and we ended up having to run it on Avgas.
The nikasil used to flake off the cylinders as well , finally got an English guy to refinish them and they were fine.
I liked mine but I think the brakes on my BMX bike had more stopping power, the plastic would break in the winter if you as much as looked at it and the seat foam lasted 3.8 seconds.
i had a 1990 cr125,but my buddie had the 125 and 250 kawie they were tufed out i rode it in extra class and it use to give me a whole lot of head shake and vibrate like lot a gravel shaker i remember the feeling like yesterday
Had many KX's back in the day including 2 '90 KX250's. Great bikes except no one mentioned that their cornering characteristics were horrendous. They simply did not turn well at all!
Nothing at all like a Suzuki turns...
I won the 1995 pro circuit kx125 from the motocross action mag back in 95, the thing still runs like a rocket, gimme an email and ill send some pics, hell so many guys entered to win that i still can't believe i won!!!
2 strokes will live again!!!
The 1990 KX125/250 were so sexy- half the riders in Hawaii jumped onto the green wagon!