Your Collection: 1976 Kawasaki KX250-A3

This weeks collection comes to us from Tony DeSantis.

In 1976 at age 14 I purchased a brand new Kawasaki KX125-A3 and rode the wheels off of that bike. I recently restored that same KX125 to like new condition and in doing so decided it would be cool to have the entire 1976 KX line up also in my collection. I found this 76' KX250-A3 on ebay and purchased it in the fall of 2011. From there, I started the restoration in the fall of 2012 and finished it this winter. The 76' KX250 was the last year of the down pipe Kawasaki's. The engine put out a claimed 34hp at 8000 rpm in a bike that only weighs 219 pounds. The piston port 249cc air cooled engine has a large power band with smooth, tractor-like power. The same KX250 was produced from 1974 to 1976 with little change other than color and graphics. With such little change the bike had worn out it's welcome with the motocross crowd and took a break in production in 77' to design an entirely new bike for the  1978 season. I restored this bike with an factory showroom look in mind all the way down to a complete engine rebuild with all NOS Kawasaki parts. The frame and all related parts had to be sand blasted and powdercoated to match factory colors. All of the original hardware was re zinc-plated, and the wheels were stripped, polished, and re-anodized. I tried to cover every minute detail to duplicate that stock factory look. It would be very cool to have this bike featured in Racer X my collection to share this KX from the past with your readers. The next project is the 76' KX400.   

- Tony