The long awaited return of one of Kawasaki’s most versatile motorcycles, the 2018 KLX250.

Borrowing notes from the KX™ line and Kawasaki’s racing heritage, this 2018 street legal, dual-purpose motorcycle is designed to cut through the busy traffic of an inner city or climb up a back trail to see the city from a beautiful view. The KLX®250 motorcycle is built to take riders to new places.

Stay tuned for our report (unless he disappears forever on the Camo Edition). We will be sending our youthful editor to test the new model in a couple of weeks. We tested the original carbureted version of the KLX250 back in 2009, and found it quite capable off-road. In all seriousness, with recent investments by Honda in the same category, the small displacement dual sport market in the U.S. For a mere $200 (the Standard model is priced at $5,349, while you can go Camo for $5,549), you gain invisibility while behind enemy lines. For those of you who like to pretend you are in the military hunting down the enemy, there is the KLX250 “Camo Edition”. market, now with fuel injection, rather than a traditional carburetor, feeding the 249 cc single. However, it's a bit smaller (3.9 liters) and develops less power (650 hp).After a three year hiatus, Kawasaki is bringing the KLX250 dual sport back to the U.S. Like the Valkyrie engine, the T50 engine is a high-revving (up to 12,100 rpm) naturally-aspirated V-12. Fenske also briefly discusses the engine for the upcoming Gordon Murray T50 supercar, which was also developed by Cosworth. Watch the full video for more details on this remarkable engine. The engine does have four catalytic converters-two for each bank of cylinders. The V-12 also uses port injection, rather than direct injection, because the latter would have required a particulate filter to meet European emissions standards. The gears are located at the rear of the engine to reduce noise. The engine's high redline necessitated gear-driven camshafts, instead of a conventional timing belt or chain. Those engines try to make up for smaller displacement by forcing more air in under pressure with turbos. It's the reverse of the downsized turbocharged engines used in other cars, including Aston's own Vantage and DB11.

That combination allows more air to be fed into the engine, allowing for more power. While the Valkyrie V-12 doesn't have boost, it does have two other important factors in making power: high-revving capability, and large displacement.

Street legal racing redline editor