Bought mine new in NZ in 1977. Apart from head gasket weep a fab rough country bike.

Was on an electrical job n '80. Seen the little green KT250 tied to a tree for sale. 92 miles on it for $450. bought it real quick. one of my favorite bikes thru the years, Put over 4k miles on it in rough terrain. Never faltered. Seen an RL 250 Exacta with the same guy. Another $450. had both for years and used them, but they were well cared for. Still liked the KT better for an explorer. My brother and I went all over California Sierras and had a great time. Later sold them both for $450 each. Miss 'em.

That bike is in very near factory perfect condition. That same speedometer is on my 82 KLT 250 I still ride daily after forty two years of continuous service. It still functions as new. Kawasaki = quality.

The oil pumps work magically. When you pre-mix you set the percentage of oil to gas throughout the RPM range. But 40:1 might be great for mid-range, but could foul a plug at idle and be insufficient at WOT. The pumps have a cam that figures out exactly what the bike needs at all RPMs. They rarely fail (doesn't mean they can't) and your bike will run better with it in place! BTW love the video!

I used to have a KT250, it was a real mess as it had been left in the tide overnight, so submerged, before I got it. Developed by Don Smith, and I think the best Japanese trials bike of the era...apart from the TY175, which was a better bike than the TY250. They have a distinctive whine, and you could hear one coming from a couple of sections away...but didn't hear it on your one. Currently drinking a Tui - Yeah Right !

Steel tank. I just restored one of these bikes and the tank needed a lot of repairing where someone had bashed it in to fit a different seat. A lot of these bikes came to New Zealand where they were sold to farmers as farm bikes. Mine has the locally added (I think?) clutch locking lever on it. The oiler works on mine, I made sure of that before running it. Am more a old car person but wanted a side project so this was it. Now I just putt-putt around the garden on it. I made a lot of films about restoring it. I didn't do anything to the engine, it runs great and has good compression and the working oil pump so I left it alone. The only thing not working on it is the lights so at some point I need to replace one of the stator windings I think. The horn (and ignition of course) works fine.

This is the bike I should have bought back in the day instead of all those temperamental Greeves I rode when not pushing them home. The Kawasaki trials bike brought reliability and performance to the hinterland of the old English Trials bikes, along with the Bultaco Matador/Alpinas, the Ossa trials bikes, and the little Montessas. Wish I could buy a brand new KT250 right now.

super cool bike

I had a 1976 one in the late 70s (UK) it replaced an Ossa 250. Light to handle, more reliable and better brakes than the Ossa. However they never really made an impact on the trials scene over here; Kawasaki didn’t make a serious investment in the sport, unlike motor cross with their KX range. Thanks for posting, good to see one in such good condition, and once again hear the quack and whine of that engine. 👍

Another good show Bill, the TY's look familiar. I have that exact Kawi in Oklahoma and will be riding it this summer.

I never even knew Kawi made a trials bike. I guess by the year this came out, I had sold all my dirt bikes and started chasing girls! I bought a Bonneville & a spare helmet for my girlfriends, and most of them liked some easy off roading on the pillion. (Always carried a blanket for special occasions)

I have one, but I don't know the exact year, the guy who sold it to me didn't know either. Does anyone know how to differentiate the models by year, any particular feature?

Never saw many KTs in AHRMA in the '90s. Japanese bikes were mostly TY (Yam), TL (Hon) or even more rare, the RL (Suz). Most others in the Modern Classic class were Bultaco, Montesa, some Ossa, then the occasional Wassel, Greeves, etc. I'd sure like to see a feature video on that blue Sherpa shown in this episode. Reminds me of Bernie Schreiber.

I’d never thought in the USA 🇺🇸 u made craft real ales as we brits 🇬🇧 call them but I was pleasantly surprised when I visited ur side ov the pond,request the Kawasaki big horn!👍

Bought mine in 1980 with my student loan money for $425.00. road the hell out of it!

Cool bike, you needed to use an oil that was specifically for an injector as a lot of the premix oils of that time would clog up the lines. As you stated most people just removed the oil tank and the injector. This was done so commonly that block off plates for covering where the injector was were available in most dealerships. If my memory serves me I believe an English rider that had ridden for Ossa was hired for development. While it seems ridiculous now at the time a lot of the Japanese were convinced trials is going to be the next two-wheeled Motorsport to take off like Motocross. Of course we're still waiting.

Iove your videos ,the KT, along with craft beer where horrible that’s why they were only made for 2 years, I will put the Suzuki RL with that they where cashing in on the Yamaha TY having all the success and continued to make trial bikes for a long time right up to the TYZ250 watercooled and went on to supply that motors for scorpa trials bikes for a while, Honda where good as well and still make trials bikes under Montesa brand.

How do you get to ride so many awesome bikes? Do you restore them for work or a personal collection?

Come on, Kawasaki, build this bike again. You'll sell thousands of them to us old farts who can still ride but don't have legs five feet long.

There is absolutely no need to obviate the oil injection system. I have countless thousands of trail miles on such systems with not one issue. It would be akin to running oil in your pickups’s gas because the oil pump might go out,, ridiculous. This bike seen here was my first motorcycle. Bought new in 76. They would go anywhere. One minor issue was in gummy mud it could jam in front fender.

At least warm it up first! That bike is too nice for you!