Where is Kawasakis MX Thumper?
by Dirck Edge With all the news floating around about Honda’s four-stroke motocrosser, and rumors it will be raced in the AMA Outdoor Nationals beginning in San Bernardino next month, what about Kawasaki? We’ve read reports that Kawasaki is working hard on the bike, but has encountered some development problems. Aside from development problems, Kawasaki may be concerned that the AMA will place a displacement limit on four-strokes racing against 250s below 500cc. Do we build a 550 or a 400? Maybe the AMA will have some say in this. The displacement question must be answered before the chassis is finalized, obviously. A bigger, heavier motor requires a correspondingly stronger (and heavier) chassis. Isn’t Honda facing the same issues? Apparently, Honda is going ahead with a bike displacing approximately 500cc (according to most reports we have seen). If the AMA changes its rules, Honda can change its displacement. Kawasaki’s thumper will be good, we expect, when it does show up. Its KLX3
