The Kawasaki D-Tracker 250, Would I Buy One?

The Kawasaki D-Tracker 250 is joyous, if you can choose where you ride. If you need swift and fast transport, the Kawasaki D-Tracker 250 will just exhaust and frustrate. But for short commutes and leisure rides, the Kawasaki D-Tracker 250 is surprisingly practical. The mirrors are good, the seat's comfortable, and it's a great pillion motorcycle (if the pillion is not that big).

With the adjustable Uni-Trak suspension and compression Inverted Cartridge Fork at the front (preload, rebound and 16-way compression damping front and back), the Kawasaki D-Tracker 250 gives you the potential to completely mess it up with just a few minute's screwdriver work. True to form I didn't touch the adjusters, but a “good” friend did, giving me the whole afternoon to correct the settings.

Bedded in, the Kawasaki D-Tracker 250's chassis was a riot -soft, scare-free and stupid fun on tight lanes. Yes it weaved at 110km/h (crosswind could bring it on at 90 or 100km/h) but every ride was frantic, involving and memorable.

The 4-valve, liquid-cooled 250cc single doesn't pushes the limits of performance. But we where told that some simple budget modifications would unleash the true power of the Kawasaki engine. With the Kawasaki D-Tracker 250 you can keep up with regular traffic on the road, it'll hit an indicated 120km/h and it takes daily abuse – you can't go easy until it's heated up. The Kawasaki 6-speed gearbox is beautifully swift and accurate, the clutch lovely.

The 152,500 Baht for the Kawasaki D-Tracker is cheap for such a wildly entertaining motorcycle but it's still it's more than most Thai riders got to spend. But if get into buying a motorcycle and decided to embark on the glorious journey that is motorcycling, in which case I recommend the Kawasaki D-Tracker 250 as a first ride.