2023 250 MX BIKES ON THE DYNO: THE WRAP

We have been in the middle of our 2023 250 Motocross Shootout this week. The seven bikes are the GasGas MC250F, Honda CRF250R, Husqvarna FC250, Kawasaki KX250, KTM 250SX-F, Suzuki RM-Z250 and Yamaha YZ250F. Four of the seven are unchanged since last year. The KTM and Husqvarna are new, and the Kawasaki has some pretty extensive motor and suspension changes. You can check out our 2022 250 motocross shootout here. This year, Pro Circuit supplied us with dyno curves that they had produced on their Dynojet dynamometer, and they weren’t much of a surprise. After riding the bikes, we already knew the KTM, Husqvarna and Kawasaki were the most powerful. All three gained power. It’s kind of interesting to us that riders still say they like the throttle response of the Yamaha, even though the dyno shows that it’s lagging behind the others in torque. The dyno is useful, but it’s no replacement for seat-of-the-pants testing.

HORSEPOWER
2023 GasGas MC250F: 43.45 @ 13,800
2023 Honda CRF250R: 41.72 @ 12,040
2023 Husqvarna FC250: 44.76 @ 12,820
2023 Kawasaki KX250: 44.66 @ 13,290
2023 KTM 250SX-F: 45.20 @ 13,120
2023 Suzuki RM-Z250: 39.22 @ 12,440
2023 Yamaha YZ250F: 41.11 @ 12,560

TORQUE (lb-ft)
2023 GasGas MC250F: 21.16 @ 8940
2023 Honda CRF250R: 20.43 @ 9030
2023 Husqvarna FC250: 21.25 @ 8850
2023 Kawasaki KX250: 21.21 @ 9630
2023 KTM 250SX-F: 21.17 @ 9220
2023 Suzuki RM-Z250: 18.86 @ 9140
2023 Yamaha YZ250F: 19.83 @ 9490

While we’re at it, here are some other numbers

MSRP (Before destination fees and taxes)
GasGas MC250F: $9199
Honda CRF250R: $8199
Husqvarna FC250: $10,099
Kawasaki KX250: $8499
KTM 250SX-F: $9999
Suzuki RM-Z250: $7899
Yamaha YZ250F: $8599

WEIGHT (On the official DB digital scale)
GasGas MC250F: 218 pounds without fuel.
Honda CRF250R: 219 pounds without fuel.
Husqvarna FC250: 227 pounds without fuel.
Kawasaki KX250: 227 pounds without fuel.
KTM 250SX-F: 226 pounds without fuel.
Suzuki RM-Z250: 227 pounds without fuel.
Yamaha YZ250F: 227 pounds without fuel.

The only three bikes that had changes for 2023 were the KTM, Husky and Kawie. Since we measured the 2022 models on the same dyno a year ago, we thought it would be fun to compare last year vs this year. It isn’t entirely accurate to compare dyno runs taken on different days, but the guys at Pro Circuit report that they have very consistent numbers.

As you can see, this is a year of  big gains for those three makes. The bar is always getting higher. The 2023 250 MX shootout will appear in the April , 2023 print edition of Dirt Bike. Keep an eye out for the video, which will be out soon.

See you next week!

–Ron Lawson