Agile and Aggressive

The Kawasaki KLX 230 is a superbly built dual-sport that has the ability to take on some big hitters in our market. We hopped on it for a while and kicked up some dirt at the Prodirt Adventure Park.

- Charan Karthik

MOTOCROSS BIKES, dirt bikes, off-roaders, dual-sports-you may call it whatever you want but they all have one thing in common: the ability to take the road less travelled.

The Kawasaki KLX 230 is the latest entrant in this space to support this statement, aiming to end the monopoly of a certain other Indian manufacturer with a 200-cc off-roader.

The KLX 230 is a smashing-looking motorcycle with a splash of green colour, an upswept exhaust, a raised suspension set-up that makes the bike taller, and a minimalistic design language that makes it easy on one's eyes.

Looking at the bike for the first time up close, I was instantly reminded of that scene from the film Terminator 2 where Arnold Schwarzenegger rides a Harley-Davidson and chases a young Edward Furlong who speeds away on a dirt bike.

The KLX 230 might seem like an intimidating bike with its 880-millimetre seat height but it is like a fluff ball once you swing a leg over it. It is an incredibly easy bike to ride.

The 233-cc, air-cooled, single-cylinder engine is tucked neatly inside the perimeter frame. The motor is good for 18.1 hp and 18.3 Nm of torque and is mated to a slick-shifting six-speed gearbox.

The idling sound of the motor is normal, like any other single-cylinder, but it really comes to life with a deep grunt when you hit the top end. We only used the first three gears around the dirt-tracks and that was enough to navigate all obstacles. The first gear was quite short, so I found myself upshifting to second most of the time. It has good pull in the low end and ample power to carry momentum through the obstacles.