REAL DEAL
OmahaRider, here's the real deal. We only have 1 real sportbike in the 250 class, one in the dual-sport and thendirtbikes...
The 250's are different in the other countries...check out canada, australia, one of the 250's in Canada called the ZZR-250 has an aluminum frame (ours is tubular steel), has wider 17" wheels (we have narrow16" wheels), they have an awesome fairing and seat cowl, and look at the awesome tailight and turnsignals... ( and ours hasn't changed in over a decade) it has the same advertized clearances, weights, wheelbase, seat height, same motor bore/stroke/hp/torque.......
then there is the kr1s which is basically a racebike...definately not available here where it could be enjoyed...ther e is a ZX-R250...several models just not good enough or whatever for us...we get stuck with the (nasty word) steel tube frame, 16" wheels and something that looks the same for WELL-over a dozen years, without change except for color and decals. We still have the suspension tha thas to be completely removed and adjusted with rings using spanner wrenches to compress the spring, then reinstall it, hopefully with the results that you wanted,,,of course we could CHEAT and go against Kawasaki's recommendations and suggestions an duse a 600 shock that is fully adjustable..........and you want to know why.....then ther eis the fact that the motor hasn't been touched...c'mon! Valves, carbs, airbox, exhaust pipes, rejetting, a real functional fairing, a better oil filter system (spin-on), better plastic, thicker so that you can't just punch it and break it right on the showroom floor, and the same with the turnsignals...the rear fender is a total joke hanging out there like a drag chute, ther is no under rear fender, they are still using incadescent lamps instead of LED's, The handlebars are not adjustable, and there is no optional seat for taller people, rearsets for longer legged people, and the windscreen is to short to be useful unless you are in a full croutched mode at 80 mph, and top end is about 105MPH...so what is all this about...it's about a bike in the US that could be an awesome bike yet is basically unchanged of over a decade and needs to be updated....body, chassis, motor... At least the chasis and body has been changed but not available to us here in the US...