KLX250S

Kawasaki brought this dual-sport nameplate to the U.S. for the 2006 model year, positioning it as a street-legal, off-road-capable 250-class machine derived from the company’s KLX off-road lineage. It filled the gap left after the KLR250 ended, giving riders a lighter, more trail-oriented alternative that could still handle everyday road use. The model continued through the late 2000s and early 2010s with incremental updates rather than a full redesign, and Kawasaki kept the badge active in its parts and owner literature through the 2014 model year. After that point, the market shifted to the KLX250 designation without the S suffix, so the KLX250S nameplate itself did not continue as a separate marketed model. Enthusiasts remember it as one of Kawasaki’s most approachable dual-sports of its era: simple, practical, and tied closely to the brand’s dirt-bike identity rather than the larger adventure-bike trend.