Is Kawasaki Working on a New 4 Cylinder 250cc Engine?

A new rumor is brewing up if we are to believe a few Indonesian blogs. They say Kawasaki is reportedly working on a new four cylinder 250cc engine! As per a report published on Tmcblog.com, Kawasaki is going back to the 90s when it used to make an inline 4 cylinder, 249cc DOHC 16V engine in the ZXR 250R (pictured below). This time though the fueling will be via a Fuel Injector and not the age old carburetted one.

Kawasaki-ZXR250R

The old engine used to produce a 44.9PS @15000rpm and 25Nm @11500rpm, while the engine redlined at 19000rpm. The ZXR 250R was sold from 1988 to 2004. Kawasaki now has a twin cylinder and a single cylinder 250cc engine. This will be their third quarter litre engine, if this rumor goes true!

A 4 cylinder quarter litre engine might make you go salivating, but it is difficult to churn out high amount of power and at the same time have good low end torque. But technology has come a long way now and hopefully Kawasaki engineers will be able to whip some magic and make the engine more useable.

Kawasaki-4-Cylinder-250cc-Engine

The new engine will most probably be used in a new motorcycle which will not be in the same class of the ZXR 250 but will be a smaller version of Supersport ZX-6R. Now, that seems to be interesting!

Bikes like the Kawasaki ZXR 250, Suzuki GSX R250 and Yamaha FZR250 have been legendary and have surely won a lot of hearts.

This new rumor comes after a few months after Yamaha raised the ante in the quarter litre motorcycle segment with the R25 and this new engine will surely be a strong reply by Kawasaki. Considering Kawasaki’s penchant for high speed motorcycles, this new one will hopefully follow the trend.

Let us wait and see if there is any fruit to this new buzz…