1973 Kawasaki F11MX Pre Production KX250 Prototype - 1 of 200! Must see! 1974

1973 Kawasaki F11 MX Prototype- Running and shifting bike!! Number 82 of 200!
By early 1972, awasaki decided to build a competitive MX bike to fill the growing market in the United States. They went out and hired riders Brad Lackey, ohn Desoto among others to race and help developed the bikes. The bikes showed early promise and Lackey rewarded them with their 1st National title in the Open class later that year. In 1973 Kawasaki was prepared to release a limited production open class bike that they dubbed the F12MX. They also released the 250 F11MX version. Bryon Farnsworth, awasaki’s American R&D Manager at the time, aid, We used Peter Lamppu and Jim Cook as test riders, nd Kawasaki Japan contracted Thorlief Hansen! Our riders were impressed with the power, nd the finish was good, ut the suspension and handling still left something to be desired. The Japanese focused on the 250s, s their test riders were smaller.Both of these bikes were produced with many light components that brought them both innear 200 lbs. The projected number of these bikes to be made available was rumored to be about 200 of each. This is number 82.
It is believed by many sources thatsignificantly less than 200 bikes were ever released from KawasakiThey were made available only to sponsored riders that had interviewed for them. They were extremely light and powerful.The bikes featured magnesium hubs, nbsp;chromoly frames, ustomKayaba shocks, lastic fuel tank and levers.Kawasaki fed thesesponsoredriders parts over the course of the year to tryout.
Nobody seems to know for sure what the F11M 250 sold for because of the limited production run. A year later, he 1974 KX250 retailed for $1150. TheEarly Years of Motocross Museumfound this example in West Virginia after a five-year search. The museumreportedlypaid $12,000 for this bike and then did arestoration.
http://www.earlyyearsofmx.com/1973KAWASAKIF11M250.htmlThe only other F11MX known to exist is the bike linked to below which was later confirmed as the test bike used in Dirt Rider Magazine in August 1973. It isalso believed to have been the same bike used by Motocross Action Magazine, odernCycle and Cycle World. It's history has been documented since it left the KawasakiFactory in Irvine.
The bike still resides in the Kawasaki factorymuseumand isbelievedto be one of the few left complete inexistence. Until now......
Pic of it in the Kawimuseum........
http://racerxonline.com/2012/01/19/the-list-cool-kawasaki-things
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