While I am navigating this amateur motocross thing with my son Aden, I also try give him the best parts I am able to without breaking my bank account. Yes, we do get a lot of stuff for free but I also spend a lot of money. Sure, I don’t spend as much money as the normal weekend warrior but I try and put myself into a “non industry” type rider to see if some of these parts are worth purchasing. This brings me to engine mounts. If you have been following us for a while you know that I don’t believe in the theory that “EVERY bike needs engine mounts” so when I do try some aftermarket mounts that actually make a difference I try and let you all know which ones help on which bike. I also know too much about each bike and their strengths and weaknesses so my son gets the benefit of dad knowing what his KX250 might benefit from.
Enter FCP and their new 2025 KX250 engine mount kit. The kit comes with top and bottom mounts are $450.00 and were tested by Aden and I the past couple months (one east/west coast dirt. So why does the 2025 KX chassis need aftermarket mounts? I will say if you’re happy with your KX chassis then you don’t need to read this article but if you’re looking for better comfort from your 2025 Kawasaki chassis then these can help your cause.
The 2025 KX250 chassis has better front tire contact in corners over the 2024 machine but also is stiffer on bump touch and has more deflection/twitchiness than the older less stiff Kawasaki chassis. Aden has been complaining about some deflection on throttle and and an unstable front end feel immediately when chopping the throttle while setting up for corners. These are the areas that we were looking to improve and with the FCP engine mounts installed we got some of these areas of concern better.
I let Aden do the first portion of this test and once he did his first moto he said that he had more lean angle traction on his front tire as well as a more planted feel off throttle. I immediately asked if he had any negative affects with the mounts and he said, “no”. Hard for me to believe so dad had to take over on a separate day. We took the FCP mounts back off and installed the stock mounts. I had good front end feel from the KX250 coming into ruts but still had a nervous front end feel on choppy fast tracks. I installed the FCP mounts with a torque setting of:
Front: 22 ft. lbs (M8) and 35 ft. lbs. (M10)
Tops: 21 ft. lbs. (M8) and 34 ft. Lbs. (M10)
Once out on the track with the FCP mounts I was happy that Aden is actually coming around with some feel of the bike on the track. The KX250 does have more lean angle grip from the front end, especially on flat corners with nothing to bank off of. Off throttle stability does have a more planted feel and didn’t feel as twitchy when setting up for corners. One thing that didn’t improve was on throttle planted feel, but I will say that it didn’t get any worse from the stock mounts.
On fast Southern California track the KX250 can have a hunt and peck front end feel on throttle when the fork is up high in the stroke (with or without the FCP mounts). Some may call it deflection but I call it a “busy” “quick” initial top of the stroke on throttle. When I tried to slow the rebound down on the fork it did help this quick top of stroke feeling but made the edge of tire feel crusty and harsh.
I did lower the fork height from 2mm to flush on Aden’s KX250 with the FCP mounts on “West coast” style tracks with better results for on throttle planted feel. On east coast tracks with traction and deep ruts we went back up to 2mm on the fork height and that gave Aden/I a better planted chassis feel on long ruts coming into corners (compared to the stock mounts). Bump touch or slap down landings was also improved. I personally got a little better feel through my hands on hard pack which Aden didn’t feel as much as me.
Overall the FCP mounts give the 2025 KX250 a noticeable change in chassis feel. A more planted off throttle feel with better front wheel lean angle traction. With a little adjustment of the fork height and possibly some clicker changes your KX250 will have more stability with the FCP mounts on than it does with the stock mounts on. For 450.00 bucks you better be able to feel where your money just went. Nothing worse than spending money and not feeling anything different on your machine. This product is worth the money IF you feel like you need more comfort and more front wheel traction. You can order these mounts over on fcpracing.com but I don’t have a discount code. If you go to pulpmx.com I know he has a code that can save you some money on these.
If you have any questions about this test, please feel free to email me at kris@keeferinctesting.com
