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2010–2017 · Supermoto · Buyer's Guide
Featherweight Supermoto For City Streets
This is Kawasaki's entry point into supermoto, and it wears its trail-bike roots openly. The chassis and the air-cooled 125 cc single come straight off the KLX125 dirt platform, then pick up street wheels, a 240 mm petal disc, and an upside-down fork to look the part. At 251 lb (114 kg) wet it is genuinely tiny, and the 31.7 in (805 mm) seat sits low for the class. Peak output is 10 hp, so this was never built to bully a spec sheet. It lives at the accessible, beginner end of the supermoto world, and it owns that spot honestly.
On the road it rides exactly as light as the numbers promise. It flicks between lanes with almost no effort, holds a tidy line, and asks nothing of your wrists or your nerve. Running costs stay low and the whole thing is easy to live with day to day. The honest caveat is speed: with 10 hp and 7 lb-ft it runs short of breath early and tops out around 62 mph (100 km/h), so open roads and any real hurry sit outside its world. Watch the steel frame too, because the thin paint corrodes fast if you ride through winter or park it outside.
Spec sheets don't ride bikes, but they set the baseline.
| Power | 10 hp (8 kW) @ 8,000 rpm |
|---|---|
| Torque | 7 lb-ft (10 Nm) @ 6,400 rpm |
| Displacement | 125 cc125cc Motorcycles → |
| Engine | Single-cylinderMotorcycles With Single-Cylinder Engines → |
| Cooling | Air-cooled |
| Gearbox | 5-speed |
| Final drive | Chain |
| Fork | Upside-down (USD) |
| Front brake | 240 mm |
| Front tire | 100/80-14 |
| Rear tire | 120/80-14 |
| Wheelbase | 49.4 in (1255 mm) |
| Front travel | 5.9 in (150 mm) |
| Rear travel | 7.1 in (180 mm) |
| Seat height | 31.7 in (805 mm) |
| Wet weight | 251 lb (114 kg)Motorcycles Under 300 Pounds Wet → |
| Fuel capacity | 1.8 gal (7 L) |
| Top speed | 62 mph (100 km/h) |
What follows comes from years of listening: paddock talk, owners comparing notes on club nights, and the messages riders send me after living with their bikes. For the D-Tracker 125, the picture is consistent. Owners love how little it asks of them and how rarely it lets them down. They agree just as firmly on where the money was saved.
The praise that comes up most often is for the brakes. Riders describe the front end as confident under hard stopping, and a few owners like to mention that it will lift the rear for a stoppie. The single has its loyal fans too. Kept serviced, it rarely gives owners mechanical grief, and newer riders say the bike never once felt intimidating.
The complaints are just as steady. Owners point to cheap-feeling switchgear and exposed metal parts that corrode sooner than they expected. The suspension draws the other recurring gripe: riders report a harsh ride over broken pavement and a wobble that creeps in as speeds rise. Nobody bought it for pace, but owners still call the acceleration glacial, even for a 125.
Frame rusts quickly
The steel perimeter frame has only a thin coat of paint and is prone to corrosion, especially if ridden in winter or stored outdoors.
Where this Kawasaki D-Tracker 125 pulls ahead of — or falls behind — its rivals on the numbers, and the typical bike in its class on character.
Power
Torque
Displacement
Wet weight
Seat height
Forget spec-sheet bragging. Here's who the D-Tracker 125 is actually built for.
Angeles Crest at your usual pace will bury this little single. It's a joyful city and learner tool, not a canyon weapon, so if the twisties are your main event, look higher up the range.
Made for Angeles Crest Highway · Coronado Trail Scenic Byway · Big Sur Coast Highway
For city hops and coffee runs it's a genuinely fun, easy companion that photographs well. But Skyline's flowing pace exposes the 10 hp quickly, so treat it as an around-town toy first.
Made for San Francisco Bay Area · Skyline Boulevard · Big Sur Coast Highway
The featherweight handling is great for drilling low-speed corner technique, but the Dragon rewards punch this bike simply doesn't have. Fine for practice, short on pace for the real thing.
Made for Tail of the Dragon · Back of the Dragon · Blue Ridge Parkway
If this one isn't quite the fit, these are the bikes worth riding back-to-back against it.
Compare it with every bike that shares the same spec or equipment.
