Kawasaki ZX-25R Review: Bali Day Trips on the Little Inline-Four Screamer

Independent and unpaid. I paid for these hire bikes myself on day trips in Indonesia - no freebie, no affiliate links, no sponsorship. Get in touch if I have missed anything. How I review.

Across 2023 and 2024 I put a bunch of full days on Kawasaki’s little inline-four Ninja in Indonesia – about three sunrise-to-sunset Bali day trips on pre-2023 Standard, SE and KRT bikes, plus shorter rides on a friend’s highly customised machine in Lombok. Street and touring only. If you have ever wondered why people go mad for a 250 that sings to the moon, or whether it is worth hunting one down on hire, this is that review.

I will cover how it feels for a full day in the heat, the seating reality if you have long legs, the factory quickshifter, how it stacks up against other small sportbikes and supersports I have actually ridden – including my old 2017 KTM RC 390, my Bali R6, and track time on a ZX-6R 636 – and who should skip it. Let’s dive in.

Key points

• The engine is the point: high-rpm inline-four character you can actually use on real roads, not only on a dyno chart.
• Quickshifter + redline: the factory up/down shifter with auto-blip is one of the best I have used on any bike, and with the ~17,000 rpm redline it is addictive.
• Day-trip usable: more comfortable than a hard supersport crouch for hours of riding, though long legs can still complain by sunset.
• Street manners for Indonesia: soft suspension and fine brakes for tourist roads and rougher patches.

Colourways

Bali hire fleets throw every paint job at you – plain blues, KRT greens, wild wraps. For a clean look at factory colour direction:

Is the ZX-25R actually fun?

Yes. The fun is the engine’s rev character.

Press figures put peak power up in the mid-fifteen-thousand rpm range depending on market, with redlines talked about around the high teens – MCN’s early UK test cited 17,000 rpm. I am not quoting a hire-bike dyno sheet. What I can tell you is how it feels when you use it: it screams. At the top it sounds like old-school Formula One – the V10/V8 era – in a way nothing else I have ridden in this size class does.

And then there is the gearbox. The factory up-and-down quickshifter with auto-blipper on the bikes I rode is phenomenal – genuinely one of the best factory quickshifters I have used on any motorcycle. You stab up through the gears, blip down without touching the clutch, and the motor just hangs there, screaming. Combine that with a redline that lives up around 17,000 rpm and you get this intoxicating riding sensation that is unlike anything else I have experienced. It is not just “fast for a 250.” It is a little instrument you play with your right hand and your left foot.

The clever bit for Bali is how usable that drama is. I spent a lot of time thrashing third gear hard on the island roads and still hanging around the indicated 100 km/h mark – I will not pretend I logged exact redline speeds in each gear on the day. On Bali you are often not going much faster than that safely anyway. So you get to work the shifter, hear the induction howl, and keep the grin without living in licence-losing territory the way a 600 supersport tempts you to.

Standout moment, every time: rolling up and down a couple of gears at high rpm and feeling like you are on a Formula 1 V10 with two wheels. On my R6 you are often stuck pretending in the lower gears if you want that drama on public roads. On the ZX-25R the drama is the whole point of a day trip.

Onboard: Bali street

Onboard: mountain road

Onboard: KRT street pace

Is it comfortable?

Think of a sliding scale. A Ninja 400 felt more sports-tourer to me. A ZX-6R is full-blown supersport – over the tank, committed, harder work. The ZX-25R sits in between. It is a little more aggressive than a Ninja 400, but you sit more in the bike than on a ZX-6R. Relative to a hard supersport, I found it quite comfortable for day riding.

That is the good news.

The nuance on ergonomics: I would not call the factory footpegs “overly high” the way a true supersport like an R6 or ZX-6R packs you up. Compared with those bikes, the ZX-25R is more reasonable. What caught me is leg length. I am 6 ft, and by the end of a sunrise-to-sunset Bali day the riding triangle felt cramped and I was getting leg cramps. If you have long legs, plan for that on full touring days – dropping the pegs down and back would probably fix most of it. If you have shorter legs, you will likely be fine on the stock setup.

Heat-wise, Bali is brutal on anything with an engine. The ZX-25R gets warm – of course it does, and it is hotter than a scooter – but it did not feel excessively hot in the Ducati Panigale “cook your legs off” sense on my trips.

How are the brakes and handling on the street?

For street riding and touring, totally fine. Handling is quite fine on Bali’s mix of tourist roads and rougher patches. The suspension feels soft, and that is a feature out there – it absorbs harsh surfaces instead of kicking you around.

I have heard plenty of people who take these to the track say the brakes and suspension are not enough for serious circuit use. I cannot confirm that. I only rode street and touring, and for that job the package was sorted.

Fuel and day-trip practicality

I was not carefully logging fuel economy, so I will not invent a figure. What I noticed is practical: I could pretty much do a full day of Bali riding on a full tank without it becoming a drama. For hire-bike day trips, that is what matters.

I did not do two-up touring on these rides, and I was not running hard luggage packs as a test.

How it has held up

Across the Standard, SE and KRT bikes I rode – plus a customised friend’s machine in Lombok – I did not have a breakdown or a mechanical scare that stopped the day. That is the honest limit of what I can say from hire and short-borrow use.

I have no valve-clearance history or service-bill story from these trips. If you need multi-year ownership data, pair this review with owner forums.

How it compares

Here is how the ZX-25R stacked up against other bikes I have real seat time on.

Factor	ZX-25R	Ninja 400	Yamaha R3	KTM RC 390	Yamaha R6 / ZX-6R 636
Engine character	High-rev inline-four scream	Smooth twin	Smooth twin	Torquey single	Full supersport four
Drama at legal road speeds	Excellent	Good	Good	Strong mid grunt	Too much bike for thrash-legal fun
Quickshifter feel	Factory up/down with blip – outstanding	Depends on year/spec	Depends on year/spec	Not the same party trick	Good on modern bikes; different animal
Street comfort (me, 6 ft)	OK day; long legs cramped by evening	More relaxed	Friendlier	Aggressive	Harder work; true supersport pack
Soft-road composure	Soft suspension helps	Competent	Competent	Firmer, rawer	Stiffer sportbike

Also useful in my notebook: track time on Yamaha R25 (gen 1 and gen 2), a Kawasaki ZX-4R, and a ZX-6R 636. The 636 is a proper supersport – denser, more serious, and a different job to a 250 you thrash around Bali. My RC 390 long-term review is still the deep ownership anchor on this site if you want cheap LAMS cornering homework more than a four-cylinder concert.

Is the ZX-25R a beginner bike?

It can feel friendly enough on the street – linear in normal use, and the soft suspension is forgiving on rough roads. But “beginner” depends on the person. The seating is sportier than a pure learner commuter, and the whole point of the bike is to rev it. If someone is brand new and easily overwhelmed by noise and a committed position, a softer twin may be kinder.

How the range has evolved

Quick context: the line has grown Standard, SE and KRT packs, and some markets later added an RR with a higher-spec rear shock. My rides were pre-2023 Standard, SE and KRT. SE-type bikes in period materials often list rider aids like the quickshifter, traction control and power modes – check the exact hire bike in front of you, because fleets mix years and exhausts. I did not ride an RR.

Specs (manufacturer / press figures)

Figures vary by year, market and trim. Typical published ballparks:

Item	Typical published figure	Note
Engine	249.8 cc liquid-cooled inline-four	Manufacturer class
Peak power	~44 bhp Japan-class / ~50 bhp export-class with ram-air claims	Market dependent; press
Redline	Around 17,000 rpm in early press	Confirm on the dash of the bike you ride
Torque	Low-20s Nm class in later SE materials	Press
Seat height	785 mm	Press
Fuel capacity	15 L	Press
Kerb weight	~180-184 kg	Variant dependent
Front brake	~310 mm disc, radial caliper class	Press
Electronics (SE)	Quickshifter, traction control, power modes common on SE	Spec sheet dependent

Always check the exact bike in front of you. For an early independent press ride, see the MCN UK ZX-25R test.

Who it is for

Hire a ZX-25R if you want the modern 250 inline-four experience and the soundtrack is half the reason – especially for Bali-style day touring where grin beats luggage.

Skip it if you have long legs and hate any sportbike packing on all-day rides, if you want a soft first commuter with no drama, or if you expected a track weapon verdict from me – I only rode street and touring. Also skip any plan to import one for Australian road use: never sold here, does not meet emissions. Race-only imports are a different conversation.

The scorecard

Scored inside the small sportbike class from real hire days. Performance is the hero – engine and that quickshifter. Reliability sits at 3.5 because I do not have multi-year ownership data even though nothing failed on my days. Comfort loses a bit for long-leg full-day touring. Weighted (25/25/20/15/15) that lands at 4.0 overall.

FAQ

Is the Kawasaki ZX-25R fast?

In a Bali street sense, it is as fast as you need and more fun than the speedo suggests. I spent plenty of time hammering third gear hard around the indicated 100 km/h mark. Manufacturer peak power claims sit in the mid-40s to ~50 bhp class depending on market.

Is the ZX-25R a four-cylinder?

Yes – a 250-class liquid-cooled inline-four. That layout is the whole personality of the bike.

How good is the quickshifter?

On the bikes I rode, excellent. Factory up and down with auto-blip – one of the best factory units I have used on any motorcycle. Together with the high redline it is a huge part of why the bike feels so addictive.

Is the ZX-25R good for beginners?

It can work for a careful newer rider who wants a small sportbike, but it is still a committed, noisy, rev-happy machine. If you want soft and simple, look at friendlier twins.

Is the ZX-25R comfortable?

More comfortable than a hard ZX-6R-style crouch for me, and fine for hours of Bali roads. At 6 ft I got leg cramps by the end of full days – more a long-leg packaging issue than “sky-high supersport pegs.” Shorter riders will probably be happier on the stock triangle.

ZX-25R vs Ninja 400 or R3?

Twins I have ridden feel smoother and more “normal.” The ZX-25R wins on soundtrack, high-rpm gear fun and that quickshifter sensation. The twins win if you want a conventional small sportbike character and, in many markets, a simpler ownership path.

Can you buy a ZX-25R in Australia for the road?

It was never sold as a mainstream Australian road model. Hire in Asia is the easy path. You cannot normally import one for Australian road use because of emissions. Race-only style imports are a specialist option outside this review.

The bottom line

So there you have it – my take on the Kawasaki ZX-25R from real Bali and Lombok days in 2023 and 2024. Pre-2023 Standard, SE and KRT bikes, street and touring, full day trips and a short custom-bike borrow in Lombok.

If you want a little Ninja that screams like old Formula One, snaps through a brilliant factory quickshifter, and makes thrashing the gearbox the whole point of the ride, hire one. If you want a more normal small sportbike you can own easily where you live, look at the twin world – Ninja 400 and R3 territory for me. Long-legged riders should expect some full-day cramp on stock pegs; everyone else should prepare to grin stupidly.

Have you hired a ZX-25R? What did you make of the quickshifter and the top-end noise? Let me know in the comments below.

Related reviews

• Kawasaki Ninja 400 Review - Gold Coast street + Broadford hire
• 2017 KTM RC 390 Review – my long-term small sportbike ownership anchor
• Alpinestars SMX 6 V2 Review – boots I wore hard on road and track
• Quad Lock Review – phone mount across RC 390 and R6
• More motorcycle reviews

Updated 4 August 2026: full copy pass for natural voice; added factory quickshifter praise; clarified long-leg comfort vs “high pegs”; softened third-gear speed claim; added ZX-6R 636 to compare set; stripped internal jargon from the published text.