2018 250F Motocross Bikes On The Dyno

It has been said that horsepower is the most important factor in the 250F class in motocross. While that may not hold true for everyone, horsepower certainly plays a more critical role than it does in the 450 class since more riders can ride the smaller-displacement machines closer to their full potential.

During the time we conducted our 2018 250F MX Shootout, we mounted Dunlop D404 street tires on the rear wheels of all six test bikes before putting each of them on our in-house Dynojet dyno to find out how the machines ranked in both horsepower and torque figures.

The top three bikes in the horsepower department were the KTM 250 SX-F, Husqvarna FC 250, and Honda CRF250R. The KTM put out the most horsepower in our dyno runs, coming in with 37.9 hp. Being that they use the exact same engines, the Husqvarna understandably drew a very similar number at 37.3 hp. Slightly more than 1 horsepower behind was the all-new Honda CRF250R, which cranked out 36.1 hp.

In the torque category, the top three were the Husqvarna, KTM, and Kawasaki KX250F. The FC 250 put out the most torque at 18.65 pound-feet while the 250 SX-F drew the second-highest figure at 18.06 pound-feet. Extremely close behind the orange bike was the Kawasaki, which put out 18.03 pound-feet of torque.