AINEWS
Kawasaki's first new big two-stroke in 20 years is fuel-injected
The KX327 and KX327X use fuel injection to address the carbureted two stroke's altitude problem, but pre mix oil stays on the rider's to do list.
The KX327 and KX327X use fuel injection to address the carbureted two stroke's altitude problem, but pre mix oil stays on the rider's to do list.
Kawasaki is reintroducing the big two-stroke, and this time it runs on fuel injection.
Twenty years after its last all-new big two-stroke, the KX327 motocrosser and KX327X cross-country bike carry a 327cc single that the company is calling its first fuel-injected two-stroke, according to New Atlas's product write-up by Utkarsh Sood on 2026-06-11. The format has been declared dead so many times that a major manufacturer choosing to re-engineer it is itself a story. What makes this attempt different is the part that solved two-stroke design's oldest problem.
A carbureted two-stroke runs on a fixed main jet, and that jet is a compromise. Pick one sized for cool, dense air at sea level, and the same bike runs lean on a hot afternoon at altitude. Lean mixture is what kills two-stroke engines, so riders either re-jetted for conditions or lived with a narrow operating window. Fuel injection measures air pressure, intake temperature, and throttle position continuously, then meters fuel to match. It is the same trick the four-stroke world has used for decades, applied to a format whose reputation for inconsistency was part of why off-road riders started migrating toward four-strokes in the first place.
Kawasaki has also held on to one pre-modern feature. The KX327 and KX327X still require pre-mix: riders add two-stroke oil to the fuel themselves rather than relying on an oil-injection pump. That choice costs some convenience, and it is a fair target for criticism. It also keeps the engine simpler, lighter, and free of the kind of oil-pump failure that has ended more than a few older two-strokes. Modern synthetic two-stroke oils smoke less and run cleaner than the castor formulations of the 1990s, so the practical impact is smaller than it would have been a generation ago. Whether the trade is worth it depends on whether the buyer thinks of a two-stroke as a workbench-friendly throwback or as a modern trail tool.
US pricing lands at $9,099 for the KX327 and $9,699 for the KX327X, per New Atlas. The argument Kawasaki is making with that number is position in the segment: the KX327 sits below the long-running Yamaha YZ250 on MSRP, and well under the typical $10,000-plus entry for comparable European 250/300 four-strokes. The honest caveat is that those competitors are four-strokes with different power delivery, weight, and maintenance profiles, so the price gap is one input to the buying decision, not a verdict. Until trade outlets run the comparison tests, it is also a price-only comparison.
The two models are tuned to different jobs. The KX327 is the motocrosser, set up for closed-course starts and jumps. The KX327X is the cross-country variant, with gearing and suspension aimed at longer, slower terrain. Both run Kawasaki's long-standing Uni-Trak rear suspension, adjustable for compression, rebound, and preload, and the shared engine and platform are how Kawasaki gets two products out of one design investment.
The regulatory piece is the one Kawasaki has not yet answered publicly. The New Atlas write-up does not include EPA, CARB, or Euro 5+ emissions language, and two-strokes remain the harder architecture to certify for street-legal use because unburned hydrocarbons from the oil-and-fuel mix are harder to scrub than four-stroke exhaust. The reasonable read, until Kawasaki or a regulator clarifies, is that the KX327 platform is built for closed-course off-road competition in markets where that does not require street-type emissions certification, and that any dealer-floor conversation about trail registration is premature.
What to watch next: a Kawasaki Motors USA or global press release with the official spec sheet, including claimed power, weight, and any regulatory compliance language. Independent test rides, particularly against the YZ250X and the European 250/300 four-strokes, will tell riders whether the KX327's delivery matches its pricing pitch. Until then, the right framing is that Kawasaki has built a competitive closed-course two-stroke with a re-engineered engine, not declared the format's return to dealer showrooms.