At the time of its release, several top manufactured sported entries in this class, including Yamaha, Suzuki, Honda and the class-leading Maico.

The addition of liquid cooling in 1985, a new frame with improved suspension in 1987, engine updates in 1988 and reversed forks in 1990 highlight these revisions.

Kawasaki responded by lower compression ratios to make the bike more manageable and reliable, but would ultimately design a new engine from the ground up for the '85 model year.

The bike, with its highly praised multi link suspension and newly designed power plant, is considered the first truly competitive 500cc Kawasaki, yet failed to win a National championship.

The unique design of this bikes piston makes cylinder maintenance difficult, as aftermarket companies (as of 2016) do not manufacture replacements and new old stock (NOS) parts are not widely available.

In the early nineties, evolutionary revisions were made to the ignition to make the KX500 more adept for off-road riding, including facilitating the installation of lights for distance racing events.

The motorcycle ceased production in 2004 to make way for the Kawasaki KX450F, a newly developed bike that followed the trend of using four-Stroke engines in motocross machines.