Photos: Scott Hoffman
For 2016 Kawasaki went all-out on the KX450F. The focus was obviously to drop a few pounds, seven and a half is the claimed number, but the resulting bike is a whole new animal. For the past few years the KX450F has been a favorite come comparison time so the question is, will Kawasaki continue to be on top?
After our first ride on the new machine, I can say we were impressed. We’ll go into all the specifics of the changes in our upcoming test but needless to say the bike is truthfully all-new. Just about every piece of the bike is updated, changed and lightened up a little. It all plays to a lighter and fresher feeling KX.
“I can say we were impressed.”
The first thing that all rider will notice is how light the bike feels. It feels lighter taking it off the stand and when you shuffle the bike under you it is much easier. The front end feels way lighter and it is almost effortless going into turns. In the air the bike really acts more like a 250F. But one good weight feeling still remains. When you get in the gas the bike plants itself to the ground, feels heavy and stable, all in a good way. Light in the front, stuck to the dirt in the back.
The next character that may surprise some in the power. Kawasaki has been a motor king even if the dyno didn’t back up the power most riders raved about at the track. The new KX is smoother feeling, it isn’t as chunky and free reeving as before. We feel a lot of that is because the bike is noticeably quieter (a good thing) so your ears are no longer fooling you into thinking the bike has beef. Our bike seemed to be very lean and also a little lacking in overall top end power. We started to play with Kawasaki’s optional tuner and had some good results but more time is needed to really learn this bike’s engine and the capabilities of the tuner. The power is very rider friendly but the first outing does not give you that hit like a brick WOW factor, yet over time you realize the bike gets up and goes with deceptive prowess. On day two of testing some riders really liked what adding 2 to 3 points of advance on the ignition in nearly all grid points.
Onto the suspension. most riders were satisfied with the action of the Showa SSF air-spring fork but our setup was a little different than what was presented as standard and we had an even better one by day’s end. We were at Milestone MX in So Cal for the first two day of testing and the steering was precise while still having great small bump compliance and finally great bottoming control with the additional outer chamber pressure boost. The shock was very free feeling but did not kick on chop or bottom out too much for our 185-pound Vet expert. Stability was excellent and the bottoming was controlled and confident. A few heavier and faster rider did comments that the bike did have great large jump bottoming control but felt the fork hit a light bottom on slower transitional bumps and large braking bumps when the fork was already slightly compressed heading into the bump. Upping outer pressure did help but it was not a cure. Some riders were still searching to fine tune fork settings while others were happy as a clam with settings not too far off stock.
But what really stood out was how good the front end turned and how easy it was to maneuver the bike. It is a huge step forward for riders who like a front turning bike and a lighter feeling ride. Kawasaki has changed its direction in motocross with this bike and we think the timing is again about perfect. This KX really seems to work as a package and it is easy to get right on and feel confident.
There are some more track days ahead for the KX then we’ll get our full test up. We suspect it will be very positive.
