By Noah Kepple
Photos: Drew Ruiz
When you hear the word motocross, many people think about a 450, big jumps, and whips. When Kawasaki invited us out to Milestone MX Park to check out the 2017 KX450f, big jumps and whips were the first thing that came to mind.
This 450 does not have many big changes for 2017, although all of the refinements were a solid step in the right direction. Some were looking for a new KX for 17 but we don’t blame Kawasaki for running their current ride with updates for another season. The KX450F is a solid bike and there are no flaws in our mind other than a few minor issues like chain guides and whatnot. And remember Kawasaki is launching an all-new KX250F for 2017. We guess the Green Thumbs will hold off until 2018 for a new 450.
What is new for 2017? First off the ECU has a revised setting to get rid of the deceleration pop that the 2016 KX had contained. This new setting was very broad and allowed for a long strong pull throughout the rev range all the way up to the rev limiter. The change minimized some shifting and made the bike easier ride around the entire track. Next up was the front end. An all new triple clamp, “molded after the factory race team” was put in place to increase stability in initial corner entry along with a new air fork internal setting and revised damping. The air valves on the top of the fork were also re-angled for easier access. Off the back of the bike, the linkage ratios were redesigned which brought along a new swing-arm designed to work together with the new linkage and dog bone. To complete the rear end of the bike, the KX450 also had a new rear shock spring along with some new internal settings. A new bike wouldn’t be entirely complete unless the graphics changed in some way or another. For 2017 Kawasaki introduced the new in-mold scratch resistant graphics to ensure a longer lasting and cleaner looking surface.
When it came time to gear up and hop on the bike, the sag was checked before the bike was even started. The standard preload setting aloud my weight to compress the shock to a perfect 105mm and all three chambers of the fork were set at the standard pressure. Taking one lap around the track to get used to the controls before photos, it took me only a few corners to realize this front brake is not a Brembo (KTM). I then decided that I was pleased with the balance of the machine. While the track was fairly smooth for the photos, throughout the course of the morning, it had developed deep long inside ruts, bumpy straights, and hard-packed dry outside corners.
When it came down to crunch time, only a few testers were still at the track and man was it rough and technical. It was much less of a wide-open, full gas, hero track than when we had first started riding earlier in the morning. I had asked a Kawasaki technician to try a few changes with the suspension. Starting off first with clickers we inched toward a solution. Trying to let some of the harshness out of the fork while also getting it to plant in the corners. We moved the fork 2 in on rebound and 2 out on compression. I brought the bike back in and was still not overly pleased. After having them check the forks inner chamber pressure, the inner chamber had jumped up 6 to 7 psi from the beginning of the morning. As soon as that was set back to standard, the fork performed as expected for late day testing at Milestone. I was also quite happy with 1 turn less preload on the shock, which let the shock set at the low end of the sag (107mm). With the shocks stiffer low speed setting by 4 clicks, as well as a stiffer rebound setting of 3 clicks I was pleased with a trustworthy set-up. My last time on the beaten track I tried a half turn out on the high speed compression for kicks and grins. While the high-speed compression change may not have been the right thing to do, it was good to know that such a small change can really affect this bikes handling and feel. The sensitivity of the Kawasaki’s suspension is very noticeable and very small changes can make a world of a difference, especially on the air fork.
Overall, The 2017 KX450f offers a great motor, mapping, and suspension package. Although Milestone MX was a fairly flat track to test a 450 at, we plan to take travel to different tracks for the full test on the 17 green machine. Obviously if you like what the 2016 had to offer, you will be a fan of the 2017.
Noah Kepple:
Age: 20
Weight: 168
Experience: All round racer, pro endurocross and extreme enduro specialitst
