Jesse Ziegler | June 29, 2018
Fired Up!
We’re fired up by the all-new KX450—electric starting, coil-spring A-Kit forks, hydraulic clutch, new engine… Let’s ride this thing!
A smooth power delivery is a plus exiting loamy turns.
The 2019 Kawasaki KX450 first ride is one of the most exciting motocross bike tests of the year. After learning about all the changes Kawasaki made to the KX450 for 2019 (see our 2019 Kawasaki KX450 First Look).
, we were fired up to ride the new Team Green machine. A new KX450 is long overdue and an all-new bike should satisfy our need for a more viable green option in the 450 class.
We were not disappointed.
Click here to read this in the Cycle News Digital Edition Magazine.
Photography by Drew Ruiz and Max Mandell
Did you notice the “F” is gone off of KX450? Apparently there’s no need to tell consumers this is a four-stroke. Which tells us there’s no chance of a 450 two-stroke coming out.
Anyway, after a great two-track day at Pala Raceway in San Diego County, California, we came away impressed and optimistic about the new KX450’s chances of standing up to the class leaders in this year’s shootout.
Looks can be deceiving. This is a changed motorcycle.
Sure, the Kawasaki KX450 has been a competent race machine for over a decade. It has been a powerhouse and a sweet-handling machine with almost inherent stability and a traditional race-bike chassis feel that keeps fans wanting to ride it. In an endearing way, it’s been a more classic kind of ride in the motocross class with big power and less drastic year-over-year changes to geometry or feel. If you have a 2007 KX450F, the 2015 didn’t feel that much different and you’d be at home on 2017 and 2018, as well. And save for the precise setup requirements of the air fork and its limitations on consistent comfort for most home-tuners over the past couple years, this was still true. KXs are easy to love if you fell in love with them once before. This comfortable feel is great, but it can also make a Kawasaki feel dated or old-fashioned if you’re not riding one consistently.
If you’re wondering about the KX’s flickability, here is your answer.
The 2019 Kawasaki KX450 retains just enough of the old-school charm but infuses large doses of new-school updates. Gone are the air-sprung forks in favor of new, initially impressive A-Kit-technology coil-spring forks. Kawasaki shoppers can also feel good about electric starting, much larger and more powerful brakes and a new hydraulic clutch. These aren’t coincidental updates in our view. These are directly pointed at, and possibly a response to, KTM and Husqvarna’s original equipment offerings. Customers are now expecting bikes to come equipped as such. Kawasaki is finally on board.
The Kawasaki’s power doesn’t snap or bark—it pulls. And it pulls strongly.
While updates on paper are one thing, updates on a track are another.
We enlisted pro-caliber tester Derek Kelley to give the bike a thorough shakedown alongside the likes of Jeremy McGrath and Axell Hodges on Pala’s main track. For the mortal outlook, I rode the bike on the Vet track after a couple laps of not being awesome on the main track. It’s important to know your place.
Our 2019 Kawasaki KX450 riding impressions were nearly identical. This bike is great at spanning the ability gap.
2019 Kawasaki KX450 First Ride Video | Cycle News
Right away we both noticed a broader torque feel with less aggressive ramping up of power out of the new engine. The 2019 KX450 engine performance is tuned for more progression in delivery and it shows on the track. The Kawasaki’s power doesn’t snap or bark—it pulls. And it pulls strongly.
The 2019 KX450 engine has a lot of updates and the major configuration change is a finger-follower valve train that allows for more aggressive cam profiles and a higher rpm ceiling. Also, the valve sizes are greatly increased. The aggressive cam profile and valve sizing don’t equal more aggressive power delivery, but they do make the power delivery strong and more powerful across a wider rpm range.
We can already feel that the KX450 is a lighter than its predecessor.
Personally, I felt like the power delivery was nearly perfect. Aggressive riders like Derek may desire more of a punch-in-the-face approach to power, but we both agreed the power is really good out of the box. We swapped Kawasaki’s EFI-tuning couplers, and surprisingly, both agreed we’d run the aggressive version. I leave this bike in third gear through a lot of corners and the aggressive plug helps cover up some of my clutch (and talent) shortcomings by ramping up rpm faster. Derek simply wants more acceleration. The white EFI-tuning coupler does both. I tried the mellow coupler (black) and it forced me to shift down much more often to get the rpm momentum needed to flow. Stock or aggressive tuner seems to be best here.
Out with air, in with springs. The new Showa 49mm forks feature A-Kit technology, which means they get special treatment and you won’t have to immediately send them out to be tuned.
The next thing we noticed was how smooth the suspension feel is. The fork has a crazy amount of high-grade parts and parts specs in it. From dimply coatings to the inner-surface of the outer tubes meant to hold oil to race-spec suspension fluids and component sizing, it seems Kawasaki’s A-Kit claims are more than just marketing speak. The 2019 Kawasaki KX450 has one of the most comfortable stock fork setups we’ve ever ridden. It’s so comfortable that it has the perception of being very soft. Both Derek and I are around 180 pounds, so we’re a little over the average setup size.
In corners, it’s entirely predictable, especially if you have the good fortune of hitting a rut, where it flies through ruts with confidence.
The most impressive aspect of the 2019 KX450 Showa A-Kit fork is that there is zero stiction, zero harshness, zero resistance feel in any part of the stroke. We stiffened it up quite a bit (+5 clicks on the fork compression) and are looking forward to trying a stiffer spring on our next test day. Still, even though we were able to bottom the setup regularly, it was the most comfortable trip to bottoming we’ve had in a long time.
Looks ugly but we’re happy it’s there. The electric starter motor now does the work for you.
After being impressed by the fork, we were really happy with the way the bike handled. In corners, it’s entirely predictable, especially if you have the good fortune of hitting a rut. In a rut, the 2019 Kawasaki KX450 is at home. Simply get it in there and use the throttle to slingshot through the corner. The bike flies through ruts with confidence and had us searching for more every lap. It was equally stable on flat-track turns or off-cambers. It’s a very planted, cornering machine so far.
We did chase the front end a bit on corner exit under power and while flip-flopping through some chicane-style turns on both tracks. Since it felt incredibly stable at speed and everywhere else, we opted to drop the fork in the triple clamp a few mm. It was an improvement. We also opened up the riding position by moving the footpeg brackets down one position. The KX has some nice ergonomic options and this change also made it more comfortable for 6’-plus Derek and 5’10” Jesse.
Kawasaki surprised us by fitting the KX450 with a hydraulic clutch. Pull isn’t much lighter but feel is good.
Speaking of ergonomics, the new seat-to-tank transition is really clean and makes sliding forward in the turns a breeze.
As we kept riding the 2019 KX450, the updated parts and systems kept impressing. Massive, powerful brakes surprised us with their initial bite and strength. They’re likely too strong initially but some break-in time will determine their long-term feel. Right now, they stop aggressively!
The overall look of the KX450 has been polarizing: Some love it, while some think it’s a dated style.
The hydraulic clutch is consistent in feel and seems to work well. It doesn’t offer a much lighter pull at the lever, if any. So, don’t expect an easier left hand workout while you ride. But it should be a winner in the long run as long as the Kawasaki system can prove to be durable and trouble free.
Electric start was great. We have grown accustomed to e-start and aren’t going back to kicking anytime soon.
New bodywork makes body repositioning a little easier.
What else did we love? Definitely the exhaust note and tone of the muffler. While it looks pretty massive, the muffler delivers a healthy, clean sound now—something Kawasaki’s definitely did not have the past few years. Now it sounds like a nicely tuned machine instead of an open-pipe thrashed bike.
The only area we can begin to complain about the 2019 Kawasaki KX450 at this point is in some finish details. Aluminum components like the footpeg brackets and subframe mounts seem stamped, drilled and forgotten about. The footpeg brackets almost look out of place. The way the electric start gears are mounted above the countershaft sprocket also looks cheaper than other e-start integrations on MX bikes. And the overall look, while definitely strong in Kawasaki green, has been polarizing. Some love it with a classic tone; others think it’s a dated style. That’s certainly a personal preference.
So far we’re impressed with the new KX450. Now it is time to live with it for a while and see what we learn. We will have more on the new KX in a future issue.
Overwhelmingly, the 2019 Kawasaki KX450 is an undisputed improvement over the previous generation. The suspension package alone will put this into consideration for class leadership. And with the handling and other performance aspects impressing us so far, we are already big fans.
It will be an interesting year to shop for a 450 motocross bike, that’s for sure! CN
SPECIFICATIONS
|
2019 Kawasaki KX450F ($9299)
|
| ENGINE TYPE: |
4-stroke, liquid-cooled, DOHC, 4-valve, single |
| DISPLACEMENT: |
449cc |
| BORE & STROKE: |
96.0 x 62.1mm |
| COMPRESSION RATIO: |
12.5:1 |
| FUEL SYSTEM: |
DFI w/Keihin 44mm throttle body |
| IGNITION: |
Digital DC-CDI |
| TRANSMISSION: |
5-speed |
| RAKE/TRAIL: |
27.6°/4.8 in. |
| FRONT SUSPENSION: |
49mm inverted coil-spring fork w/16-position compression and rebound damping adj. |
| REAR SUSPENSION: |
Uni-Trak w/adj. preload, 19-position (low speed)/4-turn stepless (high speed) compression adj., 22-possition rebound damping adj. |
| FRONT WHEEL TRAVEL: |
12.0 in. |
| REAR WHEEL TRAVEL: |
12.1 in. |
| FRONT TIRE: |
80/100-21 in. |
| REAR TIRE: |
120/80-19 in. |
| WHEELBASE: |
58.5 in. |
| FRONT BRAKE: |
270mm disc |
| REAR BRAKE: |
250mm disc |
| FUEL CAPACITY: |
1.64 gal. |
| GROUND CLEARANCE: |
13.4 in. |
| SEAT HEIGHT: |
37.6 in. |
| WEIGHT (claimed, w/o fuel): |
232.4 lbs. |
| WEIGHT (claimed w/fuel): |
242.4 lbs. |
