kawa-bunga!
By TMX Archives on 1st Jun 07
''...the lightest, fastest and most powerful off-road bike ever produced by Kawasaki...''
YOU don't need to be a genius to have noticed that there aren't thatmany Kawasakis competing in enduro and cross-country events nowadays.Sure, there are still a handful of converted KX250s doing the roundsbut with the iconic KDX220R and trail-friendly KLX300R withdrawn fromservice in the UK in 2003, Kawasaki's off-road presence has beenlimited, to say the least, in recent years.
That, Kawasaki hopes, is all about to change with the arrival of theKLX450R. Derived from the KX450F motocross machine, the KLX450R is muchmore than just a user-friendly trail bike - it's the first competitionready off-road bike Kawasaki has built in recent history.
The KLX450R is, thankfully, much more than just a KX450F withrestricted breathing, a wide ratio gearbox, an electric starter andsoftened suspension. Well aware of the fact that they've been away fromthe off-road market for some time Kawasaki's new flagship woods machineis - although visually easily comparable to the KX450F - a bike thathas been built to satisfy the needs of racers as trail riders. It'scertainly not a half-measure conversion attempt.
In order to ensure that the KLX450R deals best with the multitude ofdifferent off-road conditions it will encounter Kawasaki hasunsurprisingly mellowed the KX450F motor in a number of ways. Tweakedto ensure more low-end torque, the motor has been adapted for forestand trail riding by making a number of specific modifications. Revisedcam timing and a flywheel double the weight of that fitted to theKX450F lie at the heart of the changes, which are added to a wide-ratiofive speed gearbox and an ignition system that allows 'plenty ofover-rev'.
To aid the low-to-mid range performance of the engine as well asensuring that the bike's throttle response remains positive an extendedheader pipe is coupled to a large silencer that keeps the bike quiet.Last but not least an electric starter is added.
The chassis is essentially the same as that used for the KX450F -set-up, Kawasaki claims, to offer nimble handling qualities in roughconditions. With the frame geometry revised ever so slightly over theKX450F frame it's the settings used in the Kayaba AOS(Air-Oil-Separate) forks and Kayaba shock that ensure the bike givescontinued and reliable feedback and easy handling.
The finishing of Kawasaki's off-road conversion starts with thefitting of an 18'' rear wheel. With the battery tucked away in theairbox like on so many bikes the left side opening airbox allows easyaccess to the air filter while the bike also comes with a steel sidestand.
The 'off-road racing equipment', as Kawasaki calls it, comprises alightweight digital instrument panel, which features a speedometer,twin tripometer, odometer and clock. The fuel tank, which holds eightlitres, features a reserve position and although close to one litrebigger than the tank fitted to the KX450F, is anything but bulky.
Make no mistake about it the KLX450R certainly wasn't designedspecifically for the European market, not in the way that a KTM orHusqvarna is. A quick glance at the bike with its ultra-compact LEDtail lamp and no obvious place to mount a number plate, its wider, morecomfortable seat and wide ratio gearbox suggest strongly that, likemost all Japanese woods machines, it's built primarily for the USmarket. The fact that the word enduro is used only occasionally in thebike's model information confirms that the KLX450R was built for themin the good ol' US of A. But that doesn't mean alarm bells need tostart ringing. Although a desert racer at heart, the KLX450R is both anextremely rideable and competitive Enduro 2 class machine.
While the build quality is exactly as we've come to expect from theJapanese, the styling is a little hit and miss. With the angular andfuturistic looking front light giving the bike a fresh, modern look allof its own when viewed head-on, the left side of the bike looks similarto pretty much any other 450cc enduro bike.
From the right side though, with its bulbous silencer showing andits downwardly protruding header pipe clearly visible the bike looksbig and unnecessarily heavy. Despite the big silencer, big seat andbigger tank making the bike look, well, big, the KLX450R weighs just10kg more than the KX450F and tops the scales at a claimed dry weightof 115kg.
With the chassis all but the same as that fitted to the KX450F it islittle surprise that the bike feels very much like a motocross bikewhen first aboard. With the three primary contact areas - handlebars,seat and foot pegs, positioned to ensure an open cockpit that is easyto move around, the wider seat aimed at increasing comfort makes thebike feel like it is built more for comfort than for speed, which itisn't. >>>
But despite its very motocrossy ergonomics it didn't take long torealise that the KLX450R is anything but a fire breathing open classmonster. Disappointingly though, the first definite impression of thenew bike was a negative one. With the bike fitted with a five-speedwide ratio gearbox first gear was all but unusable as within no morethan a few bike lengths of having let the clutch out a change intosecond gear was needed, something that made selecting the right gearfor slow speed riding harder than it should have been.
Designed to enable riders to successfully tackle extremely slow,tight and technical climbs, using first gear around the test loop wasimpossible on any occasion when riding above a fast walking pace. Butthe bigger problem was that in many of the slower areas of the trackusing second gear was also difficult. Unable to use first gear due toneeding to change up as soon as the throttle was rolled on using secondgear often resulted in the bike stalling, due to the noticeable spacebetween the two gears and it being too high for such slow speed riding.
With little option but to use second gear, covering and featheringthe clutch constantly was essential to ensure the bike didn't stall.This unfortunately put a cross against an otherwise extremely enjoyablebike to ride.
Part of the reason the bike was so enjoyable to ride was the factthat the power produced by the motor was smooth, strong and incrediblyusable. Very different to Yamaha's hard-hitting WR450F, the KLX450Rproduced useable power right the way through its rev range with no hitto its top-end whatsoever. In fact the bike could be revved to the moonin any gear without the power either dropping off, thanks to theincreased over-rev, or hitting hard as the DOHC affect kicked in. Withthe power remaining both constant and not arm-wrenchingly strong, thebike drove forward in a controlled, predictable and effective mannerout of both flat and rutted turns. With some 450s offering too muchpower to really boss around, the KLX450R has enough but not too much,which is a huge plus point.
The other reason the bike was enjoyable to ride was because ofchassis and suspension combination, which ensured the bike feltextremely stable. With the soft, fat seat aside, that does little tomake the bike feel sporty, the stability, manoeuvrability and overallhandling of the bike was very good. Able to change line, stop and turndirection quickly and easily in tighter going as well as being able tohang things out a bit more on the faster sections of the test loop thebike, partly due to its manageable power, never once felt too much.Even when ridden hard it remained predictable, which came as a welcomesurprise.
Although not really able to test the suspension's capabilities overrougher terrain due to the test circuit being relatively smooth, thebike's suspension seemed to do what Japanese off-road suspension oftenstruggles to do - deal well with the smaller bumps that litter thefloor of tracks and trails as well as soaking up bigger hits, such asjumps. With the front wheel holding its line both in ruts and flatturns the bike felt well-balanced, drove well out of turns and rarelyseemed to want to do anything other than drive forward in the desireddirection when exiting turns.
In addition the controls were hard to fault. With the action of boththe clutch and throttle positive the brakes offered a positive stoppingaction with both the front and rear effective and progressive.
As a package the smooth motor and well-handling suspension andchassis combination come together to produce a bike that, despiteKawasaki's recent off-road absence, is better out of the crate thansome other Japanese 450cc enduro bikes. The bike's most impressivefeature, for me, is its usability.
Despite the first/ second gear issue, which does stop the KLX450Rgetting the glowing report it deserves, Kawasaki have delivered a 450ccoff-road bike that is enjoyable to ride. Needing simply to be fittedwith enduro tyres before it can be used in competition, a little timespent setting-up and fine tuning the bike will ensure that a wide rangeof riders from serious enduro competitors to trail riders will enjoyriding the new KLX.
Does the bike have any apparent weaknesses? Well, apart from anincredibly soft seat foam and bars that twisted in their rubber mountsafter a near walking-speed fall, it's just the jump from first tosecond gear that lets the bike down.
It might have been a long time coming but Kawasaki has produced abike that seems, well, too good to be branded a KLX. Nothing like theKLX300R trail bike of old, the '08 model KLX450R is a bike that seesKawasaki enter into the competitive mid-sized Enduro 2 class thumpermarket with a bike that offers a little less power than some of itsclass mates but ultimately offers a great deal more in terms ofusability.
Let's just hope that we don't have to wait long for the KLX250R...
Plus and Minus points
+ Tremendously smooth, tractable and useable power.
+ Impressive straight line stability at speed.
+ Easy access to air filter via side opening airbox.
- Walking pace falls can result in bars twisting in their rubber mounts.
- First gear too low, second gear too high, which makes riding in tighter sections difficult.
- Soft and wide seat does little to aid bike's sporty ergonomics.
SPECIFICATIONS - 2007 Kawasaki KLX450R
ENGINE
Type: Liquid cooled, single cylinder, four-stroke
Displacement: 449cc
Bore & Stroke: 96.0 x 62.1mm
Valve system: DOHC
Compression ratio: 12.0 : 1
Fuel system: Keihin FCR40 carburettor
Starting: Electric and primary kick start
Transmission: Five-speed
CHASSIS
Type: Aluminium perimeter frame
Rake/ trail: 28 degrees/ 122mm
SUSPENSION
Front: 48mm USD cartridge fork
Travel: 305mm
Rear: Uni-Track
Travel 315mm
BRAKES
Front: 250 mm semi-floating petal disk with dual piston calliper
Rear: 240mm petal disk with single piston disk
Wheelbase: 1,480mm
Seat Height: 935mm
Clearance: 315mm
Fuel capacity: 8 litres
Dry weight: 115kg
Specification: