Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125840
Kawasaki 450 Story and Photos by John Huetter Great humping barrelsful of torque allover the place. First gear, fifth gear, the big Kaw doesn't care so long as you give it a little gas. It will pull out, up, and over with grunchy persistence like a big four-stroke single. Except that it's a lot faster. About a year ago, we had a chance to ride Kawasaki's then big news prototypes. By the time you read this, they should be unloading the production bikes derived from those same prototypes out of the hold of the Dollarshoku Maru in to warehouses and on to dealers. Racing does improve the breed, and Bradley's bike at the end of the year is better, for most riders, than it was at the end of last year. It took a lot of Grands Prix, the whole TransAMA, and some Nationals to get it that way but, now, with the year over, Ka wasaki has made another step forward in design. Could this be 1975's production motocrosser? The final version of the GP 450 Kaw is an incredibly easy bike to ride. Low gear is almost too low except for some of the tight sidehiJl hairpin or off-camber stuff. You can put it in third gear and go just about any place. When the power feels like it flattens out between five and six grand on the mental tachometer, you can wick it a little more and pick up some more top end. But it really wants to be shifted righ t along to go mos t rapidly. It is possible to use all four top gears if your riding is even half-fast and intelligent. Part of the reason the Kaw 450 is so easy to ride is that the chassis is quite stable down the rough straigh 18 and predictable out of corners. The current chassis on the 450 is the same as was used on the 250 Grand Prix Kawasakis such as TorHef Hansen's and aile Pederson's. The MX prototype has special design KaNis mounted up the swingarm and at a steep angle to the frame. The team lets the riders set their bikes up the way they like (rarer than you might think among factory teams) so Betor, Marzocchi, Kawasaki, and Maico front forks have all been tried by various Team Kawasaki racers. The bike has DID rims (natch), a Hghtweight semi-conical hub up front and a fairly standard·looking rear brake hub save that it's cast in magnesium. The left-side five speed shifter is below a fully exposed countershaft sprocket that is still tucked out of the way. This set-up was tge rule on all the GP bikes ridden, and those that weren't for that matter. All sprockets are drilled to save a couple of ounces. The GP frame is a double down tube full cradle that wraps all the way back up to the main backbone. There is a small subframe assembly to hold the shocks, seat and fender in place. On the course, the bike seems to . /automatically get a little sideways over the jumps (Maybe too much throttle coming off?) but straightens right out with a throttle grip t wis t when you hit the ground. It sets up very nicely for corners, feeling very light but stable. The only questionable handling trai t encountered is that the front end wants to go away on hard, skittery comers just a tad. You have to watch for it. There was a direct contrast to the Suzuki in that the rear end seemed perfectly predictable and tracked true. The Suzuki front end, on the other hand, would stick in the corner better with no hint of washout. The suspension on Lackey's bike seems to eat up anything. It makes the hardest, cobbiest bumps and holes a no-sweat problem at any speed we were able to push it. The suspension and geometry also got power to the ground in good measures. One interesting note is that Jim Cooke's and Peter Lamppu's Kawasakis in the TransAMA series just completed were stock KX450's. Brad tried the prototype 400 engine that Jim Weinert won on at Houston and then went back to the 450, preferring the power characteristics of the Steve Johnson-prepared engine. The motor, if it gave off thumps as an exhaust note, would pass for a four-stroke even with the 36mm Miliuni dumping in lots of gas-air mixture. Ids one of the few dead serious motocrossers ever ridden that would also seem to be a good playbike due to engine tractability and stahle handling. Reliability of the working components: engine, gearbox, and running gear seems very good. The GP frame also seems more crack-resistan t than previous designs, even when pretty thoroughly thrashed. The brakes on the Kawasaki are just plain excellent. So were the brakes on the Suzuki and Montesa. It seems characteristic of the really dialed-in professional machines that they stop with the same positive feel and sureness that they go. Braking is just as important a part of turning low lap times as wicking the throttle. Feedback and braking action on all. three m;ichines.. with no twitching or rear wheel hop, was way above what has been encountered on any stock moto- crosser. This is one area where we hope the racing design carries over to the production line. All three also carried an alloy tank and heavyweight. plastic fenders, whkh seems like the safe and ligh t way to go. Weigh t with oil is 217 Ibs. One other thing was common to all three bikes tested. If you're riding one, you don't hav(: many excuses for not doing well.._unless, of course you're racing against other International class riders on the same type of machine. #: The powerplant breathes through a Twin Air filter and 36mm Mikuni. Steve Johnson, head motocross technician for the green guys, puts the 450's power to the ground squaring off a comer the right way. Suspension follows latest GP practice in regard to geometry. The cooling reservoin were added to the KONls at Kawasaki. Brad Lackey's 450 Kawasaki motocrosser - a refinement of the word "trick".