Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(Above) The KX is all -new and is m uch im p ro ved for 1985. (Bel o w) The motor compartment is a t ightly compact unit. Kickstarter is easy to u s e . p ow er band is down low - no m att er how low th e rp m , th e KX will ch ug its way o u t of trouble a n d do so smoothl y a nd pr ed ictabl y. never losin g a beat. Th e Kawasaki doesn 't hit hard an ywh ere in th e powerba nd, .bu t it does pull very strongl y throughout the range. requiring a tight grip on the handl ebars a t all times. Because of th is brute horsepower. . th e KX is not a n ea sy bike to ride. even th ough it is eas ier to rid e th an th e 1984 500; th e rid er 's a rm tir ed quickl y because o f th e pow er a nd vibration . The rider must be on top of things at a ll times when riding th e KX. it ta kes pl enty of throttle control on the track - just twisting th e th rottle wide open coming out of turns isn't the hot set-up. The front end will climb if th er e is enoug h tra ction, o r the rear wheel will slide o ut to th e sid es in a hurry. Since the KX h as so much to rq ue. th e clutch is h a rdl y ever needed wh en ro u ndi ng ha irpin turns: in stead , th e th ro tt le shou ld be opened abou t a quarter of th e wa y af ter th e a pex o f th e turn. th en ro lled on stea di ly as th e bik e stra igh tens up. Th e-KX has a fa ir ly li ght flywh eel , making it very easy to sta ll. Surviving an entire moto without sta ll ing th e motor at least on ce is a ma jor accom plishment. a nd it is not because th e rear brake is too to uchy . You j ust ca n ' t let th e rear wh eel lock up at all: even with th e best brakes in th e world. that's to ug h to a void . so it 's a good id ea to alwa ys leav e a fin ger on th e clutch a t a ll times just in case - if th e rear wh eel starts to lock u p . quj ckl vgra b a ~aI) df.u.J of,ch,.It c~ get th e bike stra igh tened up and re-en gag e the cl u tch before th e bik e loses too much speed to turn over th e engine. T h e hardest thing to accom p lish o n th e KX is ge tt ing it o rr th e line quickl y - it tak es a Lo t o f practi ce to do it right. As soon as th e cl ut ch is fu lly engaged . th e front wh eel loves to reach for th e sky. requ irin g th e rid er to back o ff th e th rottle or pull th e cl u tch lever back in ; in th e meantime. the rest o f th e pa ck is hooking up a nd pulling a wa y. If th e front . doesn 't co me up. th e back slides o u t to th e sides. We tried m an y different techniques a nd ,found th at th e rid er has to slip the clu tch a bo u t halfwa y dow n th e starting stra ig h t for a quick ge t-away . We even found t~i rd~g ea r starts success fu l in so me su ua n ons . -rnainiy wh en th e grou nd su rface was very dry and loose. Even th en, th e clutch must be slipped - done righ t. hol esh ots are guaranteed. The o n ly p roblem we enco u ntered wit h th e Ka wasa ki was foul in g th e spa rk p lug twice; o nce wh en descending a h ill a nd o nce j ust tryin g to sta rt th e bike. H ow ever, bo th tim es we weren 't o n the tra ck bu t o n th e tra ils o u t in the h ills. Wh en th e KX is ridden for a length of tim e do wn lo w in th e pow erband , th e spa rk p lu g sign s o u t. a nd wh en it does , th ere' s no warning. We never expe rienced fouled spa rk plug s o n th e track. Nevertheless, th e Ka wasaki isn ' t a p la yb ike -i t' s strictly a racer. Every now and then the KX's mo tor p ings wh en revved a lit. as do mo st big-bo re two-strokes. The tra ns missi on ha s a sm ooth a~~ pr.e.~! ~ feliLing.,b.u~\ o~~si .,l!a.l , . . (Abo ve) Tile front disc brake is very strong. and the suspension is excellent. (Bel o w) The new water-cooled eng ine is extremely torquey. Kawasaki KX500 Engine ty pe . ... . Liquid-cooled. two-stroke single Bore x stroke 86x86mm Displacement 499cc Compression ratio 7 .9 :1 40mm Mikun i Carburetion Horsepower 58 bhp @ 7000 rpm Ignition COl Lubrication Pre -mix Gea r ratios . Primary : 2.538:1 Fina l , 3 .285 :1 5th 0 .791 :1 4th 0 .954:1 3rd 1.181 :1 2 nd 1.454:1 1st 2.000:1 Fram e S ingle downtube. sp lit cradle Rake : : . . . . . . . . . . 28° Trail 4 .72 in. Fork tube diameter 43mm m issed sh ift did n ' t go by unnoticed. It ha p pe ned ever y so o ften a n d wa s p roba bly th e Iault o f the ride r; one quick jab a t th e sh ift lever brough t it ba ck into the co rrect gea r with ou t ha ving to use th e clutch . C lick ing up to a nother gear with th e power o n e i! ~~r. },: it1} , or \.lit~?U t•. the. <:l u\~'1 Front suspension ty pe .... Telescopic fork Front wheel t ravel 11.81 in. Rear suspension type Singleshock swingarm Rear wheel t ravel 12.80 in. Front brakes 8 .66 in. disc Rear brakes 5 .12x1 .10 in. drum Front wheel . .' 21 in. Rear w heel . . . . . . . . . . . .. 18 in. Front t ire 3 .00-21 in. . Bridgestone Rea rtire 5 .00-18 in. . Bridgestone Dry we ight 220 Ibs. Wheelbase . . . . . . . . .. 58.27 in. Fuel capacity 2 .5 gal . Ground clearance 14. 7 6 in. Seat he ight 34 in. Colors Green Retail price $2699 d id n' t faze th e transmission. We enco untered no clutch slip pi ng o r dragging 'th ro ugh ou t ou r test. The cl u tch lever is eas y to find and has a ligh t p u ll for a 500; o ne fi nger ca n get th e job do ne eas ily. _. H » • .. ,Jr;p.p.ti'!u.e,d.tp( ~,!!jt; J~J. ~ 1

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