1995 Kawasaki KX500
et anothe r year has passed, and
the only u pdate th at Kawasa ki's migh ty KX500 h as received
is a revised front brake caliper
and pads th at have a higher coefficient
of frictio n . But is that such a bad th ing?
After s pending several months riding
the big green mach ine, the answer that
we've come up with is sim p le: no .
Even before the demise of the AMA
at ion al Ch ampionsh ip 500cc MX
Series , it se e m e d that re sea rch a n d
development in the big -bore class was
pretty lowon the manu facturers' pri ority lists. A new sticker here, a new reed
valve there , and the bike was dia led in
for at least one more season.
Wha t are most SOOcc MX bik es sold in
Am e ri ca u sed fo r, a nyw ay? Su rvey s
reveal that only a miniscule percentage
o f th em a re ac tua lly r aced o n a
m otocro s s co u rse - most' op en cla ss
bik es end up in th e desert and on the
trail s. Cou ld this be why Kawa sak i h as
pu t the KX500 on the back burner? Per . haps, but we think otherwise. With four
out of the last five 500cc Na tiona l MX
Ch ampion sh ips to its cre d it, as well as
every Baja 1000 win since 1987 under its
belt, maybe the KX500 is good enou gh
as is.
Y
(Left) Yes , aside from the bold new
graphics and new front brake pads , the
Kawasaki KX500 is the same as It ever
was. ( Above) Th e bike fee ls big , but
delivers a surprisingly nimble ride.
24
IN THE PITS
With the exception of the tiny KX60,
the KX500 is the only bike in Kawasaki's
MX bike lineup that boasts a traditional
se mi-d o ub le-cra dle frame - th ere' s n o
h igh-tech pe rimet er frame on this bab y.
One can only guess why Kawasaki has
op ted to leave the 500's frame as is, but
we re m e m b e r the p e rime ter-fram ed
SR500 that mu lti-time World MX Cha mpion Dave Th orpe p iloted duri ng the
1992 500cc MX GP Serie s . T horpe
deemed the bike ill-handling and unridable, and late in the season ret urned to a
trad itionallv fra med SR.
The h igh-tensile-steel frame is mated
