VOL. 50 ISSUE 49 DECEMBER 9, 2013 P65
ticularly awesome compared
to the other bikes. But you
put it all together and you still
have one of the best all-around
packages.
The Kawasaki still has an
impressive motor. It's not the
horsepower king like it once
was a while back but it's up
there at 51.47 hp. However, it's
not the KX's sheer horsepower
that gets you fired up about this
bike; instead, it's the Kawi's
broad powerband and excel-
lent delivery. It's a great mid-
to-top motor, but it still has just
enough bottom-end grunt to
pull you out of the tight corners
in a hurry. But, hey, we wouldn't
mind seeing more bottom-end.
Suspension is excellent as
usual, but the new Showa tri-
ple-chamber air forks—which
are downright better than the
KX's first air fork—complicate
things a little bit with its multi-
adjustable chambers. They are
awesome forks but require a bit
more know-how and more at-
tention to detail to set them up
properly compared to the previ-
ous air fork and certainly more
so than the coil spring fork be-
fore that. The TAC fork is a se-
rious piece of machinery. You
wanted works forks? You got
'em—as well as the headaches
that come with them.
But with the basic recom-
mended fork settings, the Ka-
wasaki's suspension overall is
darn good, especially in the
back. None of our testers had
to spend much time dialing in
the new Showa rear shock.
You just set ride height, ride a
few laps, make a click adjust-
ment here, a click adjustment
there, and you're done. All di-
aled in. And that's the way it is
with the KX on pretty much any
track.
Again, the KX is a solid ma-
chine on rough tracks. It's sta-
ble at high speeds and rarely
has any surprises in store, and
it still turns pretty good, too. It's
not the best of the six in that
department by any means; in
fact, it might be near the bot-
tom of the list when it comes to
turning, but, still, it gets in and
out of the corners just fine.
We also like how you can re-
ally dial in the KX to your spe-
cific needs. It's the only bike
with adjustable footpegs, and it
also has adjustability handlebar
clamps, Launch Control Mode
and easy-to-use fueling cou-
plers to alter engine modes.
Plus, the TAC fork, of course,
is ultra adjustable—perhaps too
much adjustable for the aver-
age rider with little to no sus-
pension knowledge, but great
for the racer who reads the
manual (same can be said for
the Suzuki's fork).
On the downside, the KX still
has terrible grips and a muffler
that does a lousy job of muf-
fling.
Overall, we're still big fans of
the KX450F. If it hadn't been
for the stepped-up blue bike,
the KX would've been on the
top for a fourth straight year.
