VOL. 53 ISSUE 32 AUGUST 16, 2016 P101
ROUND TWO
AFTER GETTING A COMPLETE OVERHAUL LAST
YEAR, THE LATEST-GENERATION KX450F RETURNS IN
'17 WITH SUBTLE BUT EFFECTIVE CHANGES
W
ith 97.3 percent of the
refinement efforts going to
the 2017 KX250F, the 2017
KX450F received only minor revi-
sions, which isn't surprising since
it was new from the ground up in
2016 and 7.5 pounds lighter.
Yes, the KX450F went on a
major diet last year, losing, as we
just said, a big chunk of weight,
only the KTM 450 SX-F and Husky
FC 450 were lighter right out of the
box. But perhaps even more impor-
tantly than dropping the pounds,
the KX got slimmer and trimmer
and did so in all of the right places.
The KX was criticized in the past for
being bulky and having a just-plain-
big feeling. It was often called a
beast of a motorcycle. But no more.
These things all went away in '16.
The '16 KX450F did take on quite
a few engine changes but the end
result was just a mild improvement
over the '15's engine, but this isn't
what Kawasaki was going for; it was
improving the chassis, and thus,
the overall feel and handling of the
motorcycle, and their changes to
the frame and suspension did just
that. It put a big smile on everyone's
faces. These were the things that
KX450F fans really wanted—a better
handling, easier-to-turn and a more-
balanced KX450F for '16. Not a
whole lot has changed for 2017.
BY ADAM BOOTH
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ADAM CAMPBELL AND BOOTH
