2008 Kawasaki KFX450 Sport ATV
Press Intro - Page 5
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| Willam
Yokley was feeling so confident; he even attempted
some freestyle moves, NOT |
When it was time to head into the woods, I hooked up
with William Yokley and we started to shred one of the
tighter trails. I immediately noticed the light feel
of the front end on the KXF450R. If I were setting the
quad up for my riding style, I would offset my bars
forward and try to get more weight over the front end.
I run +1.7" forward a-arms on my red machine, and
I would most likely run forward offset arms on the KFX450R
and keep the swingarm length stock. The front suspension
worked great everywhere except for the really tight
switchback turns, where a more planted front end and
a bit tighter steering radius would help. I have modified
the steering stops on almost all my quads to get them
to turn sharper. While chasing William through the woods
trails, I realized how fast we were going on bone stock
quads! The overall package is very well tuned, and it
doesn't take long to get acquainted with the KFX.
One necessity for any woods riding is a bellypan,
as it only took one g-out in a rocky ravine to do
some damage to the beautiful aluminum frame. The Kawasaki
accessory bellypan is a solid unit that looks a lot
like a ProArmor piece, and really should be put on
before the quad is even rolled out of the dealership.
While in the trees, I made an attempt to get the KFX
to bog or stall intentionally, and it would not do
it. I could be doing a small hill under load in too
high of a gear, and it still would not bog when I
stabbed the throttle. Kawasaki did a great job setting
up the fuel injection system, and I'm sure it is only
a matter of time until the other manufacturers follow
suit. During my woods session, I noticed I was only
using one finger on the front brake lever with minimal
pressure. The front brake system on the KFX is excellent.
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| The
under belly of the KFX450R is fairly exposed with
only a small plastic belly pan and skid plate
protecting some key components, but this will
not be adequate for anyone planning on hitting
any technical trails as the Aluminum frame is
more susceptible to damage than a steel tube frame
from rocks and tree stumps, so aluminum skidplates
should be the first thing on your ad-on list for
the KFX450R
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After a full day of riding and evaluating the KFX450R,
I came to the conclusion that it is currently the
best all-around 450cc production sport quad in stock
form. I can't testify to the reliability of the machine
over the long haul, or the performance level that
will be attained when all the aftermarket companies
have had their way with it, but the factory racers
will definitely make that apparent during this season
of racing. The advantages of the KFX are major steps
ahead of the competition, and the shortcomings of
the quad are minor and can be addressed easily. The
fuel injection and aluminum frame are groundbreaking
to ATVs, but tried and tested on motorcycles for years.
The narrow front end is existing technology that no
factory has chosen to implement until now. It is apparent
that Kawasaki has it's finger on the pulse of the
performance ATV rider and knows what is required to
move ahead of the competition. I would be safe to
assume that the release of the KFX450R has opened
the eyes of the other factories, and they have surely
accelerated their respective development strategies
to try and bridge the quantum leap that Kawasaki has
just made in the sport ATV world.
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