Kawasaki KX450 F Aluminum Frame

[LivinLOS]

If you are not into explosive short distance acceleration, wheeling, powers slides, roosting your mates behind

Smells like 2 stroke oil !!

The only reason we have these high complexity, hi perf 4 strokes is yank tree huggers got their panties in a bunch seeing a bit of smoke come out the tail.. So they then had to rejig all the classes in motocross to put bigger engines 4's against the smaller 2's to equalize them, and in turn kill a lot of 2 stroke development. Shame as there was some interesting work I read about being done on low emissions fuel injecting 2 strokes but it died due to racing class breakdown.

 

[LivinLOS]

Just thinking on the WR250.. Its such a shame the 352 big bore doesnt (yet ??) work well with a juice box or power commander..

If that was ever a sure fire drop in option it would solve so many of the KLX's shortcomings, and be the lighter than a drz option for single track trails.. And have a good parts supply.. Its just that the FI one lacks the pull.. Even worth keeping an eye for a carbed version incountry, there was a clean looking one in Lampang when I was hunting that was tempting. Book less tho but then so would be the WR250.

 

[LUFC]

If you are not into explosive short distance acceleration, wheeling, powers slides, roosting your mates behind

Smells like 2 stroke oil !!

The only reason we have these high complexity, hi perf 4 strokes is yank tree huggers got their panties in a bunch seeing a bit of smoke come out the tail.. So they then had to rejig all the classes in motocross to put bigger engines 4's against the smaller 2's to equalize them, and in turn kill a lot of 2 stroke development. Shame as there was some interesting work I read about being done on low emissions fuel injecting 2 strokes but it died due to racing class breakdown.

No, the real reason is that all the Japanese manufactures make alot more profit selling 4T bikes and spare parts to replace a racing 4T top / low end than they do 2T bikes. There is no incentive for them to change. Each 4T is approx $2,000 more expensive than a similar power 2T, throw in costs of valves etc and it clear they make a lot more profit from the sale of a 4T scooter.

Then as you say the ridiculous AMA rules, designed to give 4T as massive capacity advantage over the 2T bikes. In all honesty they probbaly do not need that advantge as a 250 race 2T is a difficlut beast, whereas a 250 race prepped 4T is much easier to ride fast.

Even if the EPA rules were relaxed you wouldn't see a massive re-birth in 2T bikes from the Japs.

Luckily KTM will still be releasing racing 2T bikes with direct oil injection probably not so far away.

Until then I'll just keep pre-mixing my oil...........................

 

[LivinLOS]

You think so ??

Surely if its so much cheaper, rather than say they are making so much extra profit, they could be making cheaper bikes, and outselling the competition ??

I honestly dont know, only that 2 strokes have a certain place in my childhood and teenage memory circuits.. Dirtbikes.. The RD350LC (Rapid Death) or the insane RG500 gamma.. 2 stroke oil in the morning.. Smells like.. Victory :G

 

[LUFC]

But there is virtually no race seriers for 2T any more. The AMA have seen to that. Who wants to buy a race bike they can't race in a fair, competive class.
Newcomers to the sport have no choice, to be competive they must be on a 4T.

It's not coincidence that with the advent of pricey 4T race bikes the AMA have made it very difficult for 2T races to compete.

I know what you mean about the memories, I had a RD350LC then a Honda NS400R..................now a KTM300 and a YZ250....and truth be told a CRF250.
Just spend a wee fortune on the CRF to have it re-valved too!

 

[Steve Canyon]

The WR or CRF, and I believe, as I have never owned or ridden one, an equivalent Kawasaki would perform flawlessly on long distance off road touring. It would be a different story on the road transport sections though.
I wouldn’t recommend holding the throttle around 90% open for even 10 minutes on boring straight stretches of sealed roads. I would be turning off the road at the first sign of a dirt track.

Not ideal then :!:

 

[Nightrider70]

My interest in a lightweight WR/CRF/EXC type bike is for local trails/single track.

I would use my DRZ400 for longer dualsport rides that include lots of blacktop.

I recently replaced the crankshaft and main bearings in my DRZ, plus added big bore and hotcams. All pretty straight forward nut and bolt work.

One thing I cant do myself is recut the valve seats. Fortunately the valves were still ok.
A valve job (recut seats, new OEM valves/springs/seals/collars/labor) costs $300 in the US plus shipping so close to $400 all up.

Is anyone in Thailand setup and experienced to recut valve seats on the WR/CRF/DR's ?

How long did it run before you re-built it and what were the symptoms?

 

[bill]

My interest in a lightweight WR/CRF/EXC type bike is for local trails/single track.

I would use my DRZ400 for longer dualsport rides that include lots of blacktop.

I recently replaced the crankshaft and main bearings in my DRZ, plus added big bore and hotcams. All pretty straight forward nut and bolt work.

One thing I cant do myself is recut the valve seats. Fortunately the valves were still ok.
A valve job (recut seats, new OEM valves/springs/seals/collars/labor) costs $300 in the US plus shipping so close to $400 all up.

Is anyone in Thailand setup and experienced to recut valve seats on the WR/CRF/DR's ?

How long did it run before you re-built it and what were the symptoms?

It had 19000 miles on it when I fitted the big bore so I decided to do new crank bearings as well as a precautionary measure.
The valves were still ok and the clearances hadn't moved since new. However I might have changed them if I had access to a 3 angle seat cutter.

My other stock motor DRZ has 68,000km on it, all original except for new rings at 57000km.

 

[KTMphil]

Any more "whispers" of a release date of a Kawasaki KLX 450 road legal bike in Thailand?


Is there any actual evidence that is it will be released in Thailand?

 

[KTMphil]

The Chinese whispers of a Kawasaki KLX 450, has there been any firm evidence that this will be released in Thailand?

 

[LivinLOS]

I read there was some word from kwak on maybes.. But given every other launch of every other model it seems to always be a mystery..

There's also the issue of how they would handle warranty issues on a higher service interval machine..

Would be a great option at say 200 to 250k..

 

[KTMphil]

Has there been any more "rumours" of a Kawasaki KLX 450 being released in Thailand? All gone very quiet -where did this rumor start? wasn't it someone on the old-folks-home?

The Chinese whispers of a Kawasaki KLX 450, has there been any firm evidence that this will be released in Thailand?