2020 Kawasaki KX450 Vet National Race Bike Build (Part Two)

Written By: Joe Oehlhof

For part two of this build I got a bit more detail oriented and involved some high-end parts, which provided some big gains, but before we get into that, I’ll give a quick review of how the Dubya Vet World Championship went for me. I ended up 5th overall, not too bad for a guy who only gets to ride once a week, I guess. I can tell you I’m not happy with it and I feel like I should have been 3rd overall. Not to take anything away from the guys who finished ahead of me because they rode great. I just felt like I left some on the table and didn’t ride to my full potential. I won’t bore you with excuses but I will say it has motivated me to race a bit more and I’ve already started my prep for next years Vet World race, so I guess that is a good thing. I gotta thank Pro Circuit for taking care of my bike all weekend and making me feel like a part of the team. Couldn’t have pulled this event off without the help of Mitch, Bones, Dan, Camilla, Luke, Mike and especially Josh and Kyle for wrenching for me on Friday and Saturday. I also want to thank the rest of the companies involved that helped me get a damn good bike together in a short amount of time. Huge thanks to Pro Circuit, Pro Taper, FCP, Hinson, EKS Brand, Answer, Dunlop, X-trig, MGX unlimited, Amsoil, Matrix Concepts, and last but certainly not least is Kris at Keefer Tested. None of this would have happened without him nudging me and getting me a bike, I’m coming for you next year, which may be impossible because you’re riding the best I’ve ever seen you ride but, it’s a goal to shoot for. We’re a long way off from that but stay tuned. 

After phase 1 was wrapped up the next area we concentrated on was getting a bit more power, but more importantly move the delivery around a little to make it even more usable and ultimately get the power to the ground. We achieved this by having Pro Circuit remap the stock ECU, installed a full Hinson clutch set up, and slapped on Pro Taper chain and sprockets for the final drive. First up, the ECU; with the smooth, strong delivery of the stock power coupled with the PC Ti-6 exhaust we had a very good manageable motor. I was looking for more of a smooth torque down low and better “recovery” and the PC re-mapped ECU did just that. It gave me a little less jumpy feel and wider/broader second gear that allows me to roll on the throttle much sooner while keeping the rear tire connected to the throttle. Additionally, it increased mid to top end pull while shifting through each gear as well as removed any lull or dead spot if I shifted too early. This mod added that last piece of the puzzle that allows me to ride the bike in an aggressive manor with more than enough power, but is user friendly and doesn’t wear me out.

To assist in transferring the added power to the rear wheel we installed a full Hinson clutch (outer basket, inner basket, pressure plate, stiffer springs and clutch cover). If you make power gains, but can’t transfer it to the rear wheel, without slipping the clutch, in a useable manner, it’s then wasted. The stock clutch set up is decent, but you can’t beat the quality and durability of a Hinson system especially when you’re hard on the clutch like me! Besides durability and the peace of mind I get with this system it also provides a more positive clutch feel and precise engagement, less drag than the stock, and an accurate feel at the lever. The stock clutch feels a bit spongy and tends to drag under load which doesn’t provide that precise ‘bite’ like the Hinson does. 

To finish the transfer of power, Pro Taper also hooked us up with chain and sprockets. I definitely try to get my money’s worth out of all the parts I use and Pro Taper durability and performance are top of the line. These parts not only look great, but outlast all others that I’ve tried.

Now we have the power and got the bike hooking up we needed to focus on handling and suspension. Pro Circuit also took care of the suspension and hooked me up with their newest offering of A-kit internals that slide right into the stock outer tubes. In effort to get you Kawasaki guys hooked up with close to works suspension as you can get without purchasing a full set of A-kit, you can now buy the internal cartridge and drop it directly into your stock forks. This is the same 27mm internal cartridge that the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki team uses and even has the same Kashima coatings. If you aren’t excited to have this available to you, check your pulse!! The real question is, will the average guy who rides once a week be able to tell a difference and the answer is absolutely! The stock forks are a little too soft and ride too far down in the stroke. The action of the stock forks are good when not under a load so getting the forks to stay “up” in the stroke was the first area we concentrated on. With a slightly stiffer spring rate and the A-kit cartridge we had a setting that gave me a lot of confidence to charge into corners, especially down the big hills of GH. On top of that the forks absorbed hard landings such as slap downs, the occasional OJ by my happy throttle hand, and they also stayed “up” in the stroke when under any significant load. This enabled the front end to have great low and high-speed bump absorption, better traction under heavy braking and on lean angle it felt like the front tire had a bigger contact patch. This was very confidence inspiring when you can achieve that at Glen Helen in the afternoon. 

Next came the shock, but I really liked the stock shock, so I was nervous to get too far away from my stock setting that I liked so much. PC set up the shock with a heavier spring and kept the valving fairly close to stock, but addressed the areas I had complaints with. On track, the Being comfortable right away is important because you have to be able to “send it” the first couple laps of a race to have any shot at performing well. The shock was able to absorb that gnarly acceleration chop out of corners and on those square edge uphills, never had a harsh bottoming feel, and it absorbed braking bumps with zero crazy kicking or side to side hop. It also felt slightly more planted entering/exiting corners and felt like the rear wheel was digging down in the dirt as opposed to skating on top. Overall, great performance that has all the potential to get even better with some more tuning and will give the Kawasaki that track toughness that Keefer talks about when riding multiple different styles of tracks. If interested in the 27mm drop in A-kit cartridges contact PC at www.procircuit.com or call 951-738-8050 for pricing and availability.

One last item we were fortunate enough to get our hands on were the XTRIG triple clamps. Bones was able to set this up with Rick Green from Technical Touch, who was gracious enough to provide these on a days’ notice, and I’m really pumped he did. I gotta admit I was skeptical at first because back in my racing days I only used aftermarket clamps to firm up the front end as well as to get increased rigidity for the rigors of SX. This wasn’t something I was looking for knowing how good my front end performed and how gnarly Glen Helen gets. Sooooooo after Bones yelled at me for thinking something other than what he recommended, I put them on and again he was right. Son Of A …….! The clamps were better in absorbing some of the transferred energy of sharp square edge bumps, hardpacked braking bumps, and gave the front end an even more planted feel. The PHDS cushions that are integrated into the bar mounts, along with the way the X-Trig’s clamp to the forks, allow better movement, no binding, and less stiction that provided me a comfort level that I was pleasantly surprised with. Add the fact that they look cool as shit, it was a mod I hadn’t planned on, but ended up getting results beyond what I had imagined. It also gave Keefer something to talk crap on me about and tell me I was taking things way too serious because I initially said I was just going to race for fun. But hey once a racer, always a racer and if someone is offering up a piece to give a bit more performance, I was taking it cause I had to make up for all my weaknesses!  

So that was my month leading up to the race! It was super busy and served as a reminder the amount of work it takes to build a competitive bike. I’m pumped on how it turned out, but my only wish was to have a little more time on it before the race, because I literally got all this done the day before the race. That’s the life of a vet guy though right? Work all week, in the garage the night before, and send it on Sunday! Next Year I’ll try to prepare a couple months out and have it finished well before the race. Thanks for reading and as always if you have any questions contact Kris@keeferinctesting.com. 

2020 Kawasaki KX250 First Impression

I recently got a chance to ride the new 2020 Kawasaki KX250 at the legendary Castillo Ranch and wanted to give you ten key points on Team Green’s new quarter liter four stroke from the first day of testing. If you want to learn more about all the changes Kawasaki made to the 2020 click here: https://www.keeferinctesting.com/latest-news-1/2019/6/18/kawasaki-introduces-updated-2020-kx250. I will be doing more back to back 2019/2020 testing next week so follow @keeferinctesting on Instagram to read more interesting tidbits. Again this is only the first day of riding this bike, but I know how impatient all of you are so here’s my initial impression:

Engine: Kawasaki’s engineers focused on creating more mid to top end power on the 2020 KX250 and that is exactly what they did. I wasn't allowed to ride our 2019 test bike to compare back to back on this day (it’s a KHI thing), but I have brushed up on the 2019 KX250 enough this past week to let you guys know that it does have way more engine RPM recovery than the 2019. Bottom end feels about the same as the 2019 with that snappy out of the hole excitement, but the mid range pulling power is improved along with a healthier top end stretch that allows the rider to use fourth gear more than the 2019. Over-rev is also improved for 2020 especially in third and fourth gears where you need have the KX pull you down long straights. I also noticed that the changes that Kawasaki’s engineers made in 2020, the small bore four stroke has less engine braking than last year’s model, which makes the KX250 feel more playful. Transmission spacing is a little different feeling in 2020 (nothing has changed with gear ratios, but with the different engine specs this can happen) as the second to third gear gap is wide and the third to fourth gear gap is much closer, so sometimes bypassing third gear and going straight to fourth gear works best on longer straights. I will be messing with some gearing in the future so stay tuned to see if we can get second to third gears closer together in order to get third gear more useable around the track. 

Couplers: The 2020 Kawasaki KX250 comes standard with a green coupler that provides the engine delivery we described to you above, but if you’re looking for more power everywhere with slightly less rear wheel connection than install the white coupler. The white coupler makes the KX250 feel lighter and gets better throttle response with increased mid to top end pull. Over-rev wasn't sacrificed with the white coupler (over green), but you will get less connectivity from the rear wheel on hard pack conditions. If you’re on a loamy or sandy surface the white coupler is a noticeable change for the better in power delivery. I tried the black coupler thinking it was going to hurt overall power output, but it only affected the low end delivery (over green/stock), and gave the KX250 so much more rear wheel traction in our afternoon test sessions. Try the black coupler if you're looking for some traction on hard pack, it works very well. The black coupler will make the KX250 feel slightly heavier yet more planted around the track.   

Fork: Thank you Kawasaki for getting rid of that horrible Showa SFF fork! The KYB dual spring fork is a welcome change and gives the rider increased comfort in 2019. The overall action of the KYB fork is soft for my 170 pound frame, but a couple clicks stiffer on the compression helped hold up on de-cel. Going stiffer on the fork helped the bike from pitching which led to a calmer feel driving hard into corners. The KX250 fork feels similar to the YZ250F KYB SSS fork because it moves in the stroke a lot yet has pretty damn good bottoming resistance. The Castillo Ranch track wasn't that rough so we will get down to more suspension testing in the coming weeks. 

Shock: We played with a couple sag measurements and came to a good setting of 103mm that helped the balance of the KX250 under acceleration. If you feel like the rear of the KX250 is too low under acceleration and you're getting too much side to side movement, raise the sag to 103mm and this will help rear wheel traction. Once I found a good sag setting (from 105mm to 103mm) the rear of the bike squatted nicely under acceleration chop and provided more front end bite through corners. The end stroke of the KYB shock is a little soft, so going stiffer (quarter turn on the high speed compression) helped the rear of the bike stay up on g-outs and slap down landings.  

Chassis: Kawasaki didn't focus too much on chassis updates, but the changes that Kawasaki made to the lower front engine mount bolts did help in one area. On tip in (through corners) the 2020 KX250 feels easier to start your lean, which means it feels slightly lighter, but mid corner the Kawasaki has a tendency to want to stand up. Some of that has to do with cockpit feel for me, but more on that later… Straight line stability is still superb on the Kawasaki so going fast down hills is not an issue as the Kawasaki KX250 invites you to ride it hard without feeling to sketch. Bump absorption of this frame is one of the best in class and now with the suspension changes Kawasaki made for 2020 it has helped this feel on the track even more. 

Brakes: The 270mm front brake is powerful and has a linear feel under heaving braking, which I really like. I can’t say the same thing for the 250mm rear brake as it’s grabby and hard to modulate coming into corners. If I was you I would go back to the 2019 KX250 240mm rear disc and hanger to help gain some more control coming into corners.

Cosmetics: What do you guys think of the all green color scheme of the new KX250? I personally like it and think it’s bright, pops, and looks like the factory bikes. I am sold!

Rider Triangle: The seat to peg to handlebar ratio is ok for my 6’0 frame, but Kawasaki needs to get a new handlebar bend. The 971 Renthal bend is too tall/wide feeling and needs to be updated. I don’t mind the 7/8 size, but when I sit down on the seat, coming into corners, it feels like my arms are way too high. This puts my body positioning in the wrong place coming into corners and makes the bike want to stand upright mid corner. Kawasaki could remedy this situation by running a 983 7/8 Renthal handlebar, which is much more neutral feeling for the rider on this bike.  

Tires: Dunlop MX3S tires are still on the 2020 KX250, which means we still have front end traction and a softer carcass feel instead of having a stiffer MX33 carcass that could hurt this bike’s bump absorption feel. Don’t get too cozy though with these 3S tires because we will lose the MX3S full time come 2021. Boo! 

Seat: The middle of the seat on the KX250 is soft and too squishy, which makes me sink into the bike too much when accelerating or coming into a corner. This just compounds the high handlebar feel to me so getting a firm seat foam would be crucial to help me get my body positioning correct through corners. 

My overall first impression is that Kawasaki made a better KX250 by getting some added mid to top end pulling power that it needed, along with more engine RPM recovery, and increased comfort with the fork/shock. Will it be enough to bring it up near the front in the shootout rankings? Find out soon because shootouts are coming around once again. Check back to keeferinctesting.com and pulpmx.com for more updates and settings as we ride this green machine more. 

2019 Kawasaki KX450 First Impression

Kawasaki has a brand new KX450 without the “F” people! Who needs more “F” in this world anyway?! Seriously though, Kawasaki has a brand new 450 and it is probably the most anticipated motocross machine of 2019. I headed down to Pala, California last Tuesday night to attend the presentation that Kawasaki had for the media, to get a feel of the new parts that are on this 2019 KX450 machine. Kawasaki has a lot of R&D invested in this bike and definitely are looking for some great results come shootout time. The 2019 KX450 is available now at our local dealers and cost $9,299.00. Will it be in the hunt for a shootout win this year? It’s quite possible, but first things first, let me break you down some things I felt on the first day of testing so you can get an idea of what this bike is all about.  

Engine Feel Compared To 2018 KX450: Ummmm…No comparison. The 2019 comes on quicker with a lighter, more free-revving feel! I am usually not a guy who likes to de-tune a stock 450cc motocross bike, but the Kawasaki simply is too crisp from 0-5% throttle opening. Yes, too crisp! Where you feel this 0-5% is when you are barely on the throttle through ruts. The KX450 gets jumpy with the stock green coupler and it upsets the chassis, which makes you very inconsistent through corners. Once the black coupler is installed it controls that 0-5% and gives you an incredible, yet smooth pulling power that feels similar to a KTM 450 SX-F. The mid range has a ton of meat and the increased top end/over-rev is noticeable on the second lap. I felt like I lost zero mid to top end pulling power with the black coupler (compared to the stock green one) and I could ride the KX450 more aggressively through corners. The engine is super connected to the rear wheel and never steps out coming out of corners. This is an impressive power plant! After I was done testing I was chatting with McGrath and he even said he preferred the black coupler. So there’s that, if you don't want take my word for it. 

Cornering/Chassis: The new 2019 KX450 is more cornering “neutral” than in previous years. I am able to get more front end bite than last year, but also am still able to rear steer the green machine very well too. I had a rear end steering tester with me at the intro and he liked how well it backed into corners as well as I liked the front end bite from mid-end corner. I say mid-end because the KX450 still does have a slight vague feel on entrance of corners. Raising the fork up 2mm in the clamp helps this feeling somewhat and gives you increased front bite. 

Suspension Comfort: Thank you Kawasaki and sweet baby Jesus for the return of spring forks!!! The 2019 Kawasaki is so much more balanced than last year’s bike and I was able to set the front end down where I wanted to without feeling like the front end was going to snap my wrists. The fork has tons of comfort, but is also too soft for my liking. At Pala there are some sizable jumps and the fork bottomed at too many times. Going stiffer on the compression only hurt de-cel bump comfort, so I settled on going slower on the rebound, which helped some. The shock is soft as well on slap down landings, but going eight clicks (two turns) in helped keep the rear end up and thus helps wallow feeling. 

A-Kit Style Fork: When asked about the Showa A-Kit style fork to a Showa technician, I was told that this is truly an A-Kit style fork. When the Showa tech saw the drawings of the 2019 KX450 in its pre-production stage he thought it was a race team fork at first glance. Many parts that are inside of this production Kawasaki Showa spring fork is what comes inside the factory boys forks. 

Weight Feeing (Chassis): I was told that the 2019 Kawasaki KX450’s frame is 1.87 pounds lighter than it was in 2018. The total weight of the new machine has only increased roughly three pounds from 2018, but to me it feels lighter than the 2018. Why? I feel it is because of the way the 2019 Kawasaki makes its power. It is very free feeling and snappy which makes this bike have a very light feeling through corners. I am ale to lay it down with ease and cut down under a blown out rut almost as easy as a KTM/Husqvarna. I do get a little twitch on de-cel, but it wasn't a horrible or un-easy feeling. Straight line stability is still the same straight and arrow Kawasaki feel that you expect. The frame absorption is one of the Kawasaki’s strong points and although the Pala track wasn't rough, there was some hidden square edge that I managed to hit during the day to test this. 

Hydraulic Clutch: The Nissin hydraulic clutch feels nothing like a Brembo or Magura. The Nissin hydraulic feel is a little bit of cable and hydro. What the hell does that mean Keefer? It means that there is a little play in the Nissin hydraulic lever that makes it feel like a cable pull initially. Unlike a Brembo where there is no play and is very touchy (on/off feel), the Nissin has more of a progressive feeling. So far I prefer the Nissin feel over the Brembo. I like to ride the clutch a little with my finger while I ride, so having that little bit of play makes sure that I don't burn up my clutch as quick. The clutch feeling as you would expect was superb and I had zero fading or lever movement while riding. Kawasaki is the first Japanese manufacturer to have a hydraulic clutch on a motocross machine. Impressive! 

Muffler: Ehhhhhh boy, here we go! Everyone complaining about the bazooka of a muffler from the 2019 Kawasaki. Yes, it’s long. Yes, it’s not that attractive, but the muffler tone is ten times better than the 2018. I will gladly take a long muffler that sounds good and provides excellent power delivery. This bazooka does just that!  

Rider Traingle: The footpeg to seat to handlebar ratio is also another improvement. The seat is flatter, which puts me more on top of the machine than “in” it like last year. I like this feeling and it makes maneuvering on the bike better for my 6’0 frame. 

7/8 Handlebars: Some manufacturers go away from 7/8 handlebars but Kawasaki keeps them around and I approve! They flex, they offer better vibration characteristics and unlike what most people think DO NOT bend THAT easily. I have crashed my brains out on 7/8 bars and they didn't bend as bad as I thought. I can live with 7/8 bars on a production machine. 

Brakes: Kawasaki also went to work on the front and rear brakes of the 2019 KX450. The rear brake has a 250mm rotor (which is the largest rear production disc on a motocross machine), new master cylinder/hose and the front brake also has a new master cylinder. I would have to say that the front brake was more impressive than the rear because of how good its modulation was. It wasn’t a grabby feeling front brake and was more progressive to pull in. I could drag the front brake more through corners without getting that stabbing front end feel. I didn't notice that much of a power difference in the rear brake compared to the 2018, but it still worked well enough for me. Kawasaki riders that update to a 2019 will be able to feel the front brake improvements on their first ride.

2018 Kawasaki KX450F Notes

I have put an ample amount of time on the 2018 Kawasaki KX450F and wanted to get you some information just in case you didn't get to listen to the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC Keefer Tested 2018 KX450F Podcast. Kawasaki focused its energy and R&D money on the KX250F in 2018, but you green lovers don’t be sad because Kawasaki will have a brand new KX450F in 2019. 

The KX450F’s engine is not the most explosive power delivery you will find out of a 450 for 2018. However, this is why I like this engine so much. It comes on smooth down low and gives me great traction, but then pulls harder through the middle to upper part of the power. I do notice that if there is a sizable jump out of a corner (when the track is deep) it will take more work to clear than a Yamaha YZ450F or KTM 450 SX-F.  Top end isn’t as long as a KTM, but the KX450F has more than enough power to get you around the track in a quick manner. I wanted a little more bottom end so I changed the stock coupler out for the lean white coupler. Doing this gave the Kawasaki a different engine character with added low-mid range pulling power. Be mindful that on very hot days that you might here some detonation from the engine when you do go to the lean coupler. If you do hear this immediately go back to the stock coupler and it should remedy this problem. I only had detonation on one very hot day, at a sand track, but had no problems any other day I tested. The clutch fades on heavy abuse, but is not as bad as the 2018 Honda CRF450R. The action of the clutch and engagement is fine and the pull is very easy, it just goes away if you fan it too much. Going to the lean coupler helps bottom end pulling power, which kept me off of the clutch on longer motos, but you might want to invest in a Hinson or Rekluse. 

The fork is the only thing that holds the KX450F back for me (look for a Race Tech suspension re-valve article that will go up here next week). The Showa SFF-AIR TAC fork is finicky and doesn’t really feel the same throughout the day. The initial part of the stroke is stiff and deflects, but the end part of the stroke feels empty, which is weird for an air fork. The mid stroke has a decent amount of comfort coming into braking bumps, but it’s tough to find front wheel traction when pushing hard into a corner. The rear of the bike stays straight under acceleration and has an adequate enough damping feeling at jumpier tracks. The big problem for me was the front end. I played around with a ton of settings and got it to where it was decent, but I was still hoping for more comfort when the track was hard pack and square edgy. 

Here is my best stock fork setting that I have come up with:

Compression 4 out 

Rebound, 10 out 

Inner Chamber 154 psi 

Outer Chamber 15.2-15.4 psi 

Balance Chamber 175 psi 

Here is my best shock setting: 

Low Speed Compression 10 out

High Speed Compression 1.5 out

Rebound 11 out

Sag 105-106mm 

 The 2018 KX450F chassis feeling doesn’t feel as long or big like the 2015 version did. The rear end steering biased machine of old is more neutral than ever before. It still feels longer than a Honda and KTM (especially mid corner), but can corner as good as a 2018 Yamaha. The tricky part to making that happen is getting a fork setting that allows the chassis to shine, which is tough to do, but possible with the settings provided. The Kawasaki will lean over in corners nicely and at tip the chassis feels light. The strength of the Kawasaki is its straight line stability and frame absorption. It’s a very stable machine at high speeds and Kawasaki seems to have found that superb rigidity balance they once had back in 2012. When you hit square edge at a good clip the frame feel is forgiving and not as rigid as a Honda. Most other manufacturer R&D teams will tell you that the KX450F frame has been a benchmark for them to aim for with their own models. If only this 2018 bike had spring forks! 2019 is coming so I will be patient!  

Ergonomics are more friendlier to wider group of riders thanks to Kawasaki’s adjustable bar position and peg positions. You can choose from four handlebar positions and two peg heights (standard and -5mm). I am almost 6’0 and preferred the stock position on both the handlebar and footpegs. 

Say what you want about 7/8 handlebars, but I still feel like there is a place for them on production bikes. Some magazines give negative remarks about manufacturers using 7/8 handlebars because they are cheap and flimsy. What they are missing is that using 7/8 handlebars can correlate to less rigidity on a machine. This is important, especially with today’s stiffer aluminum frames. I am sure the Kawasaki R&D department has tested oversize bars, but have decided to use 7/8 not only for cost, but for rigidity feeling on the motorcycle. So let’s not assume we know more than the Japanese engineers ok people!  

The chain slider and chain guide are still not very good on the 2018 Kawasaki KX450F, so you might want to invest in several OEM pieces or you can go to TM Designworks and order their set up. However, be aware that the TM Designworks sliders and chain guides are louder and not as quiet as the stock pieces. 

Durability on the Kawasaki KX450F has got a bad rap in the past few years. I have been on long trail rides with this machine and more than a few motos on my rough sand tracks and it has been great! Some of the fasteners are not as good as the other brands, but engine failures have not been an issue for me on the green machine. Keep an eye on the clutch and try to use a petroleum base engine oil to prevent the clutch from slipping. 

Stay glued to keeferinctesting.com for an update on the 2018 KX450F’s suspension as we let Race Tech try to solve the mystery of the Showa SFF TAC Air fork woes.