kawa-bunga!
Published: 01st June 2007
Author: Jonty Edmunds
''...the lightest, fastest and most powerful off-road bike ever produced by Kawasaki...''
YOU don’t need to be a genius to have noticed that there aren’t that many Kawasakis competing in enduro and cross-country events nowadays. Sure, there are still a handful of converted KX250s doing the rounds but with the iconic KDX220R and trail-friendly KLX300R withdrawn from service in the UK in 2003, Kawasaki’s off-road presence has been limited, to say the least, in recent years.
That, Kawasaki hopes, is all about to change with the arrival of the KLX450R. Derived from the KX450F motocross machine, the KLX450R is much more than just a user-friendly trail bike - it’s the first competition ready off-road bike Kawasaki has built in recent history.
The KLX450R is, thankfully, much more than just a KX450F with restricted breathing, a wide ratio gearbox, an electric starter and softened suspension. Well aware of the fact that they’ve been away from the off-road market for some time Kawasaki’s new flagship woods machine is - although visually easily comparable to the KX450F - a bike that has been built to satisfy the needs of racers as trail riders. It’s certainly not a half-measure conversion attempt.
In order to ensure that the KLX450R deals best with the multitude of different off-road conditions it will encounter Kawasaki has unsurprisingly mellowed the KX450F motor in a number of ways. Tweaked to ensure more low-end torque, the motor has been adapted for forest and trail riding by making a number of specific modifications. Revised cam timing and a flywheel double the weight of that fitted to the KX450F lie at the heart of the changes, which are added to a wide-ratio five speed gearbox and an ignition system that allows ‘plenty of over-rev’.
To aid the low-to-mid range performance of the engine as well as ensuring that the bike’s throttle response remains positive an extended header pipe is coupled to a large silencer that keeps the bike quiet. Last but not least an electric starter is added.
The chassis is essentially the same as that used for the KX450F - set-up, Kawasaki claims, to offer nimble handling qualities in rough conditions. With the frame geometry revised ever so slightly over the KX450F frame it’s the settings used in the Kayaba AOS (Air-Oil-Separate) forks and Kayaba shock that ensure the bike gives continued and reliable feedback and easy handling.
The finishing of Kawasaki’s off-road conversion starts with the fitting of an 18'' rear wheel. With the battery tucked away in the airbox like on so many bikes the left side opening airbox allows easy access to the air filter while the bike also comes with a steel side stand.
The ‘off-road racing equipment’, as Kawasaki calls it, comprises a lightweight digital instrument panel, which features a speedometer, twin tripometer, odometer and clock. The fuel tank, which holds eight litres, features a reserve position and although close to one litre bigger than the tank fitted to the KX450F, is anything but bulky.
Make no mistake about it the KLX450R certainly wasn’t designed specifically for the European market, not in the way that a KTM or Husqvarna is. A quick glance at the bike with its ultra-compact LED tail lamp and no obvious place to mount a number plate, its wider, more comfortable seat and wide ratio gearbox suggest strongly that, like most all Japanese woods machines, it’s built primarily for the US market. The fact that the word enduro is used only occasionally in the bike’s model information confirms that the KLX450R was built for them in the good ol’ US of A. But that doesn’t mean alarm bells need to start ringing. Although a desert racer at heart, the KLX450R is both an extremely rideable and competitive Enduro 2 class machine.
While the build quality is exactly as we’ve come to expect from the Japanese, the styling is a little hit and miss. With the angular and futuristic looking front light giving the bike a fresh, modern look all of its own when viewed head-on, the left side of the bike looks similar to pretty much any other 450cc enduro bike.
From the right side though, with its bulbous silencer showing and its downwardly protruding header pipe clearly visible the bike looks big and unnecessarily heavy. Despite the big silencer, big seat and bigger tank making the bike look, well, big, the KLX450R weighs just 10kg more than the KX450F and tops the scales at a claimed dry weight of 115kg.
With the chassis all but the same as that fitted to the KX450F it is little surprise that the bike feels very much like a motocross bike when first aboard. With the three primary contact areas - handlebars, seat and foot pegs, positioned to ensure an open cockpit that is easy to move around, the wider seat aimed at increasing comfort makes the bike feel like it is built more for comfort than for speed, which it isn’t. >>>
But despite its very motocrossy ergonomics it didn’t take long to realise that the KLX450R is anything but a fire breathing open class monster. Disappointingly though, the first definite impression of the new bike was a negative one. With the bike fitted with a five-speed wide ratio gearbox first gear was all but unusable as within no more than a few bike lengths of having let the clutch out a change into second gear was needed, something that made selecting the right gear for slow speed riding harder than it should have been.
Designed to enable riders to successfully tackle extremely slow, tight and technical climbs, using first gear around the test loop was impossible on any occasion when riding above a fast walking pace. But the bigger problem was that in many of the slower areas of the track using second gear was also difficult. Unable to use first gear due to needing to change up as soon as the throttle was rolled on using second gear often resulted in the bike stalling, due to the noticeable space between the two gears and it being too high for such slow speed riding.
With little option but to use second gear, covering and feathering the clutch constantly was essential to ensure the bike didn’t stall. This unfortunately put a cross against an otherwise extremely enjoyable bike to ride.
Part of the reason the bike was so enjoyable to ride was the fact that the power produced by the motor was smooth, strong and incredibly usable. Very different to Yamaha’s hard-hitting WR450F, the KLX450R produced useable power right the way through its rev range with no hit to its top-end whatsoever. In fact the bike could be revved to the moon in any gear without the power either dropping off, thanks to the increased over-rev, or hitting hard as the DOHC affect kicked in. With the power remaining both constant and not arm-wrenchingly strong, the bike drove forward in a controlled, predictable and effective manner out of both flat and rutted turns. With some 450s offering too much power to really boss around, the KLX450R has enough but not too much, which is a huge plus point.
The other reason the bike was enjoyable to ride was because of chassis and suspension combination, which ensured the bike felt extremely stable. With the soft, fat seat aside, that does little to make the bike feel sporty, the stability, manoeuvrability and overall handling of the bike was very good. Able to change line, stop and turn direction quickly and easily in tighter going as well as being able to hang things out a bit more on the faster sections of the test loop the bike, partly due to its manageable power, never once felt too much. Even when ridden hard it remained predictable, which came as a welcome surprise.
Although not really able to test the suspension’s capabilities over rougher terrain due to the test circuit being relatively smooth, the bike’s suspension seemed to do what Japanese off-road suspension often struggles to do - deal well with the smaller bumps that litter the floor of tracks and trails as well as soaking up bigger hits, such as jumps. With the front wheel holding its line both in ruts and flat turns the bike felt well-balanced, drove well out of turns and rarely seemed to want to do anything other than drive forward in the desired direction when exiting turns.
In addition the controls were hard to fault. With the action of both the clutch and throttle positive the brakes offered a positive stopping action with both the front and rear effective and progressive.
As a package the smooth motor and well-handling suspension and chassis combination come together to produce a bike that, despite Kawasaki’s recent off-road absence, is better out of the crate than some other Japanese 450cc enduro bikes. The bike’s most impressive feature, for me, is its usability.
Despite the first/ second gear issue, which does stop the KLX450R getting the glowing report it deserves, Kawasaki have delivered a 450cc off-road bike that is enjoyable to ride. Needing simply to be fitted with enduro tyres before it can be used in competition, a little time spent setting-up and fine tuning the bike will ensure that a wide range of riders from serious enduro competitors to trail riders will enjoy riding the new KLX.
Does the bike have any apparent weaknesses? Well, apart from an incredibly soft seat foam and bars that twisted in their rubber mounts after a near walking-speed fall, it’s just the jump from first to second gear that lets the bike down.
It might have been a long time coming but Kawasaki has produced a bike that seems, well, too good to be branded a KLX. Nothing like the KLX300R trail bike of old, the ’08 model KLX450R is a bike that sees Kawasaki enter into the competitive mid-sized Enduro 2 class thumper market with a bike that offers a little less power than some of its class mates but ultimately offers a great deal more in terms of usability.
Let’s just hope that we don’t have to wait long for the KLX250R...
Plus and Minus points
+ Tremendously smooth, tractable and useable power.
+ Impressive straight line stability at speed.
+ Easy access to air filter via side opening airbox.
- Walking pace falls can result in bars twisting in their rubber mounts.
- First gear too low, second gear too high, which makes riding in tighter sections difficult.
- Soft and wide seat does little to aid bike’s sporty ergonomics.
SPECIFICATIONS - 2007 Kawasaki KLX450R
ENGINE
Type: Liquid cooled, single cylinder, four-stroke
Displacement: 449cc
Bore & Stroke: 96.0 x 62.1mm
Valve system: DOHC
Compression ratio: 12.0 : 1
Fuel system: Keihin FCR40 carburettor
Starting: Electric and primary kick start
Transmission: Five-speed
CHASSIS
Type: Aluminium perimeter frame
Rake/ trail: 28 degrees/ 122mm
SUSPENSION
Front: 48mm USD cartridge fork
Travel: 305mm
Rear: Uni-Track
Travel 315mm
BRAKES
Front: 250 mm semi-floating petal disk with dual piston calliper
Rear: 240mm petal disk with single piston disk
Wheelbase: 1,480mm
Seat Height: 935mm
Clearance: 315mm
Fuel capacity: 8 litres
Dry weight: 115kg