It was faciliated, in part, by my riding club, Arizona Trail Riders. If my frickin' KDX wasn't in pieces in MonkeyButt's shop, I might have been able to duck out of work for the day (two days ago).
They rode the "Mile Markers" up NW of Phoenix near Lake Pleasant.
Here is a mini review by our ATR Prez.
I had the opportunity to ride Kawasaki's latest entry in the 450 thumper market at the their press intro on Wednesday out in the desert near Wickenburg. I gotta say, the machine rocks. Some of the "professional" reviews are below but here's is what I thought.
The motor is powerfull yet smooth in the delivery, in other word's useable. The suspension seemed more than capable of soaking up the rocks, gullys and whoops (big or small) although the bikes I rode were set a little stiff for my taste. There is power everywhere in the gearing and getting the front wheel up is not a problem.
The brakes are very strong and thats a good thing as I found myself coming into some of the corners a little faster than usual. That goes back to the motor and suspension.
The bike ergo's were almost perfect for a guy my size (5'8") and the only thing I would have done is move the bars forward just a touch. The headlight is pretty cool looking and seemed to put out enough light for the night ride testing. It's only 35watt though and I'm not sure if will handle a higher watt bulb.
Best part was the incredibly low noise level from the exhaust......they claim 84db and I believe it. Overall I would say that Kawasaki did their homework when putting this bike together. If you are looking for a new 450.......this could be the one for you.
Also, fyi Kawasaki and all the editors and photographers were very impressed with the trails and ATR's involvement in the event. We didn't get mentioned in any of the articles but they were there to write about the bike, not us. Anyway I just wanted to let everyone know that ATR did a great job and I appreciate all the support. This time we had to limit our personnel numbers but hopefully in the future we will be able to "invite" a few more members to check things out.
Al Washburn, Frank Staley, Derik Staley and Tom Trieckel made up the ATR "Crew" and everyone but Frank got to ride the bike. Heck, Derik almost got filmed riding the bike for dirtbiketelevision.com but they filmed Destry instead. Tough break for Derik but what are you gonna do...
Here are the links...
http://www.dirtrider.com/tests/offroad/ ... i_klx_450/
http://www.cyclenews.com/ShowStory.asp?HeadlineID=10622
http://www.amadirectlink.com/news/2007/KLX450R/
Some pics...
Surrounded by deadly "jumping" cholla cactus
Diggin' out a turn amidst some creosote.