Me new KXF450

[jMike]

Just getting back into the bike thing after a 10yr hiatus on sleds and race/freestylin jetskis. Took one trip out to the track and saw some buddies tearing it up and I drove to my dealer that night!

Anyways I picked up a '09 KXF450 FI Monster Ed

A few of the upgrades Im doing include

- Works Connection Pro Perch
- Renthal 51T Rear
- Pro Circuit Linkage
- TM Design Works Chain Guide
- Hour Meter
- Pro Taper Pillow Top Grips

Next

- Pro Circuit Ti4 Exhaust to quiet this sucker down a bit.
- Xring Chain
- Pro Taper Bars
- Suspension tune
- Ride it!

Coming from a much dated and under powered 92 KX125 I have to say Im pretty impressed with the stock ride of the KXF. The suspension is pretty decent for my 5'10" 185lbs Novice ability. The power is spot on and pulls hard. This bike is freakin tall! I set the sag (my dealer had it pretty much dialed at pick up) to 110mm but I think I still will cut the seat 1" and add a bump.

The bike is all there, now all that remains is to get back into riding shape and shake the arm pump this 450 gives.. my limited has nothing on the way this bike pulls on the arms..

 

[Schmidty721]

Congrats on the new bike man. The Kawi's are sweet rides, I miss my 06 kx250f
Was this a new carry over or used?
If its new give that suspension some time to work itself in. I had about 10 hours on my new bike before i was able to get it setup how I like it.
If your going to buy an exhaust, keep in mind that AMA is going to 94db for ALL events next year. I'm running the FMF megabomb header with a powercore 4 muffler on my yz250f (290) and with the quite insert I tested at 94.4 db last weekend. I'm happy with the performance of the system and glad it met the sound requrirements.

 

[jMike]

The bike was brand new carry over..

Update! Slowly my moto conditioning is returning. The pump is fading and the feeling is coming back.. Even did a local race and got 8/23 in novice.. Not bad for 5hrs on the bike at the time.

Got just over 10hrs of track, sand and fun on the bike

Did these suspension setting

Spring rate: stock
Oil height: 340cc
Compression: 18 clicks out
Rebound: Ten clicks out
Fork leg height: 5mm up


Spring rate: stock
Race sag: 100mm
High-compression: One turn out
Low-compression: Eight clicks out
Rebound: Eight clicks out

Added the Pro Circuit link and what a difference! I can really hold it on down a rough straight now.

It did produce a bit more shake up from vs the stock settings. Ill have to put a bit more time in at the track doing some test vs just pounding laps.

In the race I got cross rutted and crushed the stock header when I planted my face and the bike.. oh well ordered the Pro Circuit Ti-4R complete system.. Getting my dealer to do a remap as well..

 

[5810]

cool, i love my kdx 220

DIRT & water

 

[Kuchera89]

sweet ride!

kawi went to a 5speed in the 450 right?

i got a friend with the 4speed and loved it on the track, it had such a smooth pull, it didnt wear me out near as fast as my bike does, but i never get to go, so im in no condition for armpump, been clocking alot of hours on the rn tho, maybe that will help in the fall when i start throwing a leg over again.

 

[jMike]

Ya the 09 is a 5 speed.. (only been in 5th once tho haha) for our tight ish tracks 2,3,4 is really all my novice azz needs.. I found the mx helped a lot when getting back onto my limited SXR, seem'd kinda easy to hang onto vs the 450.

Ordered a Scott Steering Damper today for it, read quite a few reviews that say once you use a damper you don't want to go without.. the 600 bones was a bit hard to swallow tho

 

[3rdgearpinned]

If you ride tight moto tracks I don't see the need for a scotts, you would benifit more from getting your suspension set up/revalved first. Thats coming from a guy that has a scotts on both of his bikes. The first things I always do are bars, and then suspension.

 

[jMike]

The bars are on (protaper pastranas, tall and narrow but I like them so far) The re-valve/setup is next. the tracks are sometimes tight but often hard blue groove clay with ruts from the rain days. I rode my buddies KTM with a GPR4 stabilizer and I liked the feel of it. From what i've read you can set the low speed valving on the scotts way down for easy turning in the tight stuff and yet get the high speed circuit up to prevent the swapping in the square edges that form down the straights.. Its in the mail so I'll give it a try and see what it does.. Might not be needed if the 30$ per day pass was spent on some cultivating of the track..

 

[3rdgearpinned]

Well if you already bought it I'm sure you'll love it. If you got a sub-mount set up those pastranas will be way high.

I had a few GPR's in the past, the Scotts is a much better unit. The GPR's damper coming back to center and the Scotts do not, the scotts is so much better because of this. The GPR's can cause a locked sensation in the bars because of the over dampering. You made the right decision getting a scotts.

enjoy!

 

[ncbrock]

the dampener is WORTH it. I had one on my bike, will never ride another bike without it.

 

[jMike]

Good to hear that about the damper.. Ill post my review once ridden with

Think I want to try a set of Dunlop MX51s next as well..

Super excited, brining the bike with to Havasu for WF (along with my BOB!) and going to hit the Little Sahara dunes in Utah on the way home! Woop!

 

[jMike]

The damper is, well, amazing! I really felt like I could ride the bike without the worry of holding on for dear life. Well worth the bux for sure. The Pastrana bars are too high lol. Got some RC bend Evos coming. They aren't bad for around the track but its hard to get over them out of corners and starts.