MXA 2020 450 Shootout

soggy
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soggy 10/24/2019 6:20am
10/24/2019 6:20am
Ron_Shuler wrote:
This is why Shootout's shouldn't be done any more people just BITCH and MOAN Most people I know don't ride bikes stock anyway, any one of...
This is why Shootout's shouldn't be done any more people just BITCH and MOAN

Most people I know don't ride bikes stock anyway, any one of these bikes you would have to throw some money at it to get it right for you
i see plenty of stock bikes from every manufacturer being ridden around here.
7
tttrailhunter 10/24/2019 6:42am
10/24/2019 6:42am
anyone wonder one of their shills was on here bagging the ml512 shootout, that was dull and boring.

and please, no, with extra loud lame rock music.

whole thing is out of touch.
2
chrisg19
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Castle Rock, CO US
chrisg19 10/24/2019 6:43am
10/24/2019 6:43am
Shootouts used to be really important. When bikes were changing massively year to year, a bike could be great one year and a complete turd the next. Now with 4 year development cycles, and really no massive changes the bikes are all pretty good, and all pretty close to each other. I’m not sure how much value they bring, as each bike is more than capable. I dud like that MXA broke it down into categories like weekend warrior, and such. I think that adds more value to the shootout.
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Wells423
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Wells423 10/24/2019 7:07am
10/24/2019 7:07am
I always keep my MXA next to the toilet for when I run out of paper
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theycallmeebryan 10/24/2019 7:38am
10/24/2019 7:38am
There was a 2020 KTM demo day at Cahuilla a week or two ago and I got to test all of the motocross bikes 125-450. In short, I just couldn't get comfortable on any of them.

I'm 32, 6'1, 180 lbs naked, and race intermediate here in socal.

Most of my complaints were due to the ergos of the bikes, which is surprising since both of the Altas I own are ergonomically similar to a KTM. The stock handlebars were too tall. They had the bars on every bike in the rearward barclamp position, and that's how I run them on all my bikes. The bar bend was just too tall and swept back for my liking. The stock footpegs are sort of convex, and my feet never felt planted on them. Maybe I'm just used to the large sharp platforms I have on my bikes. The shift lever on all of the bikes felt too small, and I wear a size 9 tech 7. The combination of all the previously mentioned made the cockpit feel cramped on every bike I tested. It was tough for me to go from seated to standing. Hydraulic clutch on every bike was quiet nice, smooth and easy to pull. The brakes on all the bikes were very touchy/digital, probably would get better as the pads wore in. The 450 made good linear power and felt light and flickable. I'm used to the AER48 feel so I felt right at home suspension wise.

I'd be interested in giving it another chance with different controls tailored for my liking. I think it would be a good bike.
4
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Timo_2824
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Wichita, KS US
Timo_2824 10/24/2019 11:07am
10/24/2019 11:07am
Ron_Shuler wrote:
This is why Shootout's shouldn't be done any more people just BITCH and MOAN Most people I know don't ride bikes stock anyway, any one of...
This is why Shootout's shouldn't be done any more people just BITCH and MOAN

Most people I know don't ride bikes stock anyway, any one of these bikes you would have to throw some money at it to get it right for you
soggy wrote:
i see plenty of stock bikes from every manufacturer being ridden around here.
I bought my FX specifically so I wouldn't have to do anything to it other than gas and ride. Ended up adding wraparound handguards and a thermostat. That's it, been the best bike I've ever owned!
AH387
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AH387 10/24/2019 11:37am
10/24/2019 11:37am
theycallmeebryan wrote:
There was a 2020 KTM demo day at Cahuilla a week or two ago and I got to test all of the motocross bikes 125-450. In...
There was a 2020 KTM demo day at Cahuilla a week or two ago and I got to test all of the motocross bikes 125-450. In short, I just couldn't get comfortable on any of them.

I'm 32, 6'1, 180 lbs naked, and race intermediate here in socal.

Most of my complaints were due to the ergos of the bikes, which is surprising since both of the Altas I own are ergonomically similar to a KTM. The stock handlebars were too tall. They had the bars on every bike in the rearward barclamp position, and that's how I run them on all my bikes. The bar bend was just too tall and swept back for my liking. The stock footpegs are sort of convex, and my feet never felt planted on them. Maybe I'm just used to the large sharp platforms I have on my bikes. The shift lever on all of the bikes felt too small, and I wear a size 9 tech 7. The combination of all the previously mentioned made the cockpit feel cramped on every bike I tested. It was tough for me to go from seated to standing. Hydraulic clutch on every bike was quiet nice, smooth and easy to pull. The brakes on all the bikes were very touchy/digital, probably would get better as the pads wore in. The 450 made good linear power and felt light and flickable. I'm used to the AER48 feel so I felt right at home suspension wise.

I'd be interested in giving it another chance with different controls tailored for my liking. I think it would be a good bike.
I totally get what you are saying about the pegs. That was a complaint of mine as well. Especially if I went back and forth between my 350 and my YZ250F (now sold). I have since replaced the pegs with Flo and it is better, but the positioning is still a bit different when going back and forth to my current YZ (or someone else's bike). That has little effect on anything shootout related, for me, but just wanted to confirm that I get the same feeling with the stock pegs/positioning.
mx317
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mx317 10/24/2019 12:04pm
10/24/2019 12:04pm
crispytoast wrote:
Looks like Roger will still be paying Jody's AMEX bill. Ha!
Moran
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mx317
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mx317 10/24/2019 12:05pm
10/24/2019 12:05pm
Wells423 wrote:
I always keep my MXA next to the toilet for when I run out of paper
Then you are still buying it.
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crispytoast
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crispytoast 10/24/2019 12:27pm
10/24/2019 12:27pm
crispytoast wrote:
Looks like Roger will still be paying Jody's AMEX bill. Ha!
mx317 wrote:
Moran
Vitards finest, and yes 2+2 = 22
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Motofarm
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Motofarm 10/25/2019 8:57am
10/25/2019 8:57am
theycallmeebryan wrote:
There was a 2020 KTM demo day at Cahuilla a week or two ago and I got to test all of the motocross bikes 125-450. In...
There was a 2020 KTM demo day at Cahuilla a week or two ago and I got to test all of the motocross bikes 125-450. In short, I just couldn't get comfortable on any of them.

I'm 32, 6'1, 180 lbs naked, and race intermediate here in socal.

Most of my complaints were due to the ergos of the bikes, which is surprising since both of the Altas I own are ergonomically similar to a KTM. The stock handlebars were too tall. They had the bars on every bike in the rearward barclamp position, and that's how I run them on all my bikes. The bar bend was just too tall and swept back for my liking. The stock footpegs are sort of convex, and my feet never felt planted on them. Maybe I'm just used to the large sharp platforms I have on my bikes. The shift lever on all of the bikes felt too small, and I wear a size 9 tech 7. The combination of all the previously mentioned made the cockpit feel cramped on every bike I tested. It was tough for me to go from seated to standing. Hydraulic clutch on every bike was quiet nice, smooth and easy to pull. The brakes on all the bikes were very touchy/digital, probably would get better as the pads wore in. The 450 made good linear power and felt light and flickable. I'm used to the AER48 feel so I felt right at home suspension wise.

I'd be interested in giving it another chance with different controls tailored for my liking. I think it would be a good bike.
When I picked-up my 2019 FC 450 I also felt the egos to be off for my height (6'). It's actually not the bar rise as they are the lowest rise of the all the brands. It's the seat height and foot-peg position. The seat is almost 1" lower than my 14 YZ450 and the pegs are like 15mm more forward and possibly up higher. When I'm sitting, I just couldn't get balls of my feet on the pegs since my knees could bend that much. When I was standing the bars where so close to me that I had no arm strength and my center was too far over the front of the bike. The solution was to get a taller seat and raise the bar height and position forward. The taller seat helped my legs and feet when sitting and put me higher on the triple clamps. The taller bars in the forward position kept my center back and added some steering strength while standing. It's not perfect but its much better. If I could move the foot pegs back 15mm then this set-up would be better for taller riders. The target rider for this bike must be around 5'6"-5'7".
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Moto520
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Moto520 10/25/2019 9:10am
10/25/2019 9:10am
MXA is still a great magazine, website, and everything else. It's great content in addition to everything else that's available.
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holeshot413
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holeshot413 10/25/2019 10:14am
10/25/2019 10:14am
Easily the most informative shootout ever. Bikes were raced and tested almost for 5 months, not by your buddies who don’t race but just ride!
4
Myke
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Myke 10/25/2019 10:29am
10/25/2019 10:29am
theycallmeebryan wrote:
There was a 2020 KTM demo day at Cahuilla a week or two ago and I got to test all of the motocross bikes 125-450. In...
There was a 2020 KTM demo day at Cahuilla a week or two ago and I got to test all of the motocross bikes 125-450. In short, I just couldn't get comfortable on any of them.

I'm 32, 6'1, 180 lbs naked, and race intermediate here in socal.

Most of my complaints were due to the ergos of the bikes, which is surprising since both of the Altas I own are ergonomically similar to a KTM. The stock handlebars were too tall. They had the bars on every bike in the rearward barclamp position, and that's how I run them on all my bikes. The bar bend was just too tall and swept back for my liking. The stock footpegs are sort of convex, and my feet never felt planted on them. Maybe I'm just used to the large sharp platforms I have on my bikes. The shift lever on all of the bikes felt too small, and I wear a size 9 tech 7. The combination of all the previously mentioned made the cockpit feel cramped on every bike I tested. It was tough for me to go from seated to standing. Hydraulic clutch on every bike was quiet nice, smooth and easy to pull. The brakes on all the bikes were very touchy/digital, probably would get better as the pads wore in. The 450 made good linear power and felt light and flickable. I'm used to the AER48 feel so I felt right at home suspension wise.

I'd be interested in giving it another chance with different controls tailored for my liking. I think it would be a good bike.
How can you not remember if it was last week or the week before?
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