Lets See Those FC450s / Hear Some Rider Reviews

The air forks aren't that bad if setted up correctly.
The power delivery is super linear.
Xtrig's clamps help a lot.
WFO.

Get the correct rear spring for weight/and-or-speed, 103mm sag, ditch the backfire screen, check tps, check spoke/engine hanger/sprocket bolt torques, then just ride the thing.

Linear power delivery and cornering when there isn’t something to bank or/not riding in a deep rut are great characteristics, just among a few.

I’ve done the videos for VitalMX shootout in the past as well as participate in them. There is a mix of riders speeds and non biased. The results are an average over the range of the group. Some years it’s clear cut winner, some years you can take different groups of 6 riders and get different results.

The elephant in the room on the bike is the AER fork. Don’t go into riding with any opinion. Set to recommended pressure and test for your self. Maybe you like it, maybe you don’t.

It’s an awesome bike, just give it time to break in. When I got my first new KTM I thought I bought a POS because it was sooo stiff, harsh, felt weird and just not what I expected. 5 hours in, it became the bike I fell in love with.

2019.5 Rockstar edesh, took me a while to get a fork setting I liked, went softer on the air for a guy my size and really like it alot now. Check torque on engine hanger as one of mine fell out after 15 hours, the other 5 were loose. Also valve cover bolts werent very tight causing oil to leak from valve cover. Original fork seals went out after 30 hours. Just turned 50 hours and had the rear wheel bearing on the sprocket side decide to shatter the races which caused it to spin all around and destroy the hub. Not pumped on the latter issue. Enjoy everything on the bike however from a performance side.

Just set the sag and bar/lever position. Then you should be good to load it up, take it to your local Kawi dealer and trade it in.

Kidding man, congrats on the new ride and am excited to hear your take on it.

1. Congrats on the new scoot!

2. Non-biased and without AER judgement, may not be able to help much seeing I'm a set-in-my-ways Vet, but here it goes: Keep it stock through 10 hour break-in period and enjoy! They're great bikes and don't need much. Being old(er) school, I'd be more concerned with function over fashion. Good skid plate, re-grease and re-torque after break-in, and proper glue on grips would be at the top of my list. After some time on it, dial in the suspension; Proper shock spring (based on free-sag numbers) and fork height placement can help the AER front end. With air forks, I recommend finding your PSI and sticking with it. Basically, can't forget the basics: clickers, fork height, oil level, etc are all important tuning bits.

3. Respect the break-in window! Most don't realize both the engine AND suspension 'free-up' significantly. It will shift even cleaner, get less harsh, "feel" better with some time on it...

everyone finds a way to live with the aer but no one loves it. all the bikes ive tried with them i felt the same way. for how much you pay they shouldnt need as much as they do but thats just IMO

if i bought one id need
rear spring
revavle
shock bladder kit
stronger wheels/spokes
kyb fork cartridge swap & springs

orrr... i just went and bought a yz450f. couldnt be happier. all this bike needed was a stronger front brake setup which i had laying around anyways.

I love mine. I changed the rear sprocket to a 50, full FMF system with a shortened can, 2 stroke air filter cage, remapped the ECU and picked up 3hp. Tossed the garbage bar mounts and went with Xtrig with the soft elastomers, Pro Taper fuzion Anderson bend bars. I'm not in love with the AERs. I feel like I'm always chasing that good set up. I'll get them working really well and go to a different track and then they suck and I start all over again. I gave up ordered a set of CVs even though I promised my wife I wouldn't :-)

I made the switch from the Yamaha. First day it took me the entire day to get used to it. Corners like a dream but the suspension set up had me questioning if I made the right purchase.

Sent my suspension to PR2 to have the spring conversion/revalve, shock/revalve with bladder kit. Night and difference with that spring conversion. Wanted to do KYB inserts but didn’t want to drop that much into a bike I wasn’t sure about at first.

After you get the setup you want the bike is badass. Smooth but powerful delivery, almost corners itself, and is light.

Should get mine some time this week. Riding out of Darwin in the Northan Territory Australia. Do these things come stock with am hour meter? Coming over from RMZ450s.

Yes they should have one on the tripple clamp.