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Bummer! What are you towing with that poor thing?
How much do you weight, what class do you race, and what spring rate and oil volume are you running? I ended up going a fork spring rate stiffer than what RT recommended, and it gave me more plushness in the front end by giving me more holdup. I’m a big boy myself, as I’m happily running a 6.0 shock spring. Over the winter I might buy a Gold Valve kit and install it to see what I think, but at this point, the forks don’t bottom and I don’t feel like my suspension is holding me back in any way.
A 6x12 for bikes and a 6x14 for work, both enclosed. I don't tow but twice a week and I always lock out 6th gear and sometimes 5th.
Did you ever get rid of the chain rattle at low rpm, I hate hearing it. @racinstation
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Race tech’s spring calculator is off on its recommendations for me on the ‘24. Much too soft. I ran .53 and 6.0 springs on my ‘21 as recommended by them. I was 15 lbs heavier then. It was dialed. Thats why I haven’t gone stiffer in the fork on the ‘24 as they are very similar. I just changed my inputs on the RT calculator to standard age and “prefers stiff” (I’m 39, but still mid pack Open A speed on a local level). They recommend .54 and 5.75 for springs. Maybe I do need to go stiffer in the fork yet or try throwing the stock rear spring on with the .53 fork springs.
Appreciate the input!
I am loving the back and forth with Mr. Afterbar and the other KX Owners on setup. It’s cool to see folks helping each other. Please keep the updates coming.
I got 5.4 in fork and 6.0 rear.
But pull the basevalve out and put some more faceshims on the comp if you want it stiffer.. or pull the midvalve out and convert it to a leaf style midvalve like the 2023 got. The fork is very soft valved stock.
Which Xtrig mounts did you get? If you have a p/n or a link it'd be appreciated.
Yes, they are in stock. 😁🤣😂
Anyone know of a front brake relocation mount that will keep the brembo but allow a 280mm rotor?
Motostuff is a no go. I modded the slide area to be wider where the pads seat, and that went fine… but the guide pins are a no go. Few mm off….
Galifer description says theirs works, but also says its works on the older Nissin which I don’t believe to be the case…
Thanks
I called technical touch and ordered over the phone.
And the PHDS.
Anyone else having Rideology app issues since iOS 18
Update. I contacted Kawasaki. They confirmed the issue and have contacted Japan.
My countershaft seal just developed a leak. Also due for a clutch. 35 hrs.
I really have my bike working well now. I'm 6'3" and 210-215lbs w/o gear. I race motocross in +40B and have been doing a good job of collecting on that great Kawasaki contingency they've been paying out this year.
In the forks, I'm running .53kg springs and 350ml of oil. My base settings are 8 clicks out on compression and 11 out on rebound with the top of the fork tubes up 3mm above the triple clamp.
For the shock, I'm running a 6.0kg spring with the sag set at 105mm. Rebound is 11 out, low speed compression 12 out, and high speed compression at 1.5 turns out. I am very happy with how my bike is handling at a wide variety of tracks and don't plan to revalve the bike at this point. The prior gen required a fork revalve to achieve enough holdup in the front end, but I'm very happy with how this bike is handling once I installed the correct spring rates.
I put in a full Hinson clutch - single spring set up still, not 6 coil springs. It seems to be running cooler in the longer motos & heat so that’s a plus. but I went to put it in gear on the line & it was wanting to go when I had my clutch at it’s normal engagement point. Was a little late to adjust the lever out but made it home now. I adjusted the lever out so we’ll see how that works but seems too far out for my liking. I might try to stock spring as it is 8-10% softer than the Hinson one, but I’m not sure if there’s even a possibility that will help or if I’m wasting my time trying that.
Pit Row
I'm 185 and run stock springs, the stock suspension is pretty good but started to show it's ugly side once I pushed it and the bumps got bigger. I revalved it stiffer and now it's easily the best handling and feeling bike I've ridden. Just eats up everything and front and rear, super plush but nice firm feel when landing off big jumps, in love with the feel! I do wish it had a little more excitement when accelerating but probably would just wear me out faster etc.. I have a PC full pipe with all the air box mods domed filter and cage with extra link in chain and running a 51 rear tooth. Thinking about a vortex next for some optionality.... Loving this bike!!
App update for iOS is out. Problems fixed. Good times 🫡
Did the bike seem to hookup better with the stiffer clutch spring?
I mean i'm good at starts as it is, so was kind of tough to tell if it was better or not. I just wanted more reliability in these long off road motos & better heat dissipation. I was torching the stock set up.
Hinson seemed to work well once i got going but i actually liked the stock set up better on the starts. With that being said, i did pull the holeshot. I just had to 4 finger the clutch into the bar to prevent from rolling (live engine, flag start.) Dead engine might be an issue but i usually pull the clutch into the bar on dead engine anyway. MX with gate starts that won't cut it. I can also try to move the lever out & just get used to it. Just sucks that my finger is as small as my wiener so it's hard to reach.
I am going to test the stock spring. Hinson says their spring is 10% stiffer than the stock one so we'll see if that makes a difference. Give me through the weekend as my hands are destroyed from the last NGPC & WORCS.
Have any of you tried the ChaMap with these ignition settings which Motocross Action posted in their recent 2025 KX450 review video?
Nope. Not yet. In general these map changes are boarder line trash. What's the point of launch control or traction control when the bike is so mellow on the bottom. ECU parameters are so tight, the map changes just feel like a placebo effect.
Personally I'm fine with the power delivery, I'd like to take that xbox controller off the handlebar and replace it with a simple kill switch at this point.
https://www.dirtrider.com/tests/kawasaki-kx450-dyno-test-2025/
The crazy thing IS that this "almost 350 or vet engine" has more power everywhere that any bike except the Yamaha !
I think Max Db has also a good placebo effect !
I think it's the slow revving nature that makes it feel "slow". I wish it had more hit so I could use 3rd gear more, mainly in soft dirt. That's just me nitpicking though.
I will tell you what, they can say slow all they want. Is the delivery soft? Yes, but if you twist the thing on the right harder it is all there. It could be more exciting, but if the goal is to have a bike that makes you tired in three laps there are other options out there.
One thing I did and it helped a little was put on a more aggressive throttle cam. I found one that was just a little bigger outer diameter than the stock one in the pack of many you get when you buy some ODI grips. Stock you can rotate the throttle about 1/4 turn and with this one it was about 2-3mm less. Don't know about anyone else but I have a hard time or maybe a bad habit of not twisting the throttle to the pin when I'm hanging on under acceleration.
As a guy who's been on 350's the last decade, I think the stock mapping works great. Doesn't stall, doesn't flame-out like my 350's all did. Easy to use power. Runs just fine on whatever garbage 93 pump gas I throw in it.
I also think launch control and traction control are very beneficial for the tracks I ride. I used traction control just at my last race. Track was ripped super deep and way over watered. Total slick mess. I was sliding everywhere in practice. At the recommendation of a very fast Vet A friend, I put TC on and it definitely made the bike hook up better in slick turns and was less tiring to ride aggressively. He actually runs TC all the time, everywhere.
I have used launch control on a concrete start and it works great on eliminating wheelspin. On dirt starts, with launch control and a holeshot device, you can hold it wide open and I get better starts than not using it. This is for an skinny, slow Vet guy though.
Anyone here running the Yoshi exhaust / have any input?
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