25 KX450 $5,000?

Agreed, The KX450 I had needed 3 engine rebuilds in the time frame of one on my Honda/KTM/and Yamahas. As far back as 2012 or even further the muffler tabs were breaking off subframes and still are, every year they say its fixed. Having said all that, while it ran it was awesome, easy to turn and great engine character. 

I called about 10 dealers today who were advertising them for $5999, and all of them were about $8000 otd. How it’s legal to advertise this way is insane. 

Im not sure how you guys have so many issues with Kawis. I had a 19 with 150 hours that only needed one intake valve adjusted in that time frame and a clutch. I have a 22 in the shop right now with 85 hour and the bike just looks grossly neglected, but when i pulled the engine apart, everything looks great. Its never had a valve adjustment and still doesnt need one. Piston, timing chain, valve guide seals, and sent it on its way for another 85 hours of abuse. I havent seen nearly the issues with these bikes as you guys report

I wonder if there’s one consistent failure on these bikes, and if it’s common with the ‘24 as well?

I'll add some anecdotal evidence of my own...my buddy has a 2019 kx450 that just hit 200 hours, and he's ridden the hell out of that thing. He did a top end around 135-140 hours because it was becoming hard to start, but it didn't need it and would have been fine with just a valve adjustment (they were out of spec when he tore it down). He's never opened the bottom end and just does general maintenance otherwise. I have a 2024 kx450 with 25 hours (I know, I should ride it more often, but I have 8 other dirt bikes, lol) and I haven't done anything other than oil changes every 4 to 5 hours. With that said, I've heard of other guys with Kawi engine failures, but I've also seen first hand and heard about too many cracked pistons on new Yamahas. All the bikes can and do have issues...but after being a long-time "I'll never buy a KTM" guy, I now own 3 Austrian bikes and the reliability and quality is a big reason why. But this notion that if you buy "X-bike" you're 100% going to regret it, is just nonsense these days.

The new filter didn’t change anything. Mags bitched about the filter design but it never lets dirt through, the design is fine, if not a bit goofy.

Kawasaki charges the dealers $600 destination-most dealers want to advertise the lowest price, or they hear "So and so motorsports is way cheaper" so they put out a price far below cost, then add at least the $600 Kawi charges, and then some for assembly-they are not allowed to sell you an MX bike in a crate for liability reasons.   Some dealers do not follow the rules, but everybody wants to get the "cheapest price"

Notice the additional $650 for Supply Chain surcharge?  After Yamaha, now Kawi is adding for tarrifs.  Buy now, or pay more for the 26's.

I got a yz250 from them this year and did not have that experience(ride now-Peoria). Called them they gave me a price. Put a deposit and picked up the bikes 2 weeks later, same price as they quoted me over the phone.  2k less than Las Vegas Powersports.

Yes, cash is king when you're comparing paying with a credit card. I don't blame dealers for charging customers a fee if they want to buy a bike with a credit card given how exorbitant the fees are for them, especially given the small margins on the bikes. They have no reason to care what interest rate the customer is paying on their card. 

As far as cash being king when being compared to financing the purchase, dealers make money selling financing. They aren't going to get excited about not making any financing income on a deal. The margin on bikes is low, but the margin on financing is quite healthy (more than double the margin on the units). 

Good vid with Ping and a test rider guy who has a ‘24 ‘25 Kx450. He said no changes from the ‘25 to ‘26. Good points throughout:

Was just watching the Bikes and Beards video on the Kawi Ninja 7 Hybrid and MSRP is $12,499 and there's a $2500 discount, but Jonesboro had it listed for friggin' $7k below MSRP at $5495 and they took $5700 OTD for it. He doesn't say anything about them being easy on him because of his Youtube channel, but I have to think that that if a KX450 is being completely blown out at $5k, you're going to be able to get it at $5500 OTD, at least at Jonesboro. The best price on their website for a '25 450 right now is $5495, but they do have a '25 250 for $4995. They seem pretty rad. I love dealers that aren't afraid to blow stuff out. 

With end of year green bike pricing last few years, I see quite a few KX’s at the track.  Guy’s I talk to don’t seem to have issues.  Only have a few hours on my 24 KX 450.  Can’t say I won’t but doubt I’ll have issues.

With that said I was at the track yesterday, track owner I know well came by where I was parked to shoot the breeze.  He asked me about my 24 KX.  Then he showed me pics of a guy’s 2026 KX450 tore down at the dealership.  He knows the guy well and he sent him pics.  He said the guy made maybe a lap on it and motor went south.  Dealership tore it down, jumped time, valves hit poston, tore head up etc.  Dealership rebuilt it under Warrenty.  The bike owner told them to replace timing chain tensioner, mechanic said it was fine.  The guy brought it back to the track, made half a lap, same thing motor went south.  Back to the dealer,  same thing jumped time tore engine up again.  They rebuilt it again, this time they replaced the timing chain tensioner.

I saw the pics with my own eyes, it was tore up bad both times.  Track owner told me the guy hasn’t ridden after the second rebuild, put it up for sale not going to fool with it.  He said when the guy bought it he had the dealership install an hour meter before he brought it home.  I forgot how many minutes the bike had on it but it was like crazy low number of minutes for the engine to go south twice.

That would be hard to deal with.  It might have been something simple as a chain tensioner who knows.  

I'd be surprised if there weren't a horror story for every vehicle. 

Not sure how you all don’t understand how 0% is not the same as cash….. pay your bills kids.

What’s the difference between a Specialized mountain bike shop charging $12k for a mountain bike and accepting a card vs a motorcycle dealership charging $8k for a motorcycle and not accepting a card?

$7,099 OTD at Ridersville Cycle in WV.  I've been buying bikes from them for nearly 20 years and they always sell for exactly what they advertise.  On the other hand, most of the dealers' advertised prices in my area are a minimum $1K less than the OTD price.  To me, it's worth the 2 hour driver to buy from Ridersville. 

It's not uncommon for car manufactures to offer rebates if you finance.  I've seen cases where paying cash ended up costing more even if you financed and paid the loan off on the 1st payment.  Financing is a big money maker for vehicle manufacturers.  Telling a salesperson you're paying cash is a good way to not get the best deal. 

Of course a loan - regardless of interest rates - is not the same as cash. Who suggested otherwise? How does any of this imply anything about not paying your bills? If you can pay cash for a bike, great. If you get a loan, make the payments. I'm saying that a dealership generally prefers to set you up with a loan because they make money off of that. I'm not sure what you think I was saying. 

As far as whether you should always pay cash, even if you can, if you can get a very low interest loan, then it can make sense to hold onto your cash - especially if it's invested at a rate higher than the loan. 

Regarding the second paragraph, my guess is that the mountain bike shop has a higher margin on the mountain bikes so can afford the hit from bank fees. The margin on a dirt bike is razor thin. 

Has anyone ever seen crazy deals like this in Canada? I have no brand preference and would love to try a few seasons on a 4 stroke but I'm just a weekend rider and can't justify full price. Havent seen better than 10k for an rmz

This is a 2025 250 and the rider isn’t pushing the bike that hard. He thinks some clutch material blocked an oil jet. 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NE8sUTT1NCg&t=361s