Baby hands required for the 19 kx450

I tried one yesterday too and noticed the same thing. Heck the throttle side has about another half inch until it’s even at the stop in the throttle tube.

Hey build a sweet bike and you have to make shortcuts somewhere. Might as well be the grips hahaha. Odd

I'd take that over the grips on my new '18 RM-Z. Don't know if Kawi has that vulcanized rubber crapola Suzuki uses to weld the grips to the bars. Elbow grease on the left and a throttle tube later, i've got some freshies on there. Good for the throttle tube business, so it's got that going for it. Which is nice...not so much.

Ted722 wrote:

I'd take that over the grips on my new '18 RM-Z. Don't know if Kawi has that vulcanized rubber crapola Suzuki uses to weld the grips to the bars. Elbow grease on the left and a throttle tube later, i've got some freshies on there. Good for the throttle tube business, so it's got that going for it. Which is nice...not so much.

They do. Kawi loves those vulcanized grips.
I didn’t care back in the day with throwaway steel bars, but now that they come with something usable it’s a PITA to get that left side cut off.

I walked out of the dealership with a brand new KX450, ProTaper bars, a new throttle tube and Renthal grips.

Ted722 wrote:

I'd take that over the grips on my new '18 RM-Z. Don't know if Kawi has that vulcanized rubber crapola Suzuki uses to weld the grips to the bars. Elbow grease on the left and a throttle tube later, i've got some freshies on there. Good for the throttle tube business, so it's got that going for it. Which is nice...not so much.

Didn't realize you picked up an 18, congrats!

Ted722 wrote:

I'd take that over the grips on my new '18 RM-Z. Don't know if Kawi has that vulcanized rubber crapola Suzuki uses to weld the grips to the bars. Elbow grease on the left and a throttle tube later, i've got some freshies on there. Good for the throttle tube business, so it's got that going for it. Which is nice...not so much.

JM485 wrote:

Didn't realize you picked up an 18, congrats!

Yeah, darn sport gets my $$ every now and then! ?

Ted722 wrote:

I'd take that over the grips on my new '18 RM-Z. Don't know if Kawi has that vulcanized rubber crapola Suzuki uses to weld the grips to the bars. Elbow grease on the left and a throttle tube later, i've got some freshies on there. Good for the throttle tube business, so it's got that going for it. Which is nice...not so much.

Yea kawi has had those molded grips at least since 2009. I had to use a bench grinder with a wire wheel to get the throttle grip off the throttle tube on my 09 250. Its a serious pain.

Jeremy Macbeth wrote:

I walked out of the dealership with a brand new KX450, ProTaper bars, a new throttle tube and Renthal grips.

This ^^^
Sucks having to spend $150 on bars, a throttle tube, and grips for a brand new bike, but it will save you from a lot of time and swearing in the garage.

What?? you no rike da hand grip?



I fix it .. next year.

ODI lock on's

It's a psychological ploy to make you think your hands are HUGE. It's the presidential edition

Trump should definitely buy a KX then.

cmotodad wrote:

Trump should definitely buy a KX then.

Lol...well Harley is out now.

At one time, CZ welded the perches for the clutch/F. brake to the handlebars. Allowing zero adjustment. The comment thrown around was “If you can’t ride with that lever position, you can’t ride.”

You can tell what that attitude did for CZ, as we don’t buy CZ motocross bikes any more.

I like the 18 grips. Have not changed them yet. Old school ktm domino grips were terrible

Heat gun on the grips until you see a little smoke. It will slide right off especially if you shoot some compressed air under the grip.

another one for ODI lock on grips,

kawasaki made there grips narrower about 2013, never understood why, i always ran different bend fatbars anyway so it did not make a difference to me,

Ted722 wrote:

I'd take that over the grips on my new '18 RM-Z. Don't know if Kawi has that vulcanized rubber crapola Suzuki uses to weld the grips to the bars. Elbow grease on the left and a throttle tube later, i've got some freshies on there. Good for the throttle tube business, so it's got that going for it. Which is nice...not so much.

I’m still running the stockers with Renthal grip donuts

Ted722 wrote:

I'd take that over the grips on my new '18 RM-Z. Don't know if Kawi has that vulcanized rubber crapola Suzuki uses to weld the grips to the bars. Elbow grease on the left and a throttle tube later, i've got some freshies on there. Good for the throttle tube business, so it's got that going for it. Which is nice...not so much.

TeamGreen wrote:

I’m still running the stockers with Renthal grip donuts

...wow, and you've got close to a 100 hours on that thing. That's the key. Riding. About how many hours would you estimate 6 months prior to starting your long term Vital eval of the RM-Z? Even even it's only 50 hours, that would be way more than me.

When I was about to make the first cut, I put my hands on the grips and thought "these aren't that bad, what am I doing?" There is a glass-half to it. I like the Renthal bar Suzuki put on the RM-Z, the positioning, etc.

Kawi has been running the narrow grips for a while. You know what side benefit they have? And i wonder if this is why they are narrow: they make you place your hands more at the end of the bars, which riding coaches tell you to do, not choke up on the flange of the grip, and thereby giving the kawi rider a better hand placement and ultimately better control of the bike. But i would still change those grips

motoarmageddon wrote:

Kawi has been running the narrow grips for a while. You know what side benefit they have? And i wonder if this is why they are narrow: they make you place your hands more at the end of the bars, which riding coaches tell you to do, not choke up on the flange of the grip, and thereby giving the kawi rider a better hand placement and ultimately better control of the bike. But i would still change those grips

Never knew gripping at the ends of the bars was the right way. Im butted against the grip like you said.

i would get one but the grip thing has me shaking my head and besides my dealer wants me riding KTM's

Why am I thinking about that dude with the baby-arm?.....big hair.....photoshop was involved.....

kb228 wrote:

Finally got to sit on a 19 at iron pony today. Bike was awesome in every way except for the grips. Theyre like 1” shorter than most other grips. Whats the deal? Feels like kawi took grips off their kx65 and threw them on the 450. My hands were wider than the grips. I didnt try out the ktms or zooks sitting next to it but any other dirtbike ive ridden has not had this small of grips.

I know, its super minor, dumb, can easily changed, and certainly not a deal breaker, but was just odd.

Baby hands or chick hands? I think it's a chick bike.

TeamGreen wrote:

I’m still running the stockers with Renthal grip donuts

My Dad’s 88 CR500 still has the stock grip on the throttle side. Quality grips.

#weightsavings

Kawi grips have been short for as long as I can remember, nothing new for 2019.