Posts: 587
Joined: 12/5/2014
Location: FIN, FIN
would the kawi 450 place better if it had good spring forks ? is it that and tame power that is holding it back ? i mean its the lightest jap 450 now and with spring forks it should still be the lightest jap bike. other than the fork it must be a do it all good but not the best bike.
Posts: 2176
Joined: 10/1/2017
Location: GBR
A lot of the shootouts loved the bike other than the fork for the most part. Power is good. I actually like the fork, but I'm not too lazy to set and check air pressure. It is a little vague feeling in some cornering situations, but that's the trade off with air forks. The bottoming resistance is excellent IMO, which is good for a bigger guy like me. Really looking forward to what they do in '19. Heard rumors of e-start and a hydraulic clutch, both of which I don't really care for. I'm sure the bike will have a spring fork. That should be quite the weight gain if adding spring fork, e-start, and hydraulic clutch.
