This past weekend i went out for a trip with my cousin on his newly aquired 2000 kdx200. His friends drove up from Nj and they both brough their own quads to ride.
After a 90 minute drive we arrived at my uncles Cabin. We took out the bikes the first night and i didnt feel to comfortable although most of the riding was on the fields. WE only went out for like 5 minutes but i guess i wasnt use to the bike with the kx forks yet. The next day we went on our first real ride. It was my first real ride outside of the trails i ride by my house. So i was ready to go. My cousins friends rode a mid 90's yamaha timberwolf 350 4x4 and a 2004 suzuki quadrunner 250. The yamaha was excellent in the trails and so was the suzuki but the suzuki was extremly fast especially for a 250.
Most of the trails i rode in consisted of about 3 mile loops and each one had 2 very large hill climbs. Fairly steep but very long. They were fun and challenging to get up.
When i first got there every person that lived on this land owned quads so i knew me and my cousin were a bit of misfits with our bikes but i was up for a challenge.
In the begining i waited for my cousin to catch up as he never rode a dirt bike before. By the end of the trip he was pretty comfortable on his kdx.
These trails were very challenging and would probably take a class B rider to be able to go high speeds in these trails. There were many gravel roads and most were closed of because of wash out damage from rain. The first day i was really bouncing around on these roads and trails which consisted of mud, clayish stuff, shale and gravel. After the first day i really was able to appreciate the kx forks. They seemed to soak up up shale better and not deflect too bad at all. By the end of the trip i was able to keep up with the quads in the tight trails as i think my new seals were finally getting broken in.
It is kind of hard to explain how the forks reacted but they seemed to be able to take bumps without deflecting off of them. I did notice the back of the bike seems to likes to hop and bounce around more which leads me to believe revalving and respringing is in order for next year.
Near the end of the trip i almost felt like the kdx was almost too short on power for me. I felt like i had mastered the bike and was ready to move on after 1 year of owning it. AS i rode more and more i figured out that the bike could be pushed alot more that i was pushing it. I almost think i was holding the bike back because i never really rode hard. The second to last day of riding i really pushed it hard and i never once let me down. I will admit i fell once on the whole trip which was very good for me.
I was also surpised at the strength of the bike. This same day my cousin's buddy unintentionally hit me with his quad. It was like a sideswip. He was coming at me and we both tried to turn sharp but i hit his rear wheel. Well as soon as i hit all i remeber is flying in the air and landing about 7 feet from my bike after i went over my bars. I ended up getting one good gash on my stomach as i think my chest protector was too loose. So when i got back to camp i made it a bit smaller. I figured my bike was gonna be fricked up. I only had one problem. my front wheel was way off from being straight. The hit turned it sidways and my forks shifted im my triple tree. This was because of the fact that my clamps are at like 10 and 12 pounds. This in a way saved my rim from being bent as it allowed for the bike to take some impact. So all i had to do was have a few people pull on the wheel while i pushed the other way on my bars to get the wheel straight again.
Through the trip the bike was excellent with starting, most of the time it was 1 or 2 kicks cold. The only time my bike almost died on me was on a really really long gravel road. It was probably 5 miles and then we turned around and went back. No larges hills just fairly flat road. I was going like 3/4 to full throttle and at about 8 miles the bike started to die. No power but i knew it was from a fouled plug, so i was able to get back to the trails and it ran great again. I changed the plug when i got back but the bike never died or never overheated.
Overall i would say the kdx is a great bike and to make it even greater the kx forks are like gifts from the gods.
After a 90 minute drive we arrived at my uncles Cabin. We took out the bikes the first night and i didnt feel to comfortable although most of the riding was on the fields. WE only went out for like 5 minutes but i guess i wasnt use to the bike with the kx forks yet. The next day we went on our first real ride. It was my first real ride outside of the trails i ride by my house. So i was ready to go. My cousins friends rode a mid 90's yamaha timberwolf 350 4x4 and a 2004 suzuki quadrunner 250. The yamaha was excellent in the trails and so was the suzuki but the suzuki was extremly fast especially for a 250.
Most of the trails i rode in consisted of about 3 mile loops and each one had 2 very large hill climbs. Fairly steep but very long. They were fun and challenging to get up.
When i first got there every person that lived on this land owned quads so i knew me and my cousin were a bit of misfits with our bikes but i was up for a challenge.
In the begining i waited for my cousin to catch up as he never rode a dirt bike before. By the end of the trip he was pretty comfortable on his kdx.
These trails were very challenging and would probably take a class B rider to be able to go high speeds in these trails. There were many gravel roads and most were closed of because of wash out damage from rain. The first day i was really bouncing around on these roads and trails which consisted of mud, clayish stuff, shale and gravel. After the first day i really was able to appreciate the kx forks. They seemed to soak up up shale better and not deflect too bad at all. By the end of the trip i was able to keep up with the quads in the tight trails as i think my new seals were finally getting broken in.
It is kind of hard to explain how the forks reacted but they seemed to be able to take bumps without deflecting off of them. I did notice the back of the bike seems to likes to hop and bounce around more which leads me to believe revalving and respringing is in order for next year.
Near the end of the trip i almost felt like the kdx was almost too short on power for me. I felt like i had mastered the bike and was ready to move on after 1 year of owning it. AS i rode more and more i figured out that the bike could be pushed alot more that i was pushing it. I almost think i was holding the bike back because i never really rode hard. The second to last day of riding i really pushed it hard and i never once let me down. I will admit i fell once on the whole trip which was very good for me.
I was also surpised at the strength of the bike. This same day my cousin's buddy unintentionally hit me with his quad. It was like a sideswip. He was coming at me and we both tried to turn sharp but i hit his rear wheel. Well as soon as i hit all i remeber is flying in the air and landing about 7 feet from my bike after i went over my bars. I ended up getting one good gash on my stomach as i think my chest protector was too loose. So when i got back to camp i made it a bit smaller. I figured my bike was gonna be fricked up. I only had one problem. my front wheel was way off from being straight. The hit turned it sidways and my forks shifted im my triple tree. This was because of the fact that my clamps are at like 10 and 12 pounds. This in a way saved my rim from being bent as it allowed for the bike to take some impact. So all i had to do was have a few people pull on the wheel while i pushed the other way on my bars to get the wheel straight again.
Through the trip the bike was excellent with starting, most of the time it was 1 or 2 kicks cold. The only time my bike almost died on me was on a really really long gravel road. It was probably 5 miles and then we turned around and went back. No larges hills just fairly flat road. I was going like 3/4 to full throttle and at about 8 miles the bike started to die. No power but i knew it was from a fouled plug, so i was able to get back to the trails and it ran great again. I changed the plug when i got back but the bike never died or never overheated.
Overall i would say the kdx is a great bike and to make it even greater the kx forks are like gifts from the gods.
