I'm an experienced rider but less experienced on dirt but have been riding a KDX200 for the past couple years, pipe, suspension, etc. I blast mainly on desert trails, some fast, some more technical. I've got an urge to get a KX500, seems like the giant 2 stroker would be a blast. I know I can ride its' potential, hell the KDX still may be winning that, but the 500 sounds like fun. I plan on keeping the KDX for tighter slipperier stuff. What a KX like?
KX500 General questions
- Thread starter jirvine
- Start date
cactusreid
Member
- Jan 13, 2003
- 170
- 0
If you like lots of vibration in your hands & a huge low end yank of horsepower then the big kx is the bike for you! you either love or despise these bikes. myself I'm in the 2nd columun. They deliver 50 something h/power just above idle,pull like a john deere on steroids to about 5000 rpm,then they sign off so abruptly that its all you can do to keep from getting flung over the bars.I ride mostly tight single track and this is not the bike of choice around here. It might be just fine in your area. Test ride it first,in the area that you ride.
gwcrim
~SPONSOR~
- Oct 3, 2002
- 1,881
- 0
I have less than a year on my '89 KX5. My previous dirt bike was a '75 CR125 that I quit riding in... oh say.... 1982. I also have about 5 yrs street riding on Sportsters. So I'm no pro or pro wannabe.
That being said, I'd never, ever, ever buy anything less than a 500! This bike ROCKS! More power than brains. Handles fast trail riding as hard as I care to push it. Climbs any hill I have the guts to point it at. Vibrations? Hey... I ride a Harley. Motorsickles are supposed to vibrate ain't they???
The KX5 is now in it's 14th year on the same basic engine/chassis combo. It's well sorted out and a proven winner. I doubt that there will ever be a successor so parts should be available for a long time to come.
If you are a picky top level rider, I'm sure you could find something wrong with one... handling, suspension, whatever. But for your average adrenalin junky on dirt, there ain't no better ride. :aj:
That being said, I'd never, ever, ever buy anything less than a 500! This bike ROCKS! More power than brains. Handles fast trail riding as hard as I care to push it. Climbs any hill I have the guts to point it at. Vibrations? Hey... I ride a Harley. Motorsickles are supposed to vibrate ain't they???
The KX5 is now in it's 14th year on the same basic engine/chassis combo. It's well sorted out and a proven winner. I doubt that there will ever be a successor so parts should be available for a long time to come.
If you are a picky top level rider, I'm sure you could find something wrong with one... handling, suspension, whatever. But for your average adrenalin junky on dirt, there ain't no better ride. :aj:
I had an 89 KX500 also. Rode it in the Washington woods.
One ride, I was behind two KDX200s on one of my favorite tight trails.
I caught up to them and rode their tail until the tight single track split
into two single tracks for a 100 feet or so. When I saw the split, I gassed it, and passed the first guy like he was going backwards. A little ways later,
the trail split again, and I zapped that guy with a mere twist of the wrist.
I then pulled away from them and stopped at the end of the single track where it dumped on a road.
They stopped and we chatted. They asked if my KX was a 250. I said "No, its a 500". Their jaws ratcheted down a few notches and they said they
were amazed that I could ride such a beast on those tight trails.
I just told them it was a matter of throttle control. If you pinned it, you were going to be bouncing off the trees. I then mentioned that when a hill comes, or the trail opens up. it is an e-ticket ride when you pin it. They said I came around them really fast. I told them that was only about 1/2 throttle because of the trees.
So my answer is: Get a 500. They are too much fun. Just be easy with your throttle movements until you get used to it.
FYI: At a Honda Demo day in Arizona, Rick Johnson told me that he could always ride a 500 faster than a 250. I said that HE could, since he was a pro, but he said even someone at my level would be faster once I learned throttle control. He was right. I got the KX a little later and I have owned a CR500 and a XR650R since.
One ride, I was behind two KDX200s on one of my favorite tight trails.
I caught up to them and rode their tail until the tight single track split
into two single tracks for a 100 feet or so. When I saw the split, I gassed it, and passed the first guy like he was going backwards. A little ways later,
the trail split again, and I zapped that guy with a mere twist of the wrist.
I then pulled away from them and stopped at the end of the single track where it dumped on a road.
They stopped and we chatted. They asked if my KX was a 250. I said "No, its a 500". Their jaws ratcheted down a few notches and they said they
were amazed that I could ride such a beast on those tight trails.
I just told them it was a matter of throttle control. If you pinned it, you were going to be bouncing off the trees. I then mentioned that when a hill comes, or the trail opens up. it is an e-ticket ride when you pin it. They said I came around them really fast. I told them that was only about 1/2 throttle because of the trees.
So my answer is: Get a 500. They are too much fun. Just be easy with your throttle movements until you get used to it.
FYI: At a Honda Demo day in Arizona, Rick Johnson told me that he could always ride a 500 faster than a 250. I said that HE could, since he was a pro, but he said even someone at my level would be faster once I learned throttle control. He was right. I got the KX a little later and I have owned a CR500 and a XR650R since.
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