- Feb 9, 2000
- 2,450
- 2
You could always move west, say to Australia :eek: may just have to do that :ugg:
Mojor changes for the 2003 KDX?
- Thread starter KDX Fill
- Start date
TO CLARIFY:
What I mean by "ban" is that you won't be able to ride a 2006 model or newer two stroke on any public land....doesn't mean they won't build them BUT, how often does a manufacturer build something that people don't/can't use?
I guess you'll be ok if you like riding your new KDX at the MX track or if you happen to own land.
What I mean by "ban" is that you won't be able to ride a 2006 model or newer two stroke on any public land....doesn't mean they won't build them BUT, how often does a manufacturer build something that people don't/can't use?
I guess you'll be ok if you like riding your new KDX at the MX track or if you happen to own land.
- Feb 9, 2000
- 2,450
- 2
Man, I can see a whole new market ahead in 2006 and beyond - in used frames, or dealing in old frame numbers, unless they ban 2 strokes outright, there are going to be people riding 'old' two strokes for years to come. Lets hope the new low emmissions 2 stroke can turn this around !
A KDX BUZZ
Member
- Jun 10, 2001
- 34
- 0
"I will keep riding my KDX untill the two stroke police catch me."
:aj:
:aj:
A KDX BUZZ
Member
- Jun 10, 2001
- 34
- 0
What I mean is KDX will not be able to "compete", from a bussiness standpoint,( as far as sales).
If kawi does'nt up-grade, they will lose alot of sales to more "attractive products".
It would be a mistake for kawi to lose such a reputible, consistant selling, dependible, etc, bike!
I'm sure we'll see something w/ the kdx name on it for many years.
I'm not sure how this "ban" works!
I'm just glad Al **** is not president!!!!!!! He wants to ban -ALL internal combustion engines-!!!!! anything w/ a spark plug (or glow-plug).
Lets keep that guy out of "office"!
If kawi does'nt up-grade, they will lose alot of sales to more "attractive products".
It would be a mistake for kawi to lose such a reputible, consistant selling, dependible, etc, bike!
I'm sure we'll see something w/ the kdx name on it for many years.
I'm not sure how this "ban" works!
I'm just glad Al **** is not president!!!!!!! He wants to ban -ALL internal combustion engines-!!!!! anything w/ a spark plug (or glow-plug).
Lets keep that guy out of "office"!
Canadian Dave
Super Power AssClown
- Apr 28, 1999
- 1,202
- 0
I hope I'm wrong but personally I don't see Kawasaki making the investment to upgrade the KDX (other than bold new graphics) in the near future, if at all. Its ironic, the KDX is one of the strongest selling off road bikes on the market but sees very little or no year to year development. I guess KDX owners survive on neglect. I expect that Kawasaki is presently focusing their attention on an up-graded 2003 KX line and continuing development on a MX ready 4-stroke. The latest rumours suggest we'll see a new KX line next year and a 4 stroke in 2 years. With their be time to spend on the KDX once their done? I hope so.
Will Kawasaki stop building a 2 stroke KDX all together once 2006 rolls around? That's a tough call. Though the U.S. is a large market, there are plenty of other countries around the world that haven't openly suggested they intend on limiting the sales of 2-stroke bikes. The KDX might well survive in other markets past 2006. There are enough after market parts out there for KDXs to keep them alive for years even if Kawasaki decided to make parts prohibitavely expensive. One good thing about owning such a popular bike that hasn't seen a lot of changes over the years is that there are plenty of parts around.
I expect Kawasaki's marketing department will have the final say as to whether the KDX will survive. Its not uncommon for manufactures to pull a bike from a specific market or limit its development to boost the sales of a new model. They spend a great deal of money on new model development and want to see a return on their investment ASAP. The WR250 is an excellent example of this. Yamaha continued to supply WR250s to the US market based on the 1994 YZ 250 until 1998 when the 4-stroke WR400 was introduced. In Canada, and the rest of the world, Yamaha upgraded the WR250 in 1997 based on the 1997 YZ250. In Canada we got a great new bike while the U.S. got stuck with the old generation WR250. In 1998 Yamaha chose to discontinue the WR250 in Canada but they continue to sell it to this day in many countries in the world and its sees the same year to year updates as the YZ250. Choosing not to upgrade the U.S. market WR250 or to remove the 2-stroke WR from their line up likely had as much to do with directing would-be 2-stroke WR owners to the new 4-stroke WR as anything. Some of those people who would have been ecstatic to own an upgraded 2-stroke WR no doubt lined up to purchase the alternative 4-stroke version.
Would there be enough interest in a new generation KDX200/220 to warrant the development of the new 2-stroke version along side a new generation Kawasaki 4-stroke off-road bike? . . . . . Sure. Would it make the most economic sense for Kawasaki to do so? I hope so. My fear is that we'll see the KDX become the next WR250.
I wouldn't count the 2-stroke down for the count come 2006. There have been a number of companies who have shown they are capable of producing a 2-stroke motor that's able to meet tough emission standards and win races. There has been a tremendous amount of energy put into developing race worthy 4-stroke MX bikes in recent years based on existing F1 technology because there was a big enough market to make it worth while. Hopefully there will be enough demand for light, low emission 2-stroke race bikes to encourage bike manufactures to spend some development money here too. There's nothing to say that if enough concerned people made their views known that the limitiations placed on 2-stroke off-road bikes come 2006 may not be as restrictive as what's onthe books right now.
Like most of you I wish Kawasaki would offer us an second version of the KDX. An R model with off-road compatible KX style suspension, a slimmer mid section and more power right out of the box. If need be just put the KDX engine in the slightly modified KX chassis, revalve the suspension and offer me a larger gas tank . . . . . . please. The fact is Kawasaki has very little motivation to do so. The KDX formula has made it one of the best selling off-road bikes of all time. The KDX has come to dominate the 2-stroke trail bike market by supplying us with a relatively inexpensive 2-stroke bike capable of delivering smiles so big helmets will hardly contain them. The KDX formula was so successful they all but drove the remaining competition out of the market segment and their hasn't been a manufacture willing to put something head to head with the KDX for years. That's unfortunate, when you have no competition there isn't a whole lot of motivation to keep fine tuning your product. My point? I believe Kawasaki sees the KDX as a very successful 2-stroke off-road bike and has no desire to go head to head with the Euros and build a strict competition/pro level race bike. If they did it would have to be great, not only to keep up with the present competition but to lure those who use their KDXs for trail riding away from what they love.
JMO
David
Will Kawasaki stop building a 2 stroke KDX all together once 2006 rolls around? That's a tough call. Though the U.S. is a large market, there are plenty of other countries around the world that haven't openly suggested they intend on limiting the sales of 2-stroke bikes. The KDX might well survive in other markets past 2006. There are enough after market parts out there for KDXs to keep them alive for years even if Kawasaki decided to make parts prohibitavely expensive. One good thing about owning such a popular bike that hasn't seen a lot of changes over the years is that there are plenty of parts around.
I expect Kawasaki's marketing department will have the final say as to whether the KDX will survive. Its not uncommon for manufactures to pull a bike from a specific market or limit its development to boost the sales of a new model. They spend a great deal of money on new model development and want to see a return on their investment ASAP. The WR250 is an excellent example of this. Yamaha continued to supply WR250s to the US market based on the 1994 YZ 250 until 1998 when the 4-stroke WR400 was introduced. In Canada, and the rest of the world, Yamaha upgraded the WR250 in 1997 based on the 1997 YZ250. In Canada we got a great new bike while the U.S. got stuck with the old generation WR250. In 1998 Yamaha chose to discontinue the WR250 in Canada but they continue to sell it to this day in many countries in the world and its sees the same year to year updates as the YZ250. Choosing not to upgrade the U.S. market WR250 or to remove the 2-stroke WR from their line up likely had as much to do with directing would-be 2-stroke WR owners to the new 4-stroke WR as anything. Some of those people who would have been ecstatic to own an upgraded 2-stroke WR no doubt lined up to purchase the alternative 4-stroke version.
Would there be enough interest in a new generation KDX200/220 to warrant the development of the new 2-stroke version along side a new generation Kawasaki 4-stroke off-road bike? . . . . . Sure. Would it make the most economic sense for Kawasaki to do so? I hope so. My fear is that we'll see the KDX become the next WR250.
I wouldn't count the 2-stroke down for the count come 2006. There have been a number of companies who have shown they are capable of producing a 2-stroke motor that's able to meet tough emission standards and win races. There has been a tremendous amount of energy put into developing race worthy 4-stroke MX bikes in recent years based on existing F1 technology because there was a big enough market to make it worth while. Hopefully there will be enough demand for light, low emission 2-stroke race bikes to encourage bike manufactures to spend some development money here too. There's nothing to say that if enough concerned people made their views known that the limitiations placed on 2-stroke off-road bikes come 2006 may not be as restrictive as what's onthe books right now.
Like most of you I wish Kawasaki would offer us an second version of the KDX. An R model with off-road compatible KX style suspension, a slimmer mid section and more power right out of the box. If need be just put the KDX engine in the slightly modified KX chassis, revalve the suspension and offer me a larger gas tank . . . . . . please. The fact is Kawasaki has very little motivation to do so. The KDX formula has made it one of the best selling off-road bikes of all time. The KDX has come to dominate the 2-stroke trail bike market by supplying us with a relatively inexpensive 2-stroke bike capable of delivering smiles so big helmets will hardly contain them. The KDX formula was so successful they all but drove the remaining competition out of the market segment and their hasn't been a manufacture willing to put something head to head with the KDX for years. That's unfortunate, when you have no competition there isn't a whole lot of motivation to keep fine tuning your product. My point? I believe Kawasaki sees the KDX as a very successful 2-stroke off-road bike and has no desire to go head to head with the Euros and build a strict competition/pro level race bike. If they did it would have to be great, not only to keep up with the present competition but to lure those who use their KDXs for trail riding away from what they love.
JMO
David
A KDX BUZZ
Member
- Jun 10, 2001
- 34
- 0
What about the suzuki / kawi merger?, assuming there is one.
Could KDX become KDRX.
I saw a KDX once w- a yellow frame, some one had painted.
UGLY.
Kawzuki Or
Suzisaki
(joking)
Could KDX become KDRX.
I saw a KDX once w- a yellow frame, some one had painted.
UGLY.
Kawzuki Or
Suzisaki
(joking)
Inthewoods
Member
- Apr 1, 2002
- 33
- 0
The little deal that Kawai and Suzuki have going is that they are going to be putting the DRZ motor in a KLX or KX or KDX chassie thats what I know for a fact
Kawasaki is still selling the KX500 a decade after the AMA eliminated the Open-class from motocross/supercross.... so maybe they'll keep the KDX around in some form up to and past 2006. Also look at the 4-wheeler race circuit... they stopped selling 2-stroke 250cc quads a long time ago, yet used Honda and Suzuki 2-strokes go for top dollar and crate engines can make them like brand new. With a crate KDX200 engine and some frame TLC, a new KDX can go for years to come!
No kidding! The KDX is definitely going down this path. I'd bet once engineering for the Kawi 4-stroke MX is complete, they will throw some lights on it and call it a KDX. Probably a move for the better in the frame/susp department, but who wants a 4-joke.
One freight company's fleet of diesel's produces more harm than all of the KDX's in the country.
I'll ride my 2-stroke WR, and KDX until the man takes them from me (or I'm going to a machine shop for custom parts!). :)
My 2c
- Nov 1, 2002
- 141
- 1
The EPA adopted emissions standards for new off-highway motorcycles and ATVs beginning in 2006. And while the agency didn’t impose an outright ban on two-stroke engines, it appears that will be the effect of the regulations. The new regulations will most likely affect KTM and Gas Gas also. Only the very small companies will be exempt (I think companies that build less than 3,000 units a year are exempt) Motocross bikes are exempt also. I think the only way to get a decent two-stroke trail bike in the future will be to convert a motocross bike. If you want a new KDX, better buy it soon, the end is near!
