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| ATVriders.com
Test Rider, Kyle Dammann, prepares to
race KFX 450R ATV at Glen Helen |
As we pulled out from under Kawasaki's shaded
pit area and made our way to the starting line,
the sun immediately went to work boiling away
any extra endurance I would have for the hour
long event. As we lined up in rows facing the
world famous Talladega corner, the temperature
continued to rise. Like a lobster in a hard exo-shell,
I think I began to cook from the inside out. Finally,
it was our turn to blast off. The Kawasaki started
up on command and revved quickly, eager to take
off.
The flagger's arm was up, and the line of Kawasaki’s
accelerated towards the high banked corner.
A little slow off the line, the dual overhead
cam fuel injected engine didn't hit its stride
until about 3rd gear. What it lacked in low
end torque it definitely made up for in all
out high end power. The long Glen Helen start
allowed the quad to stretch its legs into the
meat of the power band before banking hard into
the sharp right hand turn.
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| Dirtwheels'
Ron Lawson lead the charge into turn one
over the rest of the Kawasaki KFX450R
ATV racers with ATVriders.com Kyle Dammann
moving into 2nd place |
As we progressed and I got used to the shift points,
I really started to have some fun. The stable
chassis and high revving engine made the KFX450R
a blast through the flat sweeping corners. Surprisingly,
the front suspension produced very little body
roll. At only 46.1” wide I thought the quad
would want to roll and dive in the corners. When
asked the folks at Kawasaki mentioned that they
specifically designed their front end geometry
to handle just this type of situation.
With a very narrow lower frame rail, Kawasaki
is able to utilize very long gullwing style
A-arms. According to Kawasaki's Reid Nordin
this setup results in a very stable platform
producing very little body roll, yet still allowing
for plush suspension action. While I was a bit
skeptical of the effectiveness of such a setup,
I can personally attest to how well this relatively
narrow bike stays planted in corners.
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While the quad may have stayed level in the corners,
if you weren't careful when exiting under power
you would find the back end quickly coming around
into a spin-out situation. I blame this on the
all purpose type sport tires the manufacturers
tend to put on their ATVs. While they can perform
in almost all conditions, they really don't do
any one thing particularly well. In this case
I found the back end to slide around too easily
when under power, and the front end to push in
sandy corners. This is of course a simple fix,
and if you are going to be competing in any type
of off-road race a good set of tires is usually
one of the first items on the mod list.
