As the race wore on, the temperature inside my
helmet was approaching boiling point. I started
to feel a little light headed and quite honestly,
I was exhausted. While I may have been overheating,
the 2010 KFX450R wasn't. Throughout the race the
quad showed no particular signs of struggle from
the heat. On top of that, surprisingly enough,
even with the amount of clutching needed to keep
the RPMs up, the clutch performed admirably throughout
the event with very little fade.
About midway through the event, my elbows began
to drop, and I began sitting a lot more than standing.
As I began to fade I started to get a little messy
with my lines, and I ended up hitting a cement
barrier on the side of the track with the left
front wheel. I hit it hard, and I fully expected
the rim to be flattened. I leaned off of the side
of the KFX450R to inspect the damage, and to my
surprise the rim was still round! While the wheel
held up fine, I think my wrist took most of the
impact. With a little more caution and my pace
lessened, I continued on.
A few corners later I noticed that the steering
was becoming heavy and the front end started
to wander. Sure enough, while the rim may have
escaped damage the tire must have suffered a
puncture in the sidewall. That would mark the
end of my race. Exhausted and discouraged I
limped back to the pits, and I couldn't help
but smile and think that this quad took just
about everything asked of it except for hitting
a cement curb.
Looking back I can say that I was thoroughly
impressed with the 2010 Kawasaki KFX450R. While
it remains relatively unchanged from last year,
it remains a great platform to build a full
on racer, or a great sport ATV to keep relatively
stock for weekend joyrides. With an industry
competitive $7949.00 price tag, the only thing
I would ask of Kawasaki would be for a little
more low end power. But in reality this can
be easily remedied with a pipe, intake, and
cam change, which most riders will do anyhow.
|
|
| After
nearly an hour of racing, Quad Magazine's
Brandon Brown took home the win after
a tight battle with Adam Lane who also
suffered a flat tire & Brittany Bloodworth
rounded out the Top 3 |
With the on track success of AMA ATV Motocross
racer’s Josh Creamer and Chad Wienen this
year, it is obvious the Kawasaki KFX450R has
the potential to compete with the fastest quads
in the country. If you are in the market for
a new 450 class sport quad, the Kawasaki is
worth serious consideration.
www.kawasaki.com
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