Maintenance & Technical > KX500 Original

My KX500 at "Track Day"

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Polar-Bus:
Got a chance to take the "man bike" up to out local practice track in Maine yestarday. I went up with my buddy who has a fresh '06 YZ450F. I have got my suspension as good as it can be matching my weight, and a fresh set of tires. The track was soft, but fast as it was recently groomed. There was only about 30 bikes there, and 95% of them were 4 strokes. I fire up the man bike, and give it a "clean out", and everyone is staring at me in admiration (I think) LOL. As I putt through the pit, I hear and old skool guy yell "go get 'em Jeff!!!!!!! (as in Jeff Wardy). I laughed. I hit the track, pulling a slower pace, my first impressions this bike sucks. I re-familiarize myself with the track, and start hammering the 500..... oh my friggin lord!! If you hold a 500 WOT it absolutely hauls a$$, BUT you eventually need to brake and corner. The KX500 simply doesnt like to be "thrown around". I smoothed out my pace, and became much more fluid on the throttle, and pulling berms in higher gears, and now the bike settled down. The major disadvantage is the KX has a BRUTAL headshake down the straights. Not only was I getting normal arm pump, it was exponentiated as a result from the headshake. I now have a GPR damper on order. Jumping the KX500 was a blast, and the bike was extremely well mannered in flight.
Bottom line after spending over 4 hours with my KX, I so envy you desert guys!!! I really have nowhere to really tap the 500's full potential here in New England (at least until I have some ICE). Towards the end of the day me an my buddy swapped bikes for about an hour. Piloting an '06 YZ450F is like no other experience......... the bikes are that fast, and just so easy to go faster, and brake, and slam the bike into a berm, and agressively charge a whoop section. My buddy rode the "man bike" for severall laps, and came into the pits just laughing. He commented "jesus, this thing is just like a big-block nitrous injected 60's muscle car" He hit it right on the head. Still, thinking while driving home, I love my 500 for what it's intended for, which is standing your hair on end from speed and power.

alan:
Great story!

Thanks! :-D :-D :-D :-D

Danger4u2:
 Polar I know what you mean.  I went to Lake Murray ATV park last weekend.  None of my friends could go so I went by myself.  Met a guy with a 250 Yamaha 2 smoker.  Murray is tight single track woods.  If you like hill climbs it has some deep ravines and dry creek beds. It has a few straight always where you can open it up if you can hang on in the woops. It's soooo dry in Oklahoma the park is nothing but pulverized dusty sand, it's best to ride Murray the day after a good rain.  I could not keep up with the Yamerhammer in the tight stuff.  The guy defiantly was a better rider than I am.  He was nice enough to wait for me every once in a while.  My skills were tested trying to keep up with him.  He told me back at the trucks, he was paranoid I would run into him in the straights that's why he was going so fast in the twistys.  Said he could hear me breathing down his neck in the straights.  One thing about most of Oklahoma it's got lots of room to open up a K5. Lake Murray was a fun day trip for me, next time I'll go for the weekend and take the quad for night rides. http://www.oklahomaresorts.com/detail.asp?id=1+5U+6446
Danger

Arigato:
Polar, what do you have your sag set at?  The K5 shouldn't get that much headshake.

Polar-Bus:

--- Quote from: Arigato on July 27, 2006, 03:26:43 AM ---Polar, what do you have your sag set at?  The K5 shouldn't get that much headshake.

--- End quote ---

4.00"

Early in the day, when the straights were fairly smooth, and had "straight" lines, my 500 had only minimal headshake. As the sessions wore on, all the straights got really hammered, and "cross lined". This scenario is what caused the bad headshake syndrome on my KX. I slid my forks to where they were "flush" in the triple tree, and it did help, but when you do this you loose some cornering bite (which it did also). It got so scary a few times, I actually checked my front brakes to make sure they were not sticking.

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