KX Riders
Maintenance & Technical => KX500 Original => Topic started by: Fookeneh on May 27, 2004, 06:55:12 PM
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ECU ,direct fuel injector, throttle body... aprilia's scooter runs this,50cc @150 mpg @60mph! Imagine this on our beloved big bore and other mx ers.... Incredible clean burning,efficient 2-strokes No need for a 4 stroke.. Anyone have lots of $$ and feeling ambitious? Check out www.aprilia.com under ditech sr50 scooter .
Save the 2-strokes!!
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Theres a company called "Rev"? that was working on a MX 250 that was supposed to be EPA friendly yet still fast,havent seen anything on it in a year or so though.
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I also read about them, it was the rave last few years but fell flat on it's face recently, I don't even know if the website is still there. Two strokes will never die on private land or closed courses which is all I ride.
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Keep an older bike, and you're good to go on public lands as well...at least you should be OK here in the US.
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I prefer simple machines, but I bet fuel injection would be nice on a k-5 .It already pulls pretty smooth , but imagine a perfect air-fuel mixture from idle to redline all the time. :D
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I don't know, I kinda enjoy being able to tweak the carb, as I have been tweaking for the past few months on my KX, I imagine you can jet a carb and get better performance than a injection system could. Assuming. I don't know.
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Look at the problems Cannondale had with fuel injection,of course they may have worked it out if they where around longer.
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The crotch rockets are running well on fuel injection. The components are very reliable and alot of the quirks have been worked out. I would like to know why the technology hasn't been put into the 2 strokes, along with the thumpers... I would imagine marketing is an issue. Is there a rumor going around that the k-5 is done next year to make room for the kxf 450 :cry:
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The first problem with the KX5 and fuel injection is electrical power. A fuel injection unit requires a lot of power, or at least they used to. I couldn?t fit one to my GSX because of the lack of power - back then. I guess the power demand is less nowadays with new technology and all. I would also be concerned with all the physical abuse it would have to cope with.
A carburettor is simple and simplicity rules especially under harsh conditions.
//John
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Fookeneh,I wrote asking Destry Abbott about the end of the 500 around 4 months ago and from what he (and every one else now) says is yes its the last year.Honda is going to put out a 4-stroke trials bike with fuel injection from what I hear.Im sure its just a matter of time that the EPA gets the fuel injection ball rolling.
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I think the whole EPA/4-stroke issue is a joke. Most 4strokes are NOT green sticker/CARB legal in California, so they dont meet emission standards anyway....And aside from all the magazine hype, 4strokes are still heavy, expensive and loud, and to compete with 2strokes they're so heavily modified that they dont meet emission requirements....plus they just plain suck :-)....
None of my 10-12 riding buddies own 4strokes, and the few who did sold them and came back to 2 strokes...And why is it ok to commute to work alone in a truck with a 8.1 liter engine, but if you ride a 2stroke for 5hrs a week the air's going to become poison...?
It'll be interesting to see how things go over the next few years...
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Look at the gallery members photo side 4 (Big Green Monster) pict 10
there you have YZ 125 -05 Se the place of Carburator.47 hp on rear whell they say. Thats the new 2-strokes.
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So is that a fuel injected 125? I would like to know why aprilia can design and market an efficient powerful 2 -stroke 50cc scooter,it wouldn't be that difficult for the engineers to put that technology into dirt bikes. Why not? They certainly aren't sparing any expense on the 4-strokes. If 2004 is the last year for the k-5 I may have to save up and buy another one. If one is good,2 must be really good :wink: I find it rather puzzling, after all ,the tooling is paid for, the k-5 is a money maker for kawasaki.
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The EPA is a joke,you think they'd have some idea what there doing before sticking there nose in our business.I cant agree with there reasoning that there going to kill the 2-stroke that the average guy rides a few times a month for a few hours at a time because it pollutes the air,then I'll see some rich lady going through a mid life crisis get in her Hummer at the mall!Thats what makes me laugh,all the big shiny SUV's you see running around that you never see in the dirt!I cant blame them,I wouldnt spend that much cash and take one in the dirt and tear it up,but on the other hand whats the point of having a Hummer,the ultimate 4x4,or any other big 4x4 SUV if its only used to drive to Macy's or drop the kids off at soccer practice?But who's answering to the EPA?The little guy,us,the 2-stroke thats used for what it was made for!
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Luckily in Canada we aren't getting the same anti 2-stoke pressure that you guys in the US are getting, especially in California. We can still ride pretty much anywhwere. I was at a bike shop last week and a shop from San Fransisco called them to get YZ250 parts. They claimed that they were having a hard time getting them is the US because of new requlations(needed to be running a race team or something to that effect). I'm not sure I fully believe what I heard but it is something to think about. Yikes. Mike is right about the SUV thing. That and the untuned diesels. Hey! Maybe they will keep making the K5 for Canada and I (we) can send some south.
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California seems to be a trend setter for the rest of the world(I wish it was something good,but it never seems to be),its the trikle down effect.California has some tree huggin hippie make some stupid law and over time it seems to effect other states,or they follow suit.
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It would be cool if Kawasaki would auction off all the tooling for the engine, and then it could be built into a more modern but affordable bike... there I go day dreaming again. :wink:
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You know Honda still sells the engines for the CR 500 to Service Honda after they quit selling the big CR so they could continue to put them in the Aluminum frames and build the CR-AF's.Even with the new 4-stroke out as long as the KX500 has been around how could Kawasaki loose money buy still prouducing the big KX?Why not sell a KX450 and KX500?
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my guess would have something to do with marketing. There's such a buzz around 4 strokes,so kawasaki wants the kx450 to come 1st in all the different races it's entered . That wouldn't happen if the kx500 was still in the desert. I don't know I could be way off. I am curious how they actually build these bikes.I wonder if they actually have a seperate factory for the k5 that they need to sacrifice space and personel for ,or if they just refit the machines with the old tooling in the same factory as all the other kx's. I know I won't be buying a newer k-5 if there is any indication that the parts availiability is gonna go for s h i t in the up -coming years.
What about KTM mxc, they sell 2 and 4 strokes. Take your pick.
Why don't Kawasaki build the 500 in the 450 chassis, and dominate everything for a lower $$ ???
kinda contradicts my thoughts earliar in this post.
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I know I won't be buying a newer k-5 if there is any indication that the parts availiability is gonna go for s h i t in the up -coming years.
I really doubt that they will quit producing parts, as most dealers make money off selling parts and service. The CR500 engine is still being produced and parts are still being made from Honda. But, kawasaki is known to drop parts quick, but 10 years being quick, not 2 or 3.
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After market stuff like plastic might become a problem ?? Does the after market pricing increase when a bike is no longer made? It would then become a low -selling item. I have a 94k5 and I love it in the tight twisty trails, my buddy uses balance on his kdx 220 to get through, I use the k-5 motor . I'm not a brand whore ,so maybey I will keep my k-5 for special trips and buy a KTM 300 mxc 2-stroke for a trail bike. It would really suck being disappointed with a $10,000 ( canadian) purchase. Are there any un-biased opinions on the 300 here?
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I was thinking of making the KX250 into the the 327 (or what ever it is ) big bore that RPM does when the time comes.I hear the KTM300 is a great bike.Not that Im doubting Destry,Brian Brown or any of the Team Kawasaki riders,but if they get beat buy somebody thats still on a KX500 hows that going to help the KX450F look better?