kx500

DPinDet · Post by **DPinDet** » April 25th, 2008, 7:58 am

Does anybody know a good KX500 board.? I Have a chance to pick up a 1998 for $1500 and it is real clean. I am just not sure what to look for, and what might be this bikes weakness. Any help would be appreciated.

DPinDet

britincali · Post by **britincali** » April 25th, 2008, 8:10 am

They break kickstarters, the plasics are ugly and they are a kawasaki

dannygraves · Post by **dannygraves** » April 25th, 2008, 8:24 am

weak shift forks...trans probs..

Post by **AlisoBob** » April 25th, 2008, 8:24 am

The motor is pretty good, but the bike has nowhere the build quality of a Honda.... And the tranny is weak like Danny stated.

Its closer to those Chineese clone bikes...

dannygraves · Post by **dannygraves** » April 25th, 2008, 8:28 am

they are supposed to ride great and have a really smooth power delivery, but the chassis sucks and the weak shift forks are a problem... now if you put it in a kx450f chassis and didn't let and idiot trans breaking friends ride it...

ou812 · Post by **ou812** » April 25th, 2008, 10:31 am

They are really best suited as a trail bike, they do that better then the CR but they really suck as a MX bike. The only way to make one work for MX would be the 250 roller swap, steel or AF 1999 and up are good.

http://www.kxriders.com/forums/

arleybeer40 · Post by **arleybeer40** » April 26th, 2008, 3:43 am

kx500riders.com people on the site are a little slow but you'll get some good info. Dont mind brits comment, the only reason he does'nt like mean greens is he got tired of being beat by mine. Oh and yah they suck magor balls if you wanna ride tracks. The hondas gat the handling and the kawis got the motor(im talkin stock here)

Post by **AlisoBob** » April 26th, 2008, 8:48 am

Somewhere I have a photo of what Destry Abbot had to do to make his bike last ONE weekend.

Lots of gussets, additional tubing, etc.....

The article stated he basically had a new bike for every event.

ou812 · Post by **ou812** » April 26th, 2008, 11:51 am

Dont mind brits comment, the only reason he does'nt like mean greens is he got tired of being beat by mine.

Uhhh....... thats why the bottle got bolted on.

While I still have not had a major exploration of the intrenals of my KX500 it does appear with the right work done it would appear they are capable of making some big HP without turning into a light switch power band.

Slow old Fart · Post by **Slow old Fart** » May 3rd, 2008, 3:29 am

The bikes can vibrate terrible,balanced cranks

100hp honda · Post by **100hp honda** » May 6th, 2008, 5:06 pm

keep your eyes open and you can find a dam good honda for $1500. if you insist on a kawasaki then have at it. but dont come back here crying the blues

- im speaking from experience

ctatv · Post by **ctatv** » June 11th, 2008, 3:15 pm

cant hate dont kno much about them but I loved the powervalved 500 in my quadzilla....

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 7147&hl=en

this is my video, my zilla, before i sold it of course

ou812 · Post by **ou812** » June 11th, 2008, 5:28 pm

if you insist on a kawasaki then have at it. but dont come back here crying the GREENS - im speaking from experience

Note, edited to comply with team colors.

MICK · Post by **MICK** » June 12th, 2008, 12:59 pm

I still ride an '89 KX500 once in a blue moon. A KX500 is ALL about the motor. Like Bob eluded too, I learned to weld in High School keeping that frame together. The bike now weighs 248 lbs, and most of that is additional strengthening to the frame. It is an '89 so suspension/brakes and ergos are typically shit. My Dad purchased the bike used in '93 and it's been in our family since. The motor saw about $3000 of work during the first seven years, as it was meant to power a Snow Bike my Dad was building.

It amazes me sometimes when I think about the days I raced it off road or rode it on a track. It really is an example of too much power / not enough bike. The motor would quite easily power my Neon but the chassis is so difficult to use (especially for tall dudes like myself) it is impossible to benefit from all that motor. It's not even 100% ridable in the dunes. I've beaten the KX with my AF 6 out of 9 drags as a result. Truly goes to show just how important a good well balanced chassis is, as my AF runs like a 250 in comparison to that KX.

The industry speaks of weak KX transmissions. And they may well be when compared to a CR500s. But my '89 has had no troubles nor has any other KX500 I ride with. I don't believe the gears to be the downfall of the KX platform. To my knowledge the kickstarter is way to skinny and prone to breaking, the crank is often way too far out of balance for any reasonable rpm, and although Honda or MSR clutch assemblies and extending the clutch actuating arm help. The clutch still requires a mighty Popey pull that becomes difficult to operate after extended periods...which result in more stalls...which leads to rider becoming dog tired from kicking...which snowballs into shitty riding form...and finally manifests itself into a day of riding you'd rather soon forget.

Post by **MojoScojo** » June 12th, 2008, 1:27 pm

MICK wrote:...and finally manifests itself into a day of riding you'd rather soon forget.

I bet it still beats the hell out of a day at work.

MICK · Post by **MICK** » June 12th, 2008, 1:40 pm

Well that just depends on what you do for a living...Sometimes I would rather go to work than ride

DPinDet · Post by **DPinDet** » July 7th, 2008, 5:32 pm

My buddy picked up the bike and it lives at my house now. In my humble opinion, the KX motor is better than the Honda but the chassis is light years behind. I can pull 2-3 bikes on him out of the hole, but he runs me down and passes me in fifth like I am standing still. That bikes has soo much top end. Here is a quick pic of the bike. Paid $1500 for it and it is a 1998. Thanks

teemtrubble · Post by **teemtrubble** » July 7th, 2008, 5:41 pm

arleybeer40 · Post by **arleybeer40** » July 7th, 2008, 5:46 pm

Damn, clean, Id change the fmf for a pc though. more topend

MICK · Post by **MICK** » July 7th, 2008, 6:54 pm

Wow DpinDet that's an awsome machine for $1500. Your boy did real well. Looks perfect.
This is a scanned image of my KX. You can see the water pump guard added to the frame, custom rear disk guard, custom stainless kickstarter (which is bending), late model plastic, with a slimmer '89 KX250 tank. These motors are incredible, both in stock trim and what they can be made to do. If horsepower was the only criteria for a good bike. These would be the best.

This was at Juniper Dunes in central WA. A local dez/dune spot for us. Think I was a sophmore in highschool then.

100hp honda · Post by **100hp honda** » July 8th, 2008, 5:35 pm

DPinDet wrote:My buddy picked up the bike and it lives at my house now. In my humble opinion, the KX motor is better than the Honda but the chassis is light years behind. I can pull 2-3 bikes on him out of the hole, but he runs me down and passes me in fifth like I am standing still. That bikes has soo much top end. Here is a quick pic of the bike. Paid $1500 for it and it is a 1998. Thanks

clean bike man. the motor isnt better than the cr5 (not even close) but rather better suited for your style of riding maybe. in terms of qaulity and durability, the cr500 sets the standard for most 2 and 4 strokes ever built, this is a proven fact and not just my opinion. make no mistake though, the kx500 was a good desert machine right off the showroom floor- most of the power is mid to upper rpm and stock gearing was 14/47... ya they will run down a cr500 in 5th gear

DPinDet · Post by **DPinDet** » July 8th, 2008, 9:07 pm

"ya they will run down a cr500 in fifth gear"

Thats an understatement. . . .

DPinDet

MICK · Post by **MICK** » July 18th, 2008, 3:50 pm

KX500's in their element. Shit some of you may live near where Team Green shot this?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyU6bFStqSM&feature=related

...looks easy enough

dannygraves · Post by **dannygraves** » July 18th, 2008, 5:26 pm

omg! that vid makes me wanna go riding RIGHT NOW!

HrcRacing · Post by **HrcRacing** » August 6th, 2008, 7:49 pm

My brother's former KX500 felt more like a very fast 250 than a 500. If you're coming off of 250's, you'll love it. I will say that the suspension was very plush, much better than my old '94 CR500 in the whoops, sharp edged bumps, etc.

BannedCR500Riders.com

kx500

kx500

kx500

Re: kx500

kx500