Forgive me for bitching... again. But I'm STILL plenty pissed at Husqvarna for their inability to deliver a viable MX bike to the USA in time to properly prep for the 2011 season. That said, many of you know I went to the dark side and bought a Kawasaki for my son's 2011 MX season. Since taking delivery of the bike, He's ridden 3 times. I'll try not to come across as biased or bitter... BUT... these are the facts: The Kawi rims/hubs (compared to European bikes) are laughably $hitty. The plastic on the Kawi reminds me of the Chinese crap I see on $800.00 bikes at Pep Boys. After 2 practices, the "paint" on the clutch cover is 98% GONE! This compared to our 2010 TC 250 that looked 85% new after 5 races and 10 or more practices. Hardware started coming loose after ONE ride... Cody came back from a break-in run and the rear disc guard was missing... the kick lever mounting bolt could be turned by fingernail... The chain went from properly adjusted to scary loose. (The chain looks like it was made by epileptic 10 year old kids in China) Perimeter aluminum frame ... Gag me with Saturn V rocket! Maintaining this bike will suck like gonad surgery. After the 1st ride it was obvious the bike wouldn't "age" very well... so I spent $250 on graphics to preserve all the plastics. That helped a bit, but the premature wear on the clutch cover and ignition cover makes this month-old bike look like it's 3 years old! The positives: The EFI has been nothing short of incredible! Starting the bike cold or hot is completely predictable and repeatable in all situations. Awesome. If only Husky could ditch Mikuni and enter the 21st century. The motor will rip a new butthole into the 2010 TC 250. End of positives.
good reading!i am told the TC can rip,just not with the stock exhaust.i like to be optimistic and believe that.how is the suspension and handling compared to the TC?
Eh, the FMF power core 4 didn't make a huge difference on my TC, it helped over rev a bit but it is still no where near the KX250f engine. The KX has so much power it is almost brutal, I don't feel faster on the KX though it is almost too abrupt. Later,
I am pretty bent too... glad I got the 150 for sure, but was looking at a 250f for mx. Krieg, you better get on to prepping the Kawi if you havent already done so.... the bearings only have a thin coat of oil and will be rusted in no time flat. EFI sure is nice and the modern fork is nice as well... working on it is a PITA. Glad there isnt any jetting to worry about... motor rules. Silicone all the easy to access bolts and dialectric grease all over the connections...
The suspension seems to be working ok for him. It's got that new Showa fork system where one fork is the spring and the other does the dampening. Cody complains that the Kawi doesn't find it's way into and out of the ruts like the TC did. I'm still messing with the front fork "sag" which is adjustable with a clicker on the new Showa system to try and help the plowing issue. He also complains that the Kawi feels heavy... duh... it IS heavy compared to the TC. He loves the motor, and he's convinced himself that the perimeter frame is wonderful because it helps him "whip' the bike in mid air! I told him if he spent 1/2 of his "whipping energy" on riding better, he'd learn that a perimiter frame's sole purpose is to make maintenance a PITA for me!
Oh, BTW, I've timed him on our favorite practice track. So far, his lap times are only slightly (average about 1 second) faster than with the TC. By the looks of it, he was smoother on the TC in jumping and turning situations, but the Kawi's power edge is manifesting itself in the straights.
The Sunstar sprocket is a good one... chain is junk, replace before it eats the sprocket... stock clutch springs are suspect, use some Barnetts or Cannon Racecraft springs. it will do wonders for the life of the stock plates... I have some some new OEM take offs if you want them. Rear chain guide is ok, but the slider isnt that durable. The KX's are known pushers and require proper technique to settle in turns. You can throw some dollars at links and clamps, but I wouldnt bother. Air filter access is less than a joy... grease up the bearings.
Yes im pretty unhappy with Husky not getting bikes here also. Trying to play catch up in getting the bike running and handling the way we like it while the season is going is not fun - would of been alot easier if we had the bike a month earlier. And at the end we didnt even buy the bikes we wanted because they came too late. Maybe next year Husky will have its crap together. The good part of the story is we really like the bike we have, im very happy we made the move to the Husky. So far Halls Cycles is the best dealership ive ever used....
I am curious. What made you go with the Kawi? For some reason, I have never liked Kawi's. No real reason, except they look cheap. JS
Kawi build quality is cheap...everything rattles after 3 months...but you gotta go where you can get bikes and support
