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Ride Guide
2008 Kawasaki KLX450R Shootout Photo Gallery
We toss three of the meanest roost-throwing enduro motorcycles through sand, snow and mud in this year's 450 enduro challenge. Check out how this bike did in our
2008 450 Enduro Shootout
.
2008 Enduro Comparison - Wallpaper
2008 Kawasaki KLX450R
Even though it's a 2008 model, the KLX was a very early release, and we first tested it back when '07 bikes were hot on the charts.
Once Kawi fixes a few quirks this bike will be in contention for the shootout win.
Riders can get away with leaving it a gear high.
The KLX has lovable, attractive features alright, but they're hidden behind its somewhat oofish appearance.
The suspension does a relatively good job of taking care of debris.
The KLX450R is going to be a great bike for a lot of people, but those are likely going to be the casual riders.
Top off the 2.1-gallon tank and you're looking at 280 pounds - that's no teenie Greenie.
Negotiating the tight, technical sections isn't too bad on the Kawasaki thanks to that ultra-forgiving motor.
With the softest, widest seat, spending all day in the saddle is more than tolerable on the 450R.
Crawling through the technical stuff is mindless on the Kawi thanks to the heavy flywheel and great bottom end.
Kawasaki's first-year effort is very good, but it seems to our testers that it is best suited for casual riders rather than racers.
Trying to start the KLX is the least endearing feature of the entire machine.
Like we did during our first long-term test, we had to reduce rider sag more than usual in order to get better bite on the 21-inch Bridgestone and pin down that wandering front end.
