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I love the brembo front brake, while it’s not near as aggressive as my 21 kx I had was, I like the progressive feel of it at the lever. I’m more confident using it in corners and other areas cause I know it’s not gonna just spit me on the ground lol.
i am the exact same way. i thought i didnt like it at first, but now i actually really enjoy it. Linear and just feel like i have more confidence using more front brake in corners. Honestly might swap out the hydro clutch to a brembo as well.
I agree about the Brembo being more progressive, I just wish it had more stopping power. My 22 could stop faster with less input at the lever, I'm just nitpicking though.
I’d recommend re bleeding before your next track day. Sometimes new there is air in the line.
the 22 front break would take less input on the lever due to it being less progressive and touchier
in my opinion the Brembo actually has more stopping power just way more linear. Essentially you just gotta pull the lever more lol. That’s what I felt anyways
just my .02
The Shop
My 13/17/20 models you’d have to tip toe around the brake lever, once in a high speed braking situation it threw me to the ground
the 19-23 models you’d had to go easy on the lever, very minute pressure or it would go full lock on
at one point ended up taking the pads out and cutting grooves in them to reduce the braking surface.. it did very little to resolve the issue other then using a softer braking material
im actually loving the feel of the new Brembos it fits my style of riding with its more progressive feel
Like you guys have all said, the Brembo is less touchy and has more "feel" at the lever. It's very similar to a Sram/Shimano comparison in the mountain biking world. If the KX Brembos are like the Austrian bikes, just like Victor said, they may need bleeding early on. I've seen may Austrian bikes in the last 3 years or so get mushy brakes with very little hours. They are always much better after a flush and bleed with high quality fluid. Pay particular attention to tapping the upper banjo to release micro bubbles as the Brembo banjo is more prone to this than the Japanese brakes.
I have ridden ktms the last 10 years and I think brembos is crap compared to the nissin brakes.
You have to push back the piston in brembo caliper before every ride and always have fresh set of braking pads in there for the brembo front brake to work ok.
The nissin got much more feel and braking power using only one finger.
I did bleed the brake after my first moto. it was immediately something i noticed so bled it with no improvement. I will put it back on & try to see if i can get the feel of it. I guess it's possible i'm not pulling it in hard enough. I probably have a very light touch on the brake lever due to riding the previous model for 5 years. No idea.
I'm heading to pala today but i just brought my 23 to get a good day of riding it. My shock spring was sprung too stiff (not pumped on that but overall happy with my suspension guy on my other bike so we're gonna swing by after & get a lighter spring. bummer as i was wanting to get more time on the 24. Maybe get back on it for Sunday. Hope so. GH SUNDAY!
sounds good. any sponsors youd like to thank?
We are currently working on these. 2 weeks out
You shouldn’t be spraying water directly into the air box inlet, sure you’ll get residual water but it normally drips out the weep hole in the bottom of the air box
several decades I’ve never had an issue with water getting in the air box during cleaning?
I personally don’t think you can get the air box completely clean without a wash cover. Sure you can wash the bike with a filter in, but you will never get the backside of the box clean with it in. For me persoanlly, I change a filter every time I ride. I think it’s cheap insurance to keep engines running longer and keeping valves in spec. So I might as well use a wash cover to keep my air box clean as well. To each their own
Don’t expose the intake till you’ve hit it with compressed air and a shop rag
todays ride at Jimmy Weinerts training facility, it’s a deep sand track
First ride on mine today and was pleasantly surprised. Turns really well and very user friendly power. Only mods so far are taking out the rubber plate on the airbox and removing all the restrictions on the silencer. Plus new grips (more below).
This is the version sent to Brazil, so Nissin front brake and regular grips (terrible) instead of ODIs.
The blue looks sharp on it; nice retro look. Good job!
Throttle Therapy today at JWTF.. track is so fun to rail those sand berms
I have the same two bikes. I'm interested to hear your thoughts comparing the two after you've got a few hrs on the kx. I'm only planning on keeping one of mine and trading one for a 2 stroke but struggling to decide which one to keep 🤣
Pit Row
I'm keeping both. I like the 450 on sand or deep tracks. 350 for short tracks or harder dirt. I also have a 23 300XC. I have set up and use specifically for woods riding. I prefer 4 strokes for Moto. The 300 xc/sxf would probably work good for Moto. Lots of low end grunt out of corners. My XC pulls my 6'1" 235 pounds butt around with ease. To be honest the 300 is probably faster than the 350.
Yeah i had a 23 300sx but just didn't gel with it on mx tracks, was great in the bush but hardly ride any of that.
I'm finding my lap times are almost identical on the 350 and the kx on all track types. I can just ride longer on the 350 but I do love the extra torque of the 450.
I guess the only solution is to keep both and just add a 2 stroke to the garage ha ha.
First world problems 😉😂
Would the stock valving be enough for a C level vet rider at 240 lbs with gear? Plan would be to replace the forks and shock springs, maybe add more fork oil if necessary.
The more I ride my 350 the more I hum-and-haw over replacing it. I just do not want to spend the 2 grand plus for a WP 6500 spring conversion and associated valving at both ends. Cdn dollars we are talking around 2500-2800 for a full spring conversion with corresponding valving work, which I am told I would require for my weight.
I would say no. I’m 250 and the stock stuff was ok at slow sleep but no holdup on any of the hard hits or G outs. But everyone is different.
Yes. I’m a 220lb fast Vet B rider myself, and think the stock valving is fine. I’ve been winning races with mine. Before you throw a ton of money away on a revalve, try this.
Go on the Race Tech spring rate calculator and figure out the correct spring rates and order them. It is easy to change them out yourself. While you have the fork caps off, add 50ml of oil to each fork tube.
The valving is far more balanced than previous generations, so I bet if you get the appropriate spring rates in there, you will be able to fine tune the suspension with your clickers. After you install the heavier springs, dial in your rebound a few clicks to compensate for the faster rebound due to the heavier springs.
Anyone have thoughts on the Tickle map? Improvement? Or any other maps that work good on the app?
I’m searching for more exciting hit and pull. May just put a vortex on it.
Personally I like the stock power, but I'm old. If you want more excitement a full after market exhaust, opened up airbox, and Vortex should do the trick.
Run the Chavez map with full PC T6 exhaust.
I'm guessing you've opened up the airbox and exhaust already? That's where biggest gains will be made on this bike.
You will find very little gains with the kx app. By all means try a few maps but if you want anything significant it won't be had with the stock ecu.
Thank you!
Insert the Chavez map from Keefer inc.. it’s super easy to do
once the app syncs to the bike you just push the numbers into the chart and push the send button on upper right hand side of screen, at that point its loads to the bikes ECM
it’s super easy and takes less then 2 minutes to complete
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