Kawasaki KX 450X

The Kawasaki KX450X looks like how a typical off-road motocross motorcycle should look – raw, rugged and minimalist. The motorcycle has a tall stance and comes with sleek and minimal body panels over its chassis, which gives it a perfect visual appeal of a go-anywhere motorcycle.

Like a typical motocross motorcycle, the Kawasaki KX450X also has a plastic shield in place of the headlamp and a high-mounted sharp-looking fender, both of which are painted in a shade of green. The motorcycle misses out on a proper headlamp and turn indicators, which make it unfit for road use. The motorcycle also has golden-coloured forks at the front, which get plastic protectors over their lower portions.

Moving towards the side, the Kawasaki KX450X has a sleek looking fuel tank covering panel, which partially hides the otherwise very prominently appearing frame of the motorcycle. This frame, along with the high-placed engine of the motorcycle, gets a silver aluminium finish. What makes this motorcycle look even more purposeful is the high ground clearance and presence of black-coloured spoke wheels and proper off-road spec tyres over them.

Towards the rear, the Kawasaki KX450X gets broad looking panels over the high-placed exhaust pipe, which makes it look even more extroverted. This exhaust pipe, along with the rear part of the tailpiece, extends towards the back and makes the motorcycle look long. The rear panel of the motorcycle is super sleek and pointy towards the end. The Kawasaki KX450X misses out on a tail lamp and turn indicators at the back. The sleek-looking long and flat single-piece seat of the Kawasaki KX450X looks in line with the placement of the rear panel and makes the motorcycle look even taller.

While the Kawasaki KX450X misses out on a proper instrument console as well, it gets a rubber padding over the middle part of the handlebar. The bar lever also looks simple and gets minimal and basic looking controls on them.

The Kawasaki KX450X is a motorcycle meant to cross difficult terrains with ease, and for that, you require a tough suspension combination. Thankfully, the motorcycle fits the purpose with its suspension combination of 49mm inverted telescopic coil-spring fork with 16-way compression damping and 16-way rebound damping at the front and Uni-Trak® gas-charged shock with piggyback reservoir with dual-range (4 turns stepless high speed/19-way low-speed) compression damping, 22-way rebound damping and adjustable preload at the rear. The motorcycle gets 80/100-21 front and 120/90-18 rear off-road tyres, while for braking, it gets 270mm front and 240mm rear disc brakes.

The Kawasaki KX450X is powered by a four-stroke, single-cylinder, liquid-cooled, 449cc engine, which is one of the biggest single-cylinder engines produced by Kawasaki. The power and torque outputs of this engine are not revealed officially by Kawasaki, though they are expected to be segment best given the specifications of this engine. The transmission unit on duty is a 5-speed gearbox with a return-shift mechanism.

The list of safety features or riding aids in the Kawasaki KX450X is not as extensive or rich as its suspension setup. It lacks several safety features which are offered as standard in a middleweight motorcycle.

While the lack of amenities and emission norms make the Kawasaki KX450X unfit for road use, the motorcycle leaves no stone unturned in proving its finesse on the roads less taken. The motorcycle has an extremely capable chassis and suspension which are capable of facing the most difficult terrains with ease. Even the single-cylinder engine in the Kawasaki KX450X feels fit for the job, despite its unconventional adoption of liquid-cooling, which is rare in sub-500cc off-road sports bikes.