KX 500 for beginners?

[Polar-Bus]

My personall opinion of "is a KX500 a good first bike" is that the answer is flat out NO.

Why? When you are a new rider, you need to learn many skills BEYOND the "bike power", such as #1 being balance, #2 being smooth clutch/throttle management, and so on. You throw a leg over a 60 hp KX500 (which I will argue does NOT like to be ridden "slow" vs. other comprable bikes). The KX500 was designed to do one thing, accelerate and maintain 80+ mph out in the desert. Sure you can ride a 500 in the woods to a certain degree of success, but if you take the same new rider, the same technical woods, and put them on a KDX200/220 or a something like a 250F MX bike, and trust me the learning curve of the rider will be greatly accelerated stemming from the relaxed power. I always say too much power can be fun some of the time, but too much power will always get you hurt in the long run.... (just my thoughts)

I've been riding for 26 years, and have owned 11 bikes thus far, and every time I throw a leg over the KX500 and hold it truly WO, I just have this scary grin on my face and think to myself, dam this thing is freakin' got a lotta' balls !!!!!!!!

[blackkx]

 what is the deal with broken legs just from starting a kx500 ? all this 500 talk has me wanting one .  i am 5'11 170lbs might be a stupid question but would i have a problem starting it? my 89kx250 along with all the other 250s ive had were no problem to start , i know thats no comparison to the mighty 500 but now im thinkin its time for a big boy .

[kawiboy63]

well im 5 10 about 160lbs im 17 i have a kx 500 conversion and there a blast to ride but they are a handful nothing like a 250  i had a bad spring in my kicker and my foot was swollen real big from kicking it until i fixed the spring and bought motocross boots i went from a 250 2 my 500 and it was a great trade

[PowerFiend]

My personall opinion of "is a KX500 a good first bike" is that the answer is flat out NO.

Why? When you are a new rider, you need to learn many skills BEYOND the "bike power", such as #1 being balance, #2 being smooth clutch/throttle management, and so on. You throw a leg over a 60 hp KX500 (which I will argue does NOT like to be ridden "slow" vs. other comprable bikes). The KX500 was designed to do one thing, accelerate and maintain 80+ mph out in the desert. Sure you can ride a 500 in the woods to a certain degree of success, but if you take the same new rider, the same technical woods, and put them on a KDX200/220 or a something like a 250F MX bike, and trust me the learning curve of the rider will be greatly accelerated stemming from the relaxed power. I always say too much power can be fun some of the time, but too much power will always get you hurt in the long run.... (just my thoughts)

I've been riding for 26 years, and have owned 11 bikes thus far, and every time I throw a leg over the KX500 and hold it truly WO, I just have this scary grin on my face and think to myself, dam this thing is freakin' got a lotta' balls !!!!!!!!

+1 ... 30+ years of riding and not enough fingers and toes to count the street and dirt bikes. 

[Johnniespeed]

My 500 starts very easy, usually second kick cold and first kick hot. So starting is a non-issue in my opinion. If you dont learn throttle control, any bike can land you into a tree, but the 500 will do it faster and with more force.
 As said before, helmets, motocross boots and other safety stuff is a must.
 John

[dsrtrider]

my friend(about 225lbs and 6ft) bought a cr500 as his first bike and hated life.  He couldnt control the throttle, fell alot and it was a pain to ride in technical stuff with him.  he was always frustrated.  he bought a crx250 with electric start and is very happy.  he is learning how to ride, building skills, and once he gets good and wants more more and has developed throttle control he will look for a more powerful bike.  i would say get a 250 two stroke as first bike (cheap, easy to maintain, plenty of power to start).  when you feel real comfortable try a 500 and see if that kind of power and riding type is for you.

[Polar-Bus]

what is the deal with broken legs just from starting a kx500 ? all this 500 talk has me wanting one .  i am 5'11 170lbs might be a stupid question but would i have a problem starting it? my 89kx250 along with all the other 250s ive had were no problem to start , i know thats no comparison to the mighty 500 but now im thinkin its time for a big boy .

The only reason a person would "break a leg" from starting a KX500 is from trying to start a KX500 with wet sneakers on.

I am 5'11" and 155 lbs, and have been kicking, and starting my KX500 for years with NO problems. However, there is a unique learning curve to starting a KX500...I have it down to about 3 or 4 kicks cold, 1 or 2 kicks hot...

[KX500freak]

like half the forum has stated their opinion by now ...

time for the TS to come around and let us know if he bought the 03 k5 ....
or did he allready ,and is so busy riding it he can,t even reply hahaha 

[fredodido]

well here is my 2 cents,

I'M 35, admy first dirt bike at 14, a rm 125. since then i ad a nu. of street and dual purpose bike.

i now have a 94 kx 500, and like every hp. of it. i have to agree it is not a beginner bike, but it is so much fun

as far as trail riding, i really like it for it. the torque make it a super nice bike to trail ride. there is no big open sand area around here (b.c. canada) just mountains and more mountains... and a lot of people are still riding those bike around here.

it is true that before the 500 i was riding a xr 650 that is 175 pounds heavier than the kx so my opinion is what it is...

but like many said, you can get hurt with any bike if you do not respect the element your playing in. but if ride the bike with respect and are smart about it (thottle), the bike will give ya lots and lots of good times.

take care.

[gangstershoes]

personally I think it's not the size of the bike but rather the respect you give it that makes all the difference in the world.  I won't let anyone ride mine without showing me that they have rode a 250 2 cycle first.  Not because I care so much about my whole 1K investment but more of the fact of not wanting to see my friend barrel roll it in first because they don't understand the bike's capability.
Just respect it and honestly when in doubt fear what it can do until you have some time to get used to how the powerband makes the bike react in different situations.  You will find that once you get a taste of the power it's hard to go back.
Even though I took my buddies KX250 out and it was a DREAM I must say.   Light, nimble and still had a power pack punch to scare ya.  lol....

[oic0]

I'm a total noob as has been established. Last weekend I took my KX500 to some technical trails with mud, ruts, roots, ditches, hills, water, etc... It really wasn't that bad. It is jetted well on the low end (Fat on top) so I just lugged it in the woods like a four stroke. It happily played along. I did kill it about 5 times but 3 of those times were when I had the clutch in staring at an obstacle trying to figure it out. The other 2 times were from just letting the revs drop down to nothing while going slow I agree it is a little heavy and not that agile, but the motor felt like an endless well of torque happy to pull me up a hill from near stall rpms. The funny part is the more I rode the bike the lighter and more maneuverable it felt. Before the day was over I was getting pretty good. I personally felt that after just a few rides with almost no previous experience, I could probably complete a hair scramble on the thing. I would probably get last but I would have a blast and probably finish (so long as there is no mud, I refuse to ever go through mud again, see below). I attribute a lot of that to my size though. I wear 34 - 34 pants and am 235 lbs. The bike fits me well. If I couldn't flat foot the thing I probably wouldn't be able to ride it at all.

 I did have an accident (my first ever) in the mud where I fell over into a mud hole (and filled my engine with mud *cry*) but that was just me trying to cross a mud hole I should never have tried on any bike. I tried to make it down a narrow edge (with 1ft deep mud) and fell over into the main hole dodging a tree.

[95formula847]

Ill put in my 2 cents since i went from a kx125 which i sold 18 months ago... to my kx5 which i got 2 months ago. When i go ride i know the entire time that i need to watch my right wrist cause this bike will whoop your a$$. Going from a 125 to a 500 def should cause you to be very cautious. But now im startin to tear around on it and gettin more comfortable.

First thing you need to buy are riding boots. They do tear your foot up if you try to start it in a any other tyoe of shoe. Especially if it doesnt start right off the bat. With riding boots its cake.

This is the first thing i have ever bought that i dont think i can ever sell to get something better. It is the best and nothing can touch it power wise.