first ride on the KX5 today, corral canyon

[BronkoRob]

yup......IM HOOKED!  went to corral canyon today near san diego.  lots a trails, and some tight single track and had a blast!  wasnt sure what to expect in those conditions, and it was the first time riding the bike, other than around the neighborhood.  it pulled great, , never had plug issues, never had any stalling issues, ran a gear high and it muscled up everything with ease.  im coming off a 250f which i considered fairly nimble and easy to ride, but the 500 seemed fairly easy to ride also.  i was surprised out how easy it was.  very impressed!  i cant wait to take it back out there.  bottom line, i dont think this will be a bike i get rid of anytime soon.  glad to be back on a 2 stroke also, forgot how fun it was to get in the pipe and take off!  only issue i had was, hard clutch pull got to me after a few hours, and when i shut down to wait for buddies to show up, i was in some awkward terrain and slightly off balance so kicking was interesting.  usually just got off the bike and kicked with my left foot.  so on the list of stuff to do is a compression release and somehow lighten the clutch pull.   

[Motorrad]

yup......IM HOOKED!  went to corral canyon today near san diego.  lots a trails, and some tight single track and had a blast!  wasnt sure what to expect in those conditions, and it was the first time riding the bike, other than around the neighborhood.  it pulled great, , never had plug issues, never had any stalling issues, ran a gear high and it muscled up everything with ease.  im coming off a 250f which i considered fairly nimble and easy to ride, but the 500 seemed fairly easy to ride also.  i was surprised out how easy it was.  very impressed!  i cant wait to take it back out there.  bottom line, i dont think this will be a bike i get rid of anytime soon.  glad to be back on a 2 stroke also, forgot how fun it was to get in the pipe and take off!  only issue i had was, hard clutch pull got to me after a few hours, and when i shut down to wait for buddies to show up, i was in some awkward terrain and slightly off balance so kicking was interesting.  usually just got off the bike and kicked with my left foot.  so on the list of stuff to do is a compression release and somehow lighten the clutch pull.   

Crap dude... thats up the street from me...    Should have warned me... I would have met up with ya...

I know all the nifty places to ride at corral.....

[Motorrad]

yup......IM HOOKED!  went to corral canyon today near san diego.  lots a trails, and some tight single track and had a blast!  wasnt sure what to expect in those conditions, and it was the first time riding the bike, other than around the neighborhood.  it pulled great, , never had plug issues, never had any stalling issues, ran a gear high and it muscled up everything with ease.  im coming off a 250f which i considered fairly nimble and easy to ride, but the 500 seemed fairly easy to ride also.  i was surprised out how easy it was.  very impressed!  i cant wait to take it back out there.  bottom line, i dont think this will be a bike i get rid of anytime soon.  glad to be back on a 2 stroke also, forgot how fun it was to get in the pipe and take off!  only issue i had was, hard clutch pull got to me after a few hours, and when i shut down to wait for buddies to show up, i was in some awkward terrain and slightly off balance so kicking was interesting.  usually just got off the bike and kicked with my left foot.  so on the list of stuff to do is a compression release and somehow lighten the clutch pull.   

Comp release is easy.... just send off to larry...   Mine kicks like a 250...  and Im up at 14:1 compression....

there are several fix's for the clutch.... just search... (honda perch, MSR lever... etc)

[Motorrad]

Oh.. and if your in a hurry...  I may have a comp release head you can use / Borrow while yours is off visiting larry  

[BronkoRob]

it was a short notice ride.  ive been slowly getting a friend of mined hooked on riding bikes, and it was all short notice.  im sure it would have been fairly boring and slow going with us.  i havent been on a 2 stroke in a while,let alone this one, and forgot how different they are.  my buddy was riding my 250f and it was his first time on a bike in the dirt.  so i was learning how to ride the 500 and he was just learning to ride period.  
im trying to go back out next week, either tuesday, thursday, or friday morning.  those are my days off, friday i work nights.  i will let you know when i do go out.  otherwise, if you ever get an urge to do a weekday day on any of those days let me know.  im just in oceanside, an ready to ride.

[1989kawasaki]

about the clutch pull, get the MSR pro raptor.

here is my review in the review section


http://www.kxriders.com/forums/index.php/topic,9257.0.html

[alward25]

I just put on an ASV C6 clutch perch assy and it is very nice.  The action very smooth and the pull is not too bad for the woods.  It did not feel much difference between my MSR pro raptor and the ASV.  The ASV has a better on the fly adjustment.

[1989kawasaki]

I just put on an ASV C6 clutch perch assy and it is very nice.  The action very smooth and the pull is not too bad for the woods.  It did not feel much difference between my MSR pro raptor and the ASV.  The ASV has a better on the fly adjustment.

ya but if Rob is tight on money and doesnt want to spend over $100 on asv, then he can get a msr for $50

[BronkoRob]

right on kawasaki1989, i am on a budget.  just got out of the military a few months ago and doing the starving student thing for a little while..lol  i just rerouted the cable as mentioned on some older posts.  maybe a slight difference in pull, but im going to run that next week and see if it helps in the long run.  after that i probably splurge for the MSR pro raptor if i need it.  I had a 94 ATK 605 a few years ago, also has a serious clutch pull and it had an msr ez pull lever on it and it helped quite a bit.  it was an older model MSR but the same principal as the raptor.  so we will see.  also just scored a used DEVOL skid plate on fleabay for pretty cheap.  so there goes my bike fund for the week..lol  not poor and not rich, just like to get bargins and used if i can here and there, unless it comes to engine parts.
now i just got to sell my 250f and than i will have some fun with new parts