knackered old fart - desperate to relive his youth

[newyorkergb]

hello from england

got my first kx500 6 years go - relative to my cr500 it was a massive dog. bent selectors in the gearbox and so shifted like ****  but with a home made carb spacer did have amazing mid and low range and a very soft and easy for a fatso to ride powerband.

now paid massively over the odds for my "new" bike and its a revelation - ok its not honda build quality but lots of poke   1997 kx500

but what is it with the gear change - is totally crap standard ? - both my bikes need a hard boot to change gear unlike say my (yes you are sick of this) cr500 or old crap yz250

lots of top end and over rev though - like it - even though its already put me in hospital

keep twisting      tim

[81cr450]

Did you replace your fingered  clutch basket, it dont shift if the clutch dont release

[sandblaster]

A 97 kx500 in good working order will be just as reliable and easy to ride as any CR500.
A 97 kx500 that is completely worn out and ready to blow will still kick the stuffing out of a good running cr500, but it may be a bit harder to shift 

[motopunk]

my 86 k5-engine shifts like a knife in soft butter...   ... i think you should find out all worn parts in the engine and replace them...

 in 1999 i had the big chance to testing and comparing a cr500 in stock (dont like this short powerband with this exploding-rocket-feeling)  and a cr500 with an hrc-gp-cylinder!! a diference like night and day (easier to ride and felt like a much overpowered 250)  but both bikes couldnīt top the k5-engine.the 3. bike in this test...   the k5 had always the bad luck to come with this dinosaur-like looking old ī80īs chassis around this awesome engine. thats the only thing, why more hondas than kawasakis were sold...   

[kkvslayer]

I'm not crappin on the mighty CR but I've had my 86 KX5 for 2 seasons now and have had to do nothing but gas up and change oil,Top notch reliability if you ask me due to the fact that the previous owner cared meticuously for the bike,I owned 2 CR5's before this and while I had no major issues with the one that I built from scratch myself,fresh bearings/seals,clutch basket/kit,piston,the whole nine yards.My first one a clapped out 86 was a pain in the ass,lost 5th gear,grabby clutch,blowing base gaskets,coolant leaks,over/under tourqed bolts,I guess what I'm trying to say is you obviously got a crap deal and will need to do some work to make the bike what you want or expect it to be.Personally I was skeptical when I bought my KX because of the fact that most CR riders crap on the green machine,most notably saying the KX has a weak gearbox,well 2 seasons into owning the KX and I am amazed at the reliability,the gearbox shifts like butter,I feel much more at ease heading out on long trips from town on the KX then I ever would have felt on my first CR,Now with all that said I still to this day have a bigger spot in my heart for the CR,I've got a sweet 94 roller at home just dying for a engine,I've even tried selling my KX motor to begin to be able to fund what it costs for a engine for a CR in todays market but the market for the Green machine is nowhere near what it is for the CR

[motopunk]

why you dont try to sell the complete bike?? every bike that is sold in parts is the next on the list of the reaper...

 iīve never said, that the cr500 is a bad bike, but its not build for me and my riding style    i love the bearpower-performance of the k5-engine and the feared faces of the other big-mouth-guys, never ridden bigger bikes as 125 or 250fīs. 

 sure there are also some riders, that love the performance of the cr500 more... you can only go fast on a bike that makes a good feeling by riding it...