2019 Kawasaki KX450 Dyno

The 2019 Kawasaki KX450 has a starting suggested retail price of $9,299 and is available in green. Powering this Japanese motorcycle is a liquid-cooled, DOHC, four-valve, 449cc four-stroke engine. We ran the KX450 on our rear-wheel dyno to determine peak output from Kawasaki’s flagship motocross bike. We documented 52.63 hp at 9,480 rpm and 32.80 pound-feet of torque at 6,730 rpm.

The 2019 model marks the beginning of Kawasaki’s newest generation of what was previously known as the KX450F. However, the Japanese manufacturer has dropped the “F” from its naming convention as it only produces four-stroke motocross bikes. In addition to the chassis and suspension, the engine on the KX450 is completely new, and features electric start and a hydraulic clutch. The valve train uses designs from Kawasaki’s World Superbike engineers with finger-follower actuation, larger-diameter titanium valves, and more aggressive cam profiles. Additional new components are the 44mm throttle body, downdraft-style intake routing, engine cases, bridged-box piston, header pipe, shift drum, and shift fork.

"The 2019 KX450 engine retains the previous generation's already-good power delivery type and improved upon it with noticeably more power in each part of the rpm range." —Andrew Oldar