I hate my PRO RMK now!

[Freeride1]

I went back up to Quebeck last weekend too ride. I never unloaded my RMK last time I went up and had a great time on my KX450 UFO. This time it was deeper with big drifts and no base so I rode the bike the first day and the sled the other two days. I had to ride my sled because the snow there is deep with no base with tons of air pockets formed by little Christmas trees that are buried under 6 feet of snow. The bike was super fun the first day but I was limited as to how gnarley a climb I could take. The Sled was better at climbing but I absolutely hate riding it everywhere else after riding my bike. The bike is so effortless to carve down packed powder roads and sidehills like a dream. You never have to fight the fall line. The sled is constantly fighting the fall line. It is only happy when it has plenty of snow and a steep side hill. The bike doesn't care. It can carve stuff the sled dreams about. It blows through ruts that upset the sled bad. I love carving up a beat up spot that is bucking sleds around. The bike just makes more sense to me. Now I just need more power. From the conversation I had with my expert motard friend I need a Honda or a KTM if I want a turbo bike to hold up. They don't ride Kawasakis much and definitely don't run Yamahas.

 

[Rush44]

Your motard friend sounds pretty brand loyal. The KX450 is the bike boondocker did a lot of research with and is what Allen from Timbersled ran as a turbo during development. While there may be some specifics as to why one motor might take to boost better than another, from a standard baseline one motor should not be moons ahead of another in terms of durability in the 450 class.

 

[Freeride1]

The issue with the Kawi is the cam chain. I have heard that from multiple sources. I have also heard from multiple sources that the Yamaha has a weak rod. The motard guys really abuse the motor with the crazy traction they get. That combined with their distaste for cush drive at high level riding they are really hard on the motors.

 

[Rush44]

The cam chain tensioner issues were for 08 and older motors from what I understand. People swapped to a manual tensioner and the issue was no longer a problem. I'm not sure if people with the newer motors from 09+ have had any issues but I haven't heard of them.

 

[prosports]

Interesting. The 5 years I raced supermoto I saw at least 6 Hondas with rod bearing problems and no Yamaha!