KRX 1000

[dwaynerowland]

I have noticed through several of the ride reports that there are several members of the club that have the KRX1000. Any regrets? I am getting serious about finally getting rid of my old Jagged X and going back to a 2 seater. It seems like you get the best quality machine for the money spent with the KRX and with my style of riding I don't really "need" a turbo, although I am sure it would be fun. Just wanted to get real world feedback from those of you who have them and have put miles on them.

[Randy_R]

Lonnie, Paul, and Ken have KRXs. They seem to do great.

They will need to give feedback. Only issue I’ve heard is popping out of gear on downhills. Minor stuff.

[Allen S]

Another great ride out of Justice Wv. Clayton said best ride he has been on yet. Ps. X3 radiator had no mud in it whatsoever.😀😀😀

[Lonnie W]

I have not had mine very long and have only been on 3 rides with it but so far no issue's at all, Ken say's his will pop out of gear but mine has not as of yet, also the tender springs are known too collapse but mine has not as of yet either. The difference in the KRX and my Wild Cat XX is night and day. The XX was just flat out fast and you had to spool it up when taking off and then back off to your running speed but the KRX is so smooth it is unreal. The ride is fantastic and handles really well, I will say it is a crawler, this past weekend I was surprised at how easy it will climb over anything or through it. If speed is what your looking for the KRX is probably not what you want but if being able to go most any where with ease this machine has impressed me the most.

[dwaynerowland]

Thanks Lonnie. Speed is definitely not a major concern for me.

[Randy_R]

Speed is not an issue on any sport sxs. All are over 100hp.

[Ken K]

I really like mine but only have about 1000 miles on it so jury is still out on how reliable it’s going to be.

Very comfortable ride ( I have the “es” and love it), tons of cab room (tall guys love it). Tenders will sag and need to be replaced, they all do. Popping out of gear is a widely reported issue, mine seems to be doing it more and more as miles go up. Story is that Kawasaki knows about it and is working on a fix.

Clutch, belts,weights are also commonly reported to be an issue although I haven’t had that problem yet, but kind of expect it at some point.

Overall build quality is very good, over built in many respects. Plenty of power for a trail machine but it definitely won’t win any races and there are times when it can feel a bit under powered, mostly at high speeds. Won’t run more than 62 or so which is fine most of the time but there are times when it might be nice to have a little more juice under the skinny peddle.

Currently if asked I’d say I’m very happy and would buy it again but will admit the transmission popping out of gear is concerning. How Kawasaki winds up handling it might change my mind… time will tell.

[paul65]

Ken and Lonnie are spot on. I've had mine since January and I tell anyone that asks: I have zero regrets about my choice of machine. It has the best suspension and clutching right now while simultaneously it is widely stated to be heavy and under-powered. I don't need as much power as it has now with the way I ride.



I bought the KRX for West Virginia where it shines. But on my local trails, here’s what I can say. The KRX is superb at rock crawling which makes it superb at low speed woods riding on tight technical trails up and down hills through creek crossings. It’s just bigger than smaller machines so the chainsaw has to be employed sometimes.



BUT - Ken's right about the highway speed limitations, and it takes a while to get to that (lower) top speed. People say a tuner & exhaust & clutch weights help with that, but I will not do anything to my engine or exhaust, personal decision. As for trail riding it's an amazing machine and I couldn't ask for more.



The KRX is heavy because its way overbuilt. See this:

If you or someone you are showing it to gets bored, skip to the 10:15 mark, cracks me up every time.



CVT design is like a Yamaha, there is a wet clutch. The belt stays in constant tension (contact) with both sheaves. When you accelerate the wet clutch engages and you take off.



Here's what I can tell you about the negatives. If I miss something, ask away.



CLUTCH WEIGHTS AND GROOVING OF THE SHEAVES

I put 59-pound 35" XTR 370's on at 120 miles - with stock clutch weights - and now have over 1500 miles on that combination. I have a thread at KRXforum.com detailing my clutch weight wear. So clutch weight wear depends on how you ride. I believe the clutch weights wear out much quicker if you are running over 50mph for long periods of time.

www.krxforum.com/threads/paul65-on-35s-and-first-belt-service-at-1600-miles.3471/unread



POPPING OUT OF GEAR

Happens to a few. Has not happened to me. Some resolved by adjusting the shift linkage at the tranny. There's several threads about popping out of gear on KRXforum.com, search for "popping out of gear". Mine has not done that.



GAS GAUGE

Sucks. The gas gauge is very unreliable in that it will tell you it's empty and then when you top off it takes 5 gallons on a 10+ gallon fuel cell. Kawasaki never wants you to run out of fuel as it will kill the engine. So what most people do is set their trip meter to zero and at 100 miles you better fill it back up. (I carry a 2.5 gallon Rotopax with me.) The KRX fuel tank straddles the driveshaft with the pickup on the passenger side. Some say to turn left on a hill to push the fuel over the hump towards the pickup. Jake has a video on adjusting the linkage to make it more sensitive, it's on my list to do this week:



The rollover valve you will hear about, didn't do anything for me, but not expensive and an easy mod.



FUEL RAIL

The way I drive it's not important but there is an issue being claimed. The fuel rail that services both cylinders has the fuel input on one end and the #2 cylinder furthest away can be starved for fuel causing a lean condition that hurts things. Probably matters to someone with a tune (I won't mod my engine with a tune).



SPRING SAGGING

Everyone complains about this and losing ground height. They claim the solution is a $300 set of new tender springs. I have not had this issue. My dealer adjusted my springs at 140 miles and I'm pretty jacked up. When you look at the rear of my machine my A-Arms are angled up while most other KRX's are level. I have 18" of ground clearance front and rear on the 35's.



SPRING CLUNK NOISE

Pretty much every time you hit a sharp bump you will hear this. Guys are cutting off the gaskets of oil filters and putting them between the springs, I think where the tender spring encounters the long spring. Shock Therapy sells rubber things. This clunk doesn't bother me so I'm not doing anything.



NOISY

First thing I noticed is how noisy the KRX is. This is my first sport side by side. My Wolverine X2 has a NOAM stereo but I immediately decided to not put a soundbar on the KRX. Heck, you'd get hearing damage without a soundbar! Seriously the decibel level over time is in the critical areas for hearing loss. I wear a set of 3M Worktunes headphones that protect my ears and bluetooth to my phone for tunes. Obviously the serious TTB guys have radio headsets.



DIFFICULT TO CHANGE GEARS

Mine does this sometimes when cranking up but it has done it on the trail. Caused by a high idle which keeps the wet clutch engaged. Just turn the engine off to shift gears, you’ll get where you need to go. Mine is usually resolved by tapping the throttle to rev the engine in neutral to 5-7k rpms, and then the idle will go down to normal, around 1250 – 1300.

[paul65]

IF you don't want to hear from me then never ask a question about my machine again. LOL To me, a significant part of the hobby is talking about and working on the machines. 

I'll add now that the machine is super easy to work on compared to my Wolverine X2. The CVT cover is accessible without doing anything. That's good as its a good idea to remove the cover and blow the dust out regularly. I do mine every 200-250 miles or after every big ride. DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN the CVT cover bolts and DO USE anti-seize on the threads.

The machine is high off the ground (18" of ground clearance) compared to my X2 so I had to invest in a way to pull wheels. I build a pad of 4" cap blocks (solid cement blocks) and then use two of these:
www.etrailer.com/Automotive-Tools/Powerbuilt/ALL620471.html

Once off the ground and ready for brake pads or just caliper cleaning, I am still amazed at how easy the KRX is to work on. The X2 brake pads are much more involved. This is one of the best videos on KRX brake pads:

[dwaynerowland]

Thanks for the responses. I just bought one from a guy in Danville. Heading to WV this Wednesday evening to ride Thursday and Friday, will probably get rained on quite a bit. I don't think I will mind the speed at all, my RZR stays in low range most of the time unless we are on roads. I have ridden it around the house some and really like how smooth the clutch is for slow speed crawling, just like my old Grizzly. I like the fact that it seems built very well, I can put larger tires on it and not feel like I am going to break stuff all the time.

My RZR only has 29" bighorns on it and I am always replacing wheel bearings and I ended up putting expensive RCV adjustable ball joints on it because the factory ones were garbage. Now one of the RCVs needs to be replaced before I sell it.

[Randy_R]

Post some pics!

[dwaynerowland]

Here you go. I made a windshield and fender flares for the front of it over the past couple of days. The windshield turned out great but it's temporary. It is not scratch resistant at all but it will get me by for a ride or two. The first thing I am going to do to it when I get back from this ride is take the stupid whip lights off of it, I hate those things, and I'll probably take the speakers out as well because I'll most likely never use them.

Attachments:

[Randy_R]

Can’t see pics but sounds good.

[paul65]

Pics came through for me on a PC, great looking machine! Love the KQR premium roof in green! I added velcro to mine where I can pop in a piece of black plastic to cover the sun roof in the summer. The sun kills my view of the tablet which is mounted up high. I used the same black plastic your front flares are made out of. It's removable.

Just in case you are interested I have the SuperATV bed enclosure for sale, I have it listed at $125 but I'll take $110.  [SOLD]

Have fun with your new machine!

[dwaynerowland]

Rode the KRX for two days in WV and couldn't be happier with it. Only complaint I have is the headlights aren't the best but a light bar will fix that. I have absolutely no issues with the power. I have never ridden a turbo machine so I have never gotten use to higher horsepower. Coming from the Jagged X this thing rides amazing. I met a couple of trailblazers for a quick second on the trail as well, Larry and David. I spoke to David for a second in passing but not sure he remembered me, it has probably been 15 years since I rode with any of you. It was before the RZR existed!

[paul65]

Great news! I need to get up to Hilltop and connect with everyone again. Those mountains are calling!