Just rolling the track is a chore in itself, because the bike wants to jump everything. And on a real supercross track, the jumps also want you to jump everything. I didn't want to jump anything; I just wanted to learn where the jumps were so in the event the bike did what the track requested, I wouldn't end up in the surrounding fence. The crowd had dwindled to a lone girl, and I think she was looking for a lost cat.
After about 20 minutes of playing chicken, I became used to the wicked-fast KX and began hooking up double jumps and a few combo step-on, step-off sections. Of course, I'm no judge of how well Bubba's bike really works, because I can't even come close to using it for what it was intended to do on an SX track. But I do know that it is an impressive piece of machinery. The motor barks and pulls really hard, with a flat and tractable spread that revs for a long time without signing off. I know because there was a start straight on which to figure that out.
As for the suspension, it works in a way that is hard to explain other than if you ride it really hard and hit stuff really fast, it will absorb whatever you stumble over. It seems to be extremely slow in low-speed compression but will move a little more easily when punched into the high-speed range. The rebound setup seemed similar. This keeps the bike from wallowing and allows a stiff and precise feeling when hitting jumps. Plus, it's stiff enough to overjump, flat-out land or just plain slam into things. It works; I left more case marks on jump tops at the Kawi test track than anyone. When I got the wheels on the ground, the suspension performed really well. Bottoming wasn't even an issue for me as I never got close, even with some landings that would have flattened a stock bike. Works suspension is amazing, but it is really the amount of testing time spent that ensures it is set up correctly. The rebound keeps flight trajectories low and allows Bubba to hit jump faces harder without getting flung higher into the air.
The bike doesn't really squat in turns but likes to be leaned into bowls or, with a tap of the incredibly strong rear binder, tail-slide a little and rip out of the hole. The front brake is equally impressive in strength, and there is very little dive. Everything felt tight as with a brand-new bike; that is the level at which the machinery is kept every time Stewart rides it.
My turn was up, and it was time for someone who could appreciate the bike to take a spin. Imagine for a minute you're Matt Armstrong, journeyman SX racer struggling to make the shows at the West Coast rounds, and now you're going to be riding Bubba's bike, because someone has to ride it to its potential. In his own words, here's Armstrong's impression:
"I was really surprised! Testing for Dirt Rider, we get to ride some cool bikes, but we're rarely able to ride real factory race machinery-the editor steals those opportunities. As I got out of bed early Tuesday morning, I had butterflies in my stomach; it felt as if I were headed to a race. As I neared the Kawasaki test track, I began feeling super-nervous. Then fear took over, and the questions for Test Editor Corey Neuer began: 'Dude, are we going to have the track to ourselves? Will I get fired from Dirt Rider if I wad Bubba's bike?'
"Some questions were answered before I even got out of the truck. We didn't have the track to ourselves; instead, there were several heroes burning laps. Michael Byrne, Paul Carpenter, Darcy Lange and Evan Laughridge were there, as well as a slew of mechanics. I was no longer excited, I was scared to death!