| Real Rider Tested | |
| Marty Estes | |
| Age: | 39 |
| Height: | 6’3” |
| Weight: | 210 lb |
| Ability: | Vet Intermediate |
| Location: | Westlake Village, CA |
With gobs of power and the least svelte chassis of the ’08 450s, the Kawasaki KX450F is one locomotive of a bike. With all that power and inertia, hauling the big green machine down from speed can be interesting at times. While I didn’t have any particular complaints with the stock binders, they didn’t wow me either. Braking recently supplied me with its top-of-the-line Batfly 270 rotor kit to see what kind of improvement I could feel. Retailing for $335 (not cheap), the kit includes a 270mm oversize Batfly rotor, caliper relocation bracket and CM46 Sintered Race Pads. Fit and finish is flawless, and the rotor looks wicked cool-I was excited.The total install took a speedy 30 minutes. Braking is quick to instill the importance of properly bedding the pads. Immediately, I was impressed with stopping power bordering on perfect-significantly better than the stock brake not only in overall power but also in feel. This is not a scary or grabby front brake; in fact, I found it to be better and more progressive feeling than stock Honda and KTM brakes, my favorites. I now have the confidence to leave the throttle pinned for that extra second before grabbing the brakes.Beyond price, it’s hard to find a nit to pick; the Braking kit works, and I recommend it highly to anyone looking for more power, better feel and great looks.