Just got back from a weekend ride so here is a report on my 450i. This was a poker run to raise money for a trail maintenance crew. We have a small ride area in Ohio that is normally well maintained by a group of volunteers. The remnants of that last hurricane made its way to Ohio and downloaded with 2 days of gully washout rain! Everything on higher elevations was completely washed of any dirt or debris and left just jagged rock, looked more like a monster truck hill climb, and the lower levels were left with deep mud holes filled with water and all the loose gravel and dirt washed down form above. In all my years I have never rode a more demanding and rugged trail system. With only one weekend before the poker run they did not have time to repair the trails and looking at the damage the rain caused it will take them years to repair and build new trails. Anyone with a sport bike and chain drive was in serious trouble with the mud gravel mix throwing chains left and right. Without high ground clearance or the ability to get a serious running start to get thru the mud bogs caused many to end up stranded or drowned out. My 450i was able to make the whole course, however we were buried twice and had to winch out, slide sideways down a mud strewn hill and even rolled it on its side coming down another hill due to serious erosion and very deep ruts. Normally I would never attempt a trail such as this, but 12 guys with very high rock crawlers were on hand to help anyone in need, and the other 100 or so riders were very helpful in watching over all the other riders. I know I helped more than a handful of others stuck in deep mud or hung up the the large boulders exposed from the run off. One of the reasons I was able to get thru is the extra support I built to my frame for my snow plow, these added rails gave my machine enough added support to allow me to glide over many big rocks. I was amazed at how well this machine went thru some of the mud holes, yes diff lock was necessary and well used! Even my radiator was covered in mud but it did not overheat! We went home with a mud covered machine but not one crack in the plastic after all the abuse we put it thru. I had to drop the skid plates to clean all the mud/gravel out from under, when I lowered the skid plated there was a good 2" of mud laying there, causing the skids plates to bow under the weight of the mud. I am guessing 50 lbs of mud packed up under the machine, heck mabey more than that! After 3 yrs of ownership this machine impresses me more each time I use it. I would never plan on putting this machine thru this type of abuse ever again but it is very comforting to know it can do the job when needed. I could see the looks we got when we arrived, some were chuckling at the Kymco name, but at the end of the run I had had many riders coming over to tell me how impressed they were as to how well the little 450i made it thru the trails. All I can add is I was also impressed!
