Kiwi Enginuity

KIWI ENGINUITY

IF YOU HAVE A GOOD idea, half-a-million dollars and three years, you could be on your way to starting a motorcycle company. That is what it took Mike Hodgkinson to establish FX Bikes (www.fxbikes. com), an innovative motorcycle com-

pany based in New Zealand. Working from the basic idea of putting a smalldisplacement gas engine in a mountainbike frame, Hodgkinson’s Kiwi team designed and developed the FX Adventure, a lightweight allterrain dirtbike.

The execution was quite simple: An FXdesigned frame surrounds a Honda-style CRF50 (or larger) engine, then that combo is littered with heavy-duty mountain-bike components. The result is a light, nimble go-anywhere motorcycle. Well, it’s not go-anywhere like a KTM Adventure, but you could probably strap one on the back of a 950 and offload it to ride when the trails got really tight... And hey, it would actually fit on the back of a car with a bicycle rack! Two frame options are avail-

able: a titanium model (just 99 pounds) or a chromemoly steel model (121 lbs.). Engine size ranges from 50 to 124cc.

We had a chance to ride the high-line, ultra-light, titanium-framed bike with a 124cc powerplant. On the trail, the size and slimness are very bicycle-like, but with a long and comfy seat. It is perfect for cutting through uncharted territory, light enough to lift over fences, fast enough to keep you smiling and just big enough for real trail rides. At 100 pounds, this skinny machine is more playbike than dirtbike. Still, the FX is more than just a mountain bike with a motor, and the combination of modest horsepower and light weight are easy on the environment.

The Ti model goes for $11,120, so you might want to opt for the $6225 chrome-moly Adventure, which is set for limited production of 110 units worldwide and should be available by the time you read this. Even better, though, is that 2007 is just around the comer and plans include an entrylevel FX with a more reasonable price tag of $3995. -Ryan Dudek