Customer Reviews

Kawasaki Girl's K20G 20-Inch Bicycle

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My daughter is petite; so, we got her this pricey 5-speed bike with 20-inch wheels for xmas 2008. Item arrived well-packaged but with a few friction marks. I had to install the front wheel, seat, pedals, water bottle cage, and handlebar. I broke them down to these steps.
1. Front wheel looked straight but the wheel did not spin freely. I had to regrease and repack the wheel bearings.
2. Handlebars installed easily. The cables and shifters are pre-installed; I just had to loosen the adjusting bolt and the handlebar slipped into place.
3. Pedals screwed in easily.
4. Seat had to be adjusted to correct angle. The bolts are hard to get to, but hopefully, you only need to do this once.
5. Water cage is flimsy and I hate where it goes 'cause the water bottle gets dirt and grime really fast.
6. Brakes. The V-brakes are strong but I had to adjust the front brakes. I've always found cantilever and V-brakes a clumsy burdensome ordeal. These were no exception. If you don't have the patience to do it right, take the bike to a bike mechanic and get them set right the first time.
7. The travel on the brake levers was too much for my daughter's small hands. On her maiden voyage I saw her struggle to grasp the levers to come to a stop. Turning the adjustment screws all the way in was still not enough. I contacted the manufacturer and they sent me longer adjustment screws. That did the trick. So, you may want to keep an eye on your brake levers. Lever to outside of handlebar should be no more than three inches. My mtn bike and hybrid bikes are 3.5. This bike was originally set at about 3.75 - way too large a gap for a 10 year old.

Now that the bike is finely tuned, it rides great. My daughter loves it and it rides well and stops on a dime. The bike is heavy, but the extra gearing will compensate for that. Again, I only got this bike because my daughter is petite and quickly out grew a single-speed 20-inch bike, but she is not big enough to jump on a 24-inch bike. This will tie her over for a couple more years.

I ride and work on my own bikes; I have a tandem, hybrid, mountain and even a lowrider bike. I have the tools and knowledge to make all the necessary adjustments to make this bike road worthy. I feel this bike should have been put together better at the factory than in the condition I received it - I should not have had to touch the bearings and brakes. Most buyers should consider taking this bike to a qualified bike mechanic.

We found the other review written by [..] very helpful.
Our daughter is also petit for a 10 year old and there are not many 20" bikes with gears to choose from.
The next size bike 24" is way too large for her.
My husband was able to put it together without any problems.
(There wasn't much to do - put on petals, handlebar, slip on gears)
As in the other review, the brake lever is much too far away from the
handbar than it should be. It is farther away than my adult bike.
We will probably see about getting the longer screws and see if we can
close this gap.
The chain rattles in the lowest gears (1 and 2).
Daughter loves it.

I bought this bike because my child needed to be able to keep up with her older sister (especially up the hills) and the price was right.

I could have spent $300-400 at a local bike shop for something of greater quality, but, at her age (6 1/2), she is going to be rough on the bikes anyway (we have already had a couple of spills and the pedals, handlebars and gears are already a bit scraped up).

She loves the bike (of course...what 6 year old wouldn't?). The hand brake levers are a little bit of a stretch to reach, but she has done very well with them. I think having an older sister helped her fingers grow an extra 1/4 inch. I don't think we will need to modify the bike with longer screws (obtained by the manufacturer) like so many reviews have suggested.

One thing that I wasn't as confident about was the way the gears are set up. There is a bit of a 'clackety' sound made when pedaling and it seems that something (the chain?) may be rubbing. After a local bike shop told me they would tune it up for $80, I asked a neighborhood boy to take a look at all three of our bicycles for $30 and he managed to get it sounding a bit better.

The one negative thing I have to say about the bicycle is that my daughter is not really able to shift the gears on her own down to the 1st, 2nd & 3rd gears. Shifting to 4, 5 & 6 seem to be okay, but it is harder for her to shift down to the lower gears. I think this is due to the fact that she isn't strong enough. Also, The actual gear doesn't necessarily match what is displayed on the shifter...it seems to be off by one.

I asked our neighborhood boy to see if he could do anything about it, but he couldn't. So, right now, if there is a big hill coming up, we inevitably have to stop and I have to get off my bicycle and change the gear for her. I think she will be able to do this over time, but it is a bit of a negative thing right now. I'm not sure whether or not a different bicycle (i.e. a more expensive one) would be easier in this regard. I imagine it could be.

Good luck with your decision!

The bike came on time and it was easy to put the tires on, etc.
I bought a different brand for my other daughter, and comparing them, there is really no difference.
Both are heavier than I would like, but I havent found a lighter bike that has these features.
I like the expandability, raising the seat and twisting the handle bars to accommodate a growing kid.

The bike is decent and sturdy. Fits the bill for my little girl. I wish Amazon/Kawasaki sell 24 inch bikes as well. Right now, I can only find the 20 inch. Also, more color selections would be great.

#1: Speed-adjust cable is broken after three weeks since it touch the other moving parts.

#2: Speed adjustment is hard to use.

#3: The chain loose up during starting several times.

We had about three weeks and this is replacement since 1st one missing seat post.
My 8-year daughter like riding it, but I have to return it after broken speed-adjust cable.

My daughter loves this bike. It was her first "mountain bike". The price was good and we like the look of it and we were happy not to get a brand that was too common. But we've had some issues with the brake cables. And she's had to learn to put the chain on herself, because she'll be riding and the bike will just come to a stop. She has to walk it to a safe place and then fix the chain. She's pretty independent for 9years old, but otherwise - I wouldn't recommend it.

I recieved it slightly bruised (from shipping) but complete. The seat - eeeh. Material - not bad for the most part. Ease of assembly - would have been easy actually if I hadn't had to refit the whole bike. Cranks and rear wheel were so tight that you could hardly move them. Goose was loose. Brakes needed adjustments. Rear shifter needed alignment and adjustment. Once done going over the whole bike (literally) I put it on the street. I weigh in at 172lbs and it took slamming on the front brake while throwing my weight forward to the point of flipping over before the shock compressed. It is set at 200+lbs! So the bike was built for very err...uuh...gravity challenged people. Your 60lb child could hit a curb hard enough to blow the tire before the shocks gave. Other than that however - the bike is pretty good. Shifting is smooth going up but a little confused going down. It doesn't know if it is supposed to be in 4th or 3rd and gets a little jumpy. Gear ratio is ok for subtle hills and flats. No racing or off-roading. Still, all in all worth what was paid. It is as good to better than anything at WalMart.

Bought this bike for my 9 year old daughter, she was a liitle overwhelmed at first. This was here first bike with gears and handbrakes. After 2 short trips, she confident and loves it. I had no problem putting the bike together, the handbrake assembly was not very clear in the instructions. But once I figured it out, they were easy to assemble. The only dissappoinment is the location of the water bottle holder. The designers put it on the bottom side of the angled frame support. It gets dirty from the road, especially if it's wet outside. Other than that, it's a great bike for the $.