I agree. Got my 2011 klx250s for 3k. Add 1500$ of fun time (big bore, tm36-68, exhaust, etc) and I've got a killer machine that I made.

Built. Not bought

 

Quite right. There is considerable personal satisfaction in making something better, and over the years I have fiddled (occasionally successfully ) with performance mods on bikes and cars.

But in my dotage I'm much less inclined this way. I tend to put bikes in three categories nowadays, based on my experiences with different types. There are fast bikes like the Suzuki GSX1100G I had, and in retrospect the last thing that bike needed was more power. My declining reflexes were challenged enough by it in stock form -- 0-100 in under 8 seconds was good enough (though tragically slow by today's crotch rocket standards).

And then there is my current Suzuki DL650 V-Strom which will never be a hot rod, but is perfectly suitable as the Swiss Army knife of all-purpose scoots -- it does not need any improvements and would not benefit significantly from more power because its high-gas-mileage, middle-of-the-road performance suits its role and uses completely. I've farkled the hell out of it with practical additions for adventure touring but have not modded the engine at all, just an additional tooth on the countersprocket. Comfort and long-distance functionality are my goals with the Wee-Strom.

And then there is the KLX, which is not SUPPOSED to be fast or powerful, and for which mods to try to make it so represent an exercise in futility -- or the perhaps triumph of hope over reason. The best you can expect is to go from grossly underpowered to mostly underpowered. Whoopee!

But I understand the urge to do so. These are hobby machines, and if one gets fulfillment and satisfaction from fiddling with them...hey, that's the whole idea. In the end it's almost always cheaper just to buy the bike that gives you what you want in OEM trim, but what's the fun in that?

 

If you can find a ready made bike that has the attributes of a built KLX250 let me know. The problem is that there are plenty of enduro race bikes with lights like the KTMs but I do not want the price or the maintenance of those bikes.

There's also lots of play bikes with the Honda CRF250L or the TTRs or whatever but there's not a lot that offers adult levels of power with Japanese reliability that doesn't weigh a ton. For me, the 06-07 KLX can't be beat.

Since the KLX wasn't ever a hard core racer or even dirt bike you can find pretty nice used bikes that have not been beat on for short money. the other thing is that you can add features as you go along, you don't have to lay out the whole nut in one shot.

My KLX is really built for the woods. In some real performance terms there's better bikes than mine for the woods, but none that offer the practicality, the durability and the dependability of the platform is too good to pass up.

This forum also has pretty much anything you'd want to do laid out in easy step-by-step format.

If there was a bike that I could get like the KLX351 I'd buy it, but there isn't.

 

Maybe the DRz, but I have a KLX650, which is pretty much what the XR is and they weigh too much if you ride tight trails.

But for me to make my KLX250 a low buck sub 290lb bike with about 25-30 hp for less than $2500 is making something into something it is plus some.

The DRz only has displacement and horsepower over the 250, but has more weight. It will need the same suspension tricks as a KLX to gain in handling.

The 650 is just plain heavy. Like I said, I have one. Great if you don't get into tight stuff and are tall enough to keep it upright when it starts leaning.

Everything is a trade off... but my money would be on a 351 kitted KLX over the DRz in some serious off roading.

 

One of my riding friends has a 2013 WR250R that I rode for the first time last week. It's bone stock, my bike has every mod except a big bore kit. My bike feels like a tank compared to his WRR. The front end on that bike feels like a 125 mx bike, and the bike has a Very very light feeling to it. Maybe it's my 3 gal tank? But it was just about empty. I was very happy with my bike until I rode that bike. My other friend has a DRZ, and that feels like a tank compared to mine. Just sayin.

 

The Bill Blue kit pushes the KLX into another league. Stock, yes, the KLX is outdone by the WRR. The KLX has a lot of very cost effective mods in its corner.

 

Get a slip-on silencer, a DJ kit, and do the MCM.. Set er up based off my DJ140/2N/lidless formula.. Once experienced, you'll be offering to send my kids to college..

 

Yeah, the research here is solid. This is probably the smart way to go. If I were starting over, I'd probably go in this direction.

 

Like the KLX351? How about better?
Just saw a test and review of the KTM 390 in Motorcycle Consumer News.
A smidge over 40hp and 24 lb-ft of torque, 338 lbs WET, top speed 104mph, full instrumentation including gear indicator, 2.77 gal gas tank, and...wait for it...switchable ABS. Price: $4999 MSRP.

You try to get all that out of a KLX and you'll be way over that price if it were even possible. And it's not. The testers say the Katoom has enough power to safely negotiate the superslab. And they averaged 60 mpg during the test.

 

Maybe not, but you're going to spend a heck of a lot putting that 390 in a dual sport frame since they haven't built one yet.