Hello all!

Been a long since I rode dirt bike. Had 80cc bikes as a kid that we played around on but that faded away once I got my driver's license. Been playing offroad with Jeeps and quads 15yrs+ and now in my 40s I'm getting into dirt bikes. Decided to go with a dual sport as I wasn't sure how hardcore off road I may get. Have some friends(younger) that ride pretty hard offroad(Way out of my league). I got the KLX250 as it seemed more geared towards dirt than the other options and most importantly was in my price range.

So I've picked up a fairly well used 2007 KLX250. Looks like and it was crashed hard on driver's side(lights broke, plastic scuffed) and the throttle was sticky. Also it was stored in a barn and horses got at it and chewed the seat up.

The moose bars that were on it seemed to be too small as they wouldn't go around the brake/clutch levers so these were angled way down. ??? This seemed really uncomfortable so I removed the moose bars and rotated the levers up and played with the throttle mounting so now its not sticking anymore. Cables were fine, seems like something in the housing.

I ordered and installed a new seat foam and cover from CEET as well as a 13tooth front sprocket. Still waiting on the dynojet kit and float needle to arrive. Anything else I should replace while in the carb considering its high mileage?

When putting the seat on I noticed the rear shock seems to have a valve to adjust dampening. Any suggestions on setting up the rear shock? I did some light dirt riding with it and it seemed good but I think my 220# did bottom it out twice.

Exhaust- I want to keep it as quiet as possible. Who makes the quietest aftermarket exhaust? What can be done to the stock exhaust? So far I've drilled a 1/2" in the last plate.

I broke the glass on the speedo on my first ride(back tire skidded in mud and smacked tree), is this happen a lot or just a fluke? I was trying to talk my buddy into a dual sport and he immediately zeroed in on that and the signal lights as a reason not to.

 

You can get different signals that are less susceptible to breakage. Never heard of breaking the speedo glass.

FMF Q4 with quiet core is the quietest aftermarket slipon that I'm aware of. Drilling out the stock one does nothing for performance except perhaps destroying the spark arrestor, which isn't a good thing.

At 220#, you're about 60# more than the bike was designed for and you may be wise to look for correct shock and fork springs. The shock has compression and rebound adjustment. Start with the stock settings and adjust from there.

What are these moose bars? Handle bars or hand guards?

Congrats on finding an '07 out there and bringing it back from the barn.

 

The 06-07 can be made into quite capable off road bikes.

You say the bike has high mileage but don't mention the number of miles. Whatever your bike has for miles, my guess is that it's not a high mileage bike. The KLX has durability in spades.

Klxster has endless suggestions for jetting a KLX, all good.

KLX250S Home Page I used this page a lot when my KLX was new to me, lots of the basics there for the 06-07 bikes.

The FAQ is useful too. https://www.kawasakiforums.com/forum...q-links-30733/

 

Adjust your air pressure to about 15 psi rear and 17 psi front, helps with ride and handling, I'm the same size as you

 

I am also new to the site,but have read the posts many times and did the dynojet stage 2 woke up the bike a bit did 124 jet and removed snorkel, accelerates up hills it just hold speed before. And I am at sea level

 

Oh yeah, 2 3/4 turns out on mixture screw

 

Off road riders crash. All of them. It isn't the KLX, it's the combination of rider, mud, and tire. Even with all of them being near perfect it can still happen.

Still, in the long run your broken parts would probably be cheaper than the possible fine for riding and unlicensed bike on the road.

 

If you like peace and quiet, keep the stock pipe.

Yea, at your wt, you will need to have the forks done & a shock spring for sure.

 

A good option for quietness would be the KLX300R exhaust system.. You'll need both the header and the muffler. Then put an Ebay end cap on the muffler. This would allow a powerful increase in performance with stage 1 or 2 carb setups, or maximum performance with a lidless setup.

 

Thanks for the replies everyone. I typed up a reply last night on my phone and got logged out when I hit post. Grrrr! We'll see if I have better luck on the laptop.

You are right about it not being "high mileage". I should have said well used/abused. The bike runs well(for stock) and only shows 800km on the odo. I don't think thats correct though(maybe the speedo unit got replaced?) as the bike shows a lot of wear and tear. The fuel lines were rotted out, plastics are faded, seat chewed by a horse..... But what really got my attention is when I pulled the throttle tube off to address the sticking throttle I found a lot of wear in on the internal plastic pieces and a fairly deep groove worn into the handle bars where the tube rides. I smoothed out the ridge with emery cloth and cleaned/lubed the throttle cam housing. Its working well now but when I reassembled it if I tightened both screws down evenly then the throttle would stick. In the end I left the bottom screw a bit loose. Its working good but I'm guessing the whole unit may need replacing at some point. I did check the cables and they move freely on their own.

Moose bars are a brand name of hand guards that most of my friends run and so have got me into the habit of calling all hand guards, moose guards, my bad....

OUCH! 60# over weight for the stock set up eh? I'll have to look at that. I've been reading up about setting the sag and will start there.

I have the read most of the FAQs(here and on other sites) and will be re-reading the ones addressing carb mods while waiting for my DJ2206. Any suggestions on where to start? At 3500-4500 feet altitude, running stock exhaust but with the lid sitting on a dusty shelf I'm guessing either the 124 or 128 main jet. No idea on the clip position though. I have a new float needle coming as well. Anything else I should look at when the carb is out?

I looked at stock KLX300 exhausts on ebay and with exchange and shipping to Canada and they are over 2/3rds the cost of a slip on. I'll keep an eye out for a set sold locally but will probably end up with a slip on eventually.

Thanks!