When it comes to the smaller KLX, from what I've looked up in Kawasaki U.S.A. part site:

There was an air cooled twin shock KLX250 way back 1979. It was one of the off road only play/enduros and was I believe a one year wonder in the U.S. Cool swing arm though.



n 1994 there was only the KLX250R off roader that ran in that displacement up to 1996. I've seen it claimed from 93-97, but Kawasaki didn't show them in the parts list for either 93 or 97.



Apparently other countries, like New Zealand, had a street legal 94 that matched graphics with the 650s of the time. I see they cheaped out on the front forks with the standard ones versus the USD set, on the 650 they cheaped out with non-adjustable USD forks on the dual sport C versus the full adjustable on the R version.



In 1997 it went big bore to the KLX300R that has had a long run. If there are any factory dual sport 94-96 KLX250Rs they had to come from Canada or elsewhere, the U.S. Kawasaki site shows no support for them.

The first street legal dual sport KLX250 in the U.S. was the 2006 KLX250R



No idea on the KLR, but I'm thinking it ran pretty darn near from the early 80s up until recent years.

 

Try bike pics. com you might be able to dig something up.https://www.bikepics.com/

 

That's close to the 06/07 (and the newer ones for that matter) , but a bunch of small noticeable differences ,and possibly some differences that aren't easy to spot. 06 on up had electric start different tanks, shrouds, swing arm, no kick starter etc etc.

I was just thinking , maybe your bud's KLX was not originally a street legal bike? Maybe he got it titled at some point?
Dan

 

Yeah, Thumper forum sucks for these bikes. Lucky if you get 1 reply in a week over there. Seems like maybe 3 or 4 people on that sub forum with KLX250's or 300's. I always steer them here, since there's a LOT more active members.

 

thanks again for all the help and info!

We lived in Vermont, 45 minutes from the Canadian border so it's possible it was a Canadian bike if they sold the early 90's KLX 250 dual sport in Canada.

He bought the bike from the local Kawasaki dealer as a used bike. It was a plated bike when he bought it I remember the white paper temporary dealer plate on it when I first saw it. IIRC it was a year or two old when he bought it.

I'm very familiar with the KLR line. It was definitely a KLX 250. It was kick start only. It had the same speedo/tach as the early 90's KLX 250's I've seen in pic's like I posted earlier in this thread - purple gauge faces with green numbers that match the green/purple theme of the bike (that were apparently never sold in the US).

I imagine it could have been a dual sport conversion but, it seemed 100% factory to me.

I had no idea they never sold them in the US. I thought they did in the early 90's.

 

I'm betting it was Canadian. If the bike was brought across the border either in a move or on a trade odds are it wasn't a problem, new ones would be illegal to bring in. I used to have a Plymouth Caravelle, similar to the Diplomat and one of the Chryslers, I forget which. It came in through the main rent a car office and got titled. I bought it, it had 65,000 but it was kilometers, not miles, they couldn't sell it with those numbers since everyone looked at the numbers, not the speedo, thinking it was miles. It was legal and titled, no problem. I'd bet the 250 speedo was in kilometers unless they changed it out, which was possible since the KLX650 used the same set up.

The U.S. model 250 was kick start only since it did morph into the 300. The plastics were pretty much the same up to 2007. They used the same speedo and tach as my 95 650, along with the fenders, forks, headlight nacelle and the rear fender too. The Maier MX fender fit them all from the 93 KLX650 to the 2007 KLX250, same rear frame design. Kaw was good at that.

I wish my 09 had all the old plastic and the analog tach/speedo. I don't like the digital stuff. You have to actually read what is there instead of being able to glance at it and know within a few hundred rpm or mph where you were.

 

KLX650c was made in the early/mid 90s. Matches your description of your friends bike, street legal and USD forks. You sure it was a 250?

 

There was the 250 I pictured above that was near identical in appearance to the KLX650C though and it was in Canada, close enough to where the OP lived to have one migrate into the U.S. I will say the 650 is quite distinctive in size compared to the 250 so anyone who knows a bit about bikes would likely not confuse it... but suffice it to say this is all speculation on my part.

 

Not sure what market it was sold in, maybe Australia (it's possible Canada as well, as there have been a few bikes sold in Canada, and some other markets, but not the US):
Kawasaki KLX250R
Kawasaki KLX250R Reviews - ProductReview.com.au

Here's one from this forum: https://www.kawasakiforums.com/forum...klx250r-38492/

Australia popping up again: 1994 KLX250 anyone got one around this age? | Adventure Rider

 

Hi KLX678, it was absolutely a KLX250.