I currently have my 2006 (351) set up for street duty. I have a 15 on it. At 65 mph it's surprising how quickly it gets to 85 mph or so when passing. When I have it set up for the dirt, the 14 goes back on. There were a couple of time when up on the Paiute Trails that I thought a 13 could have been handy, but that was mainly in slow, tight, uneven turns. the 14 overall is the best, IMHO.

These bikes do make acceptable road bikes when set up properly. I've done a combined SS1000 (1000 miles in 24 hours) and SS1500 (1500 miles in 36 hours) on mine. That being said, my KLR is my choice for street riding. It' a more relaxing ride and has more "presence".

Ron

 

That Paiute trail is awesome, isn't it. For the last two years my 2+ week annual SE Utah trips have concentrated more on the area around Hite, Lake Powell, west of Blanding, and that general area. I've been going to Utah for many years, but I had been missing some really great riding outside the Moab and Swell areas.

On gearing, I think it's nearly impossible to recommend ideal gearing for another rider unless you really know the rider, bike setup, and the terrain in which he will mainly operate. I run 13/47 gearing which is basically like the off-road-only KLX300 model. Ron runs a lot more pavement and more open dirt/jeep roads and probably has better success with his higher gearing. I'm also thinking that some who've had clutch issues on the KLX, especially after a bigger bore kit, may be experiencing that because of too tall gearing for conditions. We all have varying needs and riding conditions and even preference. My 13/47 kind of sucks for highway, but I hate highway anyway. My KLX sucked on the pavement even when it had 15/42 gearing that the previous owner had installed. I've had tons of dirt and street bikes. Dual sport bikes, especially at the smaller displacement levels like the KLX, are huge compromises. It will never cover a lot of venues of use in a highly successful manner IMO. Sounds like I'm dissatisfied with my KLX. That's not the case at all.

 

For lugging along on the open road there is no replacement for displacement. If there are lots of stops and turns I don't see how the 250 would be so horrible though. The only place the 650 really shines on power is when just cruising on wide open stuff being lazy and staying in top gear. I think I'd like the 250 with a 351 better on the twistier stuff, not sure on a four lane though. Nothing is fun there.

I just rode my first ride on a KLX250, my brother just bought one that was near me. I rode it to check it out - too briefly - then paid for it and will deliver it in a few weeks to my brother. It felt light and perfect for back roading. But this is beside the point.

I can tell you a 650 is the ticket for highway, but not so much for off road stuff if it is tight and tricky and/or if you are smaller as I am. I am considering making my KLX650 a supermoto for the road, sell the Zephyr and buy a KLX250. After the spin on the one my brother bought (will pay me for) I am convinced this is a good idea. I ride the 650 harder on the road than I do the 550, it's just more fun and physically easier for me (old knees). I liked the light feel of the 250 and think it would get me back off road a bit along with more confident goofing off on the dirt/gravel roads. I think it would be way more fun and confidence inspiring when sideways on gravel versus the 650.

I will back the guys saying to let the little bike rev. The 650 red lines at about 8000 and is doing about 4000 at about 100 kph, so doing 6000 on the 250 isn't too bad. I certainly wouldn't be afraid of it. No worse than a Ninja 250/300. Those engines can take it no problem. My brother sold off his NX650 to go to a Honda 230 for more off road, now his kid is going to take it and he's going with the KLX250. I'm seeing the light there... small bike for the handling, get used to the revs. Main reason for keeping the 650 - it has 45,000 miles making it not so good for resale and besides they look cool with 17s and look good in general.

 

Well said.

Ron

 

On the street with the KLX I usually find myself shifting up maybe around 5000 rpm in casual situations. Once I get in top gear, I pretty much ignore the rpms and go the speed limit.

In the desert (cruising), generally my rpms are around 4,000 to 5,000 matching the transmission to those rpms. That gives plenty of power for normal contingencies and plenty of room for acceleration.

I guess that's all a matter of preference, though. I like to generally be at the bottom of the power band so that acceleration will be immediate when desired without having to shift. Others like to keep the rpm in the upper reaches to be at maximum power.

Ron

 

I had it in my mind that I wanted a 650 but after reading the above and deciding how much I like the 250, I am glad stumbled upon it when I did.

 

I am kind of anxious to get a chance to ride my brother's to see what it is like on a bit more extended riding. I was really impressed with the extremely light feel of the bike, almost bicycle like when compared to the 650.

 

I think the 250 vs 650 weight isn't as comparable as people like to say. Lets say realistically the klx250s with pipe and p pegs removed etc. is 300 wet. A stock xr650l weight 340ish, replace the 10 lbs of exhaust, the 3 lb smog pump, passanger pegs, helmet lock, etc as you would for the klx. Same amount in the gas tank, the xr650l will weigh I'd say 320 pessimistically, 310 optimistically. That's a 20 lb difference.

Now where the weigh is, is the key. If all the mass is high the bike will fell much heavier than when it's down low, that's why when you sit some middle weight cruisers you're like "damn this thing is light!"

The next thing to calculate is the power to weight ratio. Klx 24hp/300lbs with standard mods. 12 lbs per horsepower

Xr650l 38hp/320lbs with standard mods 8 lbs per horsepower

That being said, the klx will ALWAYS be better in the tight single track, always. The 650 will ALWAYS be better on the road, however, if like me, you do wide open desert and have no woods in sight, the klx makes little sense outside of grocery store runs.

 

Matt.. I think you transposed the numbers... how bout 8lbs per Hp for the 650 and 12 to 1 for the 250 ??

 

I'm all confuzzled now...The 650 has more power per lb than the 250. Yes I mixed up the numbers. I did 38hp/320 lbs to get .11 and the 24hp/300lbs to get .8