As you know, my klx250 is damage andi dont have the courage to rebuilt the head (i need new piston and head)

I have study a lot, asked all the motorcycle repair shops, sellers and forums.

i want a dual sport bike (not 2T), light, cabable for trail and for every day road use, with more power than the klx250s/crf250l, and no hours maintenance.

i dont want to get into modifications, i need a stock powerfull bike not even to replace the stock exhaust, this means bye-bye Wr250R, klx250s, crf250l.

So after 250cc what?

i would stay away from husqvarna, husaberg, beta, ktm. Awsome bikes but the majority of motorcycle repair shops have reasons to believe that they are not reliable as the jap bikes. I realy asked a lot of mechanics and dealers, so i am not making this out of my mind. Bye-Bye european bikes...

So this mean i have to go for kawa, suzuki, honda and yamaha.

Honda

1. crf250X: Nice bike, in paper needs a lot of maintenance but in reality, only often oil changing, oil and air filters. No valves, no piston, nothing. 30hp crank? thanks i ll pass.

2. Crf450X: Same as 250X but with a reasonable 40hp wheel power.

3. I forget the CRF 250R and 450R models. They are only for trail racers.

Yamaha

Same as honda the YZ 250F and 450F are out of the question. The Wr250R is slow (and ugly), the Wr250F and WR450F are same as the honda CRF 250X and 450X but the hondas are better for commuting. Fortunatly there isnt a "WR450R"

Kawasaki

1. For KXF 250 and 450, same as honda and yamaha mx models

2. There is the klx450R. I studied very well this bike. 40hp wheel power, and same as the cRF450X maintenace. But i believe that hondas are more reliable than kawas...

3. Klx400R has the real spirit of klx250S but with more power (about 30 wheel). Perfect at road and off road (of course not as klx450R), the engine is very reliable.

SUZUKI

DRZ400e is exact the same as klx400.

Conclusion:

If somene wants to buy a powerfull bike with the klx250S spirit there is only 2 real options:
1. KLX400/DRZ400.
2. CRF450X with dual sport tires, 2nd passanger food pegs and radiator fan

kawasaki sould real concern to produce a "klx450S" since the klx450r is much prettier than yamaha and hondas

 

Your no modification rule eliminates the Honda, so that leaves you with what pretty much everybody would suggest is the best all around dual sport bike, the DRZ400.

FYI, the earlier (pre 2010 I believe) Huskies are extremely reliable. The newer ones are/were lighter, faster and less reliable.

 

DRZ400 or XR650L.

 

I have a drz400e plated, BIG jump from the 250 imo. Same weight, 40 horsepower. It was a massive difference from my 351!

Why not an xr600r? Xr650l? Xr400r?

 

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I went from a 250s to a klx400, so much better. The 250/450x are hard on valves and require exponentially more attention than a drz-klx400, or even the 250s. The yz/wr250s and 450s have the best track record for reliability in the jap 4t mx class.

 

Where do you live, could you make a wr450f plated?

 

That is very cool, but you're right the range is very limited. 70 ft lbs of Torque

 

You already have the KLX, fix it and do the 351 and go. I had[] a DRZ but liked the KLX better.

 

One of your requirements is "every day road use", but most of the bikes you quote are not factory street legal. Where you live, you might be able to register them and use them on the road. Where I live, (since 2010 apparently) they will no longer do this - if it didn't come from the factory street legal then it never will be.

I agree with some of the other comments, if you need factory street legal and want more power than the KLX250S/WR250R/CRF250L, then the Suzuki DRZ400S one of the only options left, other than the XR650L, but it's about 50lbs heavier than the KLX250S. My son had a DRZ400S for a while and liked it.

I also would promote the option of doing the 351 kit in your KLX - otherwise what will you do with it? Sell it for parts?