And I don't see why you people grumble so much about power.

The KLX had a tonne of torque to make it up some of the gigantic hills. Granted, I wasn't absolutely FLYING off the hills like if I was on a YZ450, but who the hell said that Trail Riding was a race?

This is on an, other than a set of moose bark-busters, shortened bars, and all the lights and plating removed for safety, a bone stock bike. I was keeping up with a KX500 (that's a two stroke people) just fine, but i'd imagine that if he had any space to open up the throttle, i'd have been choking on his dust.

There was also some guy with us that had a completely tricked out CRF450, but he couldn't get his bike going. I swear to god, nothing on that bike was stock. The cylinder was bored to god knows how large, and everything from the forks and carb, to the compression clickers, were aftermarket. He eventually got it started when he found out his bar mount camera was clamping down on the throttle cable (), but with all that that aftermarket **** on the bike, she overheated in no time, and ended up heading back home. Goes to show that the manufacturers can't be COMPLETELY ****less.

I will say though, that these tires are absolutely useless. I ran into at least 3 different hills, and, I **** you not, a little hump in the road, that the bike just didn't want to go over. Not because she didn't have the power, but because there was absolutely ZERO traction in that mud. And this is with my tires at like 11 PSI, I got lucky that the stems didn't shoot off like missiles!

I'm thinking that maybe the trails down here are just a little more muddier, a LOT more tighter (think, barely enough space to fit your bars), and a hell of a lot slower, than the ones you guys have on the mainland (i'm in Hawaii), so there's never really any time when all that power is actually needed.

I mean, picture this. There were two 85's two strokes with us, a CR85 that some dude from in the army was clowning around on, and my uncle's son on his YZ85, and they were completely dominating today. Not because they had more power than our bikes, but because they were so light, that when the traction ran out, these guys could push them and flick them around like BMX bikes!

If that's the case, then I think that this bike is absolutely perfect for me, considering my weight. I can't wait to get an exhaust kit and a jetting kit onto her, i'll be absolutely flying then!

First things first though, I need rim locks and some more agressive tires! How long will a set of fairly agressive tires, like the Kenda Trackmaster IIs, last if i'm doing 70/30 street/dirt? We don't hit up the trails very often, but the trails we do hit up are GNARLY, so I don't want to find out that the tires I shelled out 300 bucks for 3 months ago are absolutely useless once we actually hit up the single track.

Btw, that horn is HELLA useful for when you're lost, or when you need to call on two other guys to pull your bike out of a spot that the tires refuse to grip

Good fun, but i'm dead tired right now, and I still need to do some detailing to get all the mudd off of my seat and other random bits, tension up my chain, and then put my plate and lights back on.[:@]

 

the KLX does lack power compared to the higher performance bikes such as the CRF, but you are right in that the KLXis torquey, and she does hold her own if you have bit of riding experience.I usually ride with mate who has a KTM 525 - and yes he smokes me on the straights -but through the tighter stuff there is nothing between us. - If you want good tyres, go a set of dunlop 606's. I have a120/90 size on the rear and it is great.

 

I just got my klx250r 07', traded down from a klx400r 03'.....I find the new bike to be more unfriendly than the 400 (IMO). The 250r does need good rubber/tubes and rim locks you would be crazy to go out into the bush with out them....
Sinkoman thanks for your ride story..... did you take any pictures? and would you share them..... I love to see pix of other peoples rides...

 

300$ for tires? i got a set of 606's for like 100$......

 

I'll have to disagree with the KLX being torquey. I've gone WOT towards a hill and kept it open and the bike stall. The torque is the thing I personally complqin about.

 

Hey Will if you rode my bike you would have to change your shorts. What gear are you trying to climb the hill? Are you still running the stock gears. Our bikes are from the factory geared toward mostly pavement/gravel roads, I promise you that if you changed to the 13-45 and put a real pipe and had that thing jetted you would be impressed. And keep in mind I weigh a lot more than you do. Also remember that 2nd or 3rd at around 6-8 grand is the sweet spot.

 

I wonder if maybe the whole reason the bike feels as torquey is it does to me, lies on the sort of trails I ride.

I lost count of how many times my cooling fan kicked on while we were out there. That must say SOMETHING about thetype of riding I do

 

Check out my seat cover/ tire wear post a lil ways down and there's pics of a Trackmaster reartire after 1500 miles of probably 70/30 or 60/40 use.

 

I have to agree that unless you are riding in wide open areas the klx has plenty of power for trails. +1 on the stock tires being useless. I am running the trackmasters front and rear and are a huge improvement over stock. The road handling for them seems pretty good as well(altough I don't push the bike very hard on the street). My only wish is that that the klx would pull the front end up a little easier to get over obstacles while on the trail. I am only running a 13 tooth front sprocket and think that the 45 rear would help this a lot. So would the big bore and pumper but that is for another day.

 

The guys I ride with blast up hills so they don't stall, my KLX just grunts up the hills which is what I prefer. Bike has plenty of torque, esp once you lower the gearing a tooth and put decent tyres on.