The other day was my first true highway riding and as I had the little KLX screaming along at around 70mph (75 indicated) for about 15 miles in one stretch, I wondered had long can this little bike take it-sustaining rpm around 8K. How about you guys- what is the longest/furthest you have sustained highway speeds without a break? Any problems?

 

I do 60 mile round trip commutes. Half of it in a 65mph zone. I keep the bike at about 7000pm much of the way with no problems. I have 6580 miles on the bike and most of those miles were high RPM miles. The first valve check for the bike came within spec at the lower end. With my KLX the RPM and speedo match up. If I'm at 6000rpm then I'm doing roughly 60mph. If I'm at 7000rpm then I'm at roughly 70mph, so on and so forth.

All in all, my KLX is holding up great under highway speeds. I use it mostly as a commuter bike. With some exploration mixed in. It's not my primary dirt bike.

8000rpm's though is pushing the bike to its limits. I'd try not to keep that sustained for too long. But the bike is generally well equipped for high rpm's. It certainly sucks at low rpm's.
Clankety, clankety clank is all you'll hear below 4000.

Mike

 

Yeah..if your cam chain is out of adjustment




I think the best question here isn't what your speed indicated, true speed, or any of that is...but sustained RPM's in 6th gear.

I've never held any 1 set RPM for more than several minutes, so I couldn't say.

 

Well then my cam chain was out of adjustment straight from the factory.

Mike

 

from my experience this motor is bullet proof.. once its broken in i doubt sustained RPM's will hurt it (within reason) as long as you keep the oil changed.

 

I did 700 miles that way in 3 days, and that's with the 13-45 combination. Stock I think these bikes could run to NY and back with no problem. But the higher rpm's will in all honesty shorten the life span of this little motor. I usually ride at 60 indicated which is really about 56mph, and its running right at 7,000 rpm's. The bike sounds fine, but really if nobody is right behind me I usually back it off a little, I mean I'm never in a hurry to get somewhere and besides, enjoying the scenery is half of the fun.

 

I agree deej. If there isn't traffic runnin up your butt 60mph is perfect cruisin speed, anything above that and a little wind this bike can be a handful. I did find myself wishing I had a louder pipe in heavy traffic! The OPEN road is the next best thing to the OPEN trail!

 

I run mine at peak power through a full tank of gas, downshifting to keep it pulling up hills and headwinds. Then fuel up and do it again, day after day. Check your valves now and again, check your oil, and the bike will take it, no problem. If you have aftermarket stuff in your motor, use a little more care. Like I said in another post, it overheated in Death Valley so I slowed down. If it detonates, back off. I always use premium because my other bike needs it and it's a habit. Will it wear out quicker if you run High RPM constantly? I am sure it will although I haven't seen any actual data.

 

Of course, a bike that runs it's life at an average of 7000 rpm's, isn't going to last like a bike that was used at an average of 5000 rpm's.
But, this bike seems to be able to handle the high rpm's pretty good. Personally, if I was to use the bike for a commuter, I would be looking heavily at the 331, or 350 bore kits, and then drop the gears to something like 15/42. That would drop the rpm's to a nice cruising level, and with the extra power should pull it.