At the moment I'm in Thailand and they are all over! From talking to shops it appears the CDI is the weakest link. That's all relative of course as many have , ,


70,000+ km on the clock!!


The really cool ones here are what they call the CRM250CR. They put the CRM engine in a more modern CR250 frame.

Some +/- (meaning just ball park accurate from my research I'm doing ) #'s comparing Honda to Honda would be:

CR250 stock:
40 rear wheel HP; average life of +/- 1,500 km before replacing rings/major tune stuff.

CRM250 stock:
30 rear wheel HP; average life of +/- 30,000 km before replacing rings/tune up stuff. Also seems to have no problem droning on at a constant speed which many 2 strokes don't like.

I point those numbers out because of course I like more power AND more reliability. But more power usually means less reliability. It would be interesting what customers would choose if manufacturers were accurate and advertised rwhp vs expected reliability and then let their customers choose what state of tune they wanted a particular engine in: IE a 2 stroke 250 w/:
50 RWHP & life span of 60 miles
40 RWHP & life span of 1000 miles
30 RWHP & life span of 20,000 miles

Personally I could live with only 30 RWHP

Since it hasn't changed much in 25 years you have to wonder if Honda or Kawasaki was trying if they couldn't have a direct inject, clean burning, 2 stroke available now that came in with a full tank of gas at 250 lbs, had 33 rear wheel hp, 75 mpg and a life expectancy of 100k miles.

At this point I'm thinking my 351 is about the coolest, semi light weight dual sport available....

 

I currently have both. A 2005 KDX and a 2007 KLX. If you will be riding a lot of off road, the pre 09 KLX is the better bike. Compared to the KDX, it's heavy and slow. If I want to be fast in the woods, I practice on my KLX and race my KDX. The KDX feels like a mountain bike after riding the KLX. The KLX front suspension is better than the KDX. I have KLX forks on mine, and they're 100 times better. The KLX is sprung light for 190 lb rider, but so is the KDX.

For reliability and road manners, you give up a few things, and weight and power is one of them. I still like my KLX a lot.

 

How do they compare specificlly in terms of suspension? My old KDX seemed pretty good for the way I ride. I dont do any big jumps, just ride trails, dirt roads and abandoned railway tracks mostly. Is the KLX any stiffer then the old KLR? I drove one years ago and it seemed almost too soft.

Also considering plating a KTM 300 EXC but im afraid the suspension is going to be too stiff. I've rode MX bikes before but wasnt impressed with the suspension for my riding. Dont want to be back in that situation again.

 

Wish the KDX was street legal here.

If I could modify the kdx with the money I spent on the klx.

Porting/head dome mod, carb, pipe silencer, suspension, the kdx would spank the klx.......and still have cash left over. Fredette racing has survived for how long?