It looks like the OP used the term 'unreliable' wrong.

 

False, you were probably looking at the choke jet. I removed my pilot jet last weekend as part of the DJ kit install. I didn't have to do it but I wanted to clean the passages and be sure the carb was good. It was marked as a 35 and was down in a hole.

I have done what I can to make my KLX dependable for solo riding off-road. Of course you need rimlocks. They are cheap. Your UHD tubes were like 25$ apiece but the rimocks are less than 7$. There's a reason that our rims already have the holes drilled for the locks.