Just got back from the 2 weeks plus riding and camping in Colorado...and a couple of days in NM too. I got to meet up with a lot of old acquaintances, meet some new ones, and do some great riding at the Westfest event in Buena Vista, CO. However, it could have been called "Orangefest" due to the wild majority of KTMs in the group...and all over the state after the event. KTM sure seems to rule the trail riding in CO. No surprise, really.

The KLX was great as always. It performed flawlessly and never let me down. There were two mods for the trip that I want to comment on. Most of you know that I have the stock KLX 300 cylinder on my 250 along with the 36mm pumper carb. This was my first really high altitude trip with the pumper carb, and I was a bit concerned. CV carbs have always served me well with their inherent ability to compensate a bit for altitude on my DS bikes.

Anyway, I dropped one step leaner on the main jet and left my other settings as is. I noticed immediately on my first ride that my jetting was rich in the middle, so I dropped the needle from the 3rd notch to the 2nd from the top. Bingo...the response was crisp and clean from idle to WOT. The bike pulled great on all the rides. There was the inevitable slight loss of overall power at the extreme altitudes, but even there it did great.

Now, my real surprise came at fuel fill-ups. The worst mileage I got on any ride was 65 mpg. Now, these rides of this type aren't the unload the bike at the trailhead, ride *****-to-the-wall 100% of the time, and then load the bike up and go home or back to camp. Some of the getting to the main part of the trail just involves cruising to get there. You ride like a madman for quite a few miles, and then head back to camp. Still, I found 65 mpg to be amazing. My bike has a calibrated Vapor instrument panel with a GPS corrected speedo/odo. Many of these rides were over 100 miles, so I had good mileage representations. I had one tank where I got 72 mpg. I don't know...I've never really been disappointed with the mileage on this bike, CV carb or pumper, but I was blown away with the results on this trip. I guarantee that I thrashed the engine quite harshly on some of these rides and still got this kind of mileage. Well, it's not like landing a man on the moon or such, but the mileage really impressed me.

The other mod for this trip was to add a manual fan switch. The KLX isn't an overheating bike by its nature at all, but with the Vapor instrument panel you get to see an exact digital temp readout at all times. I have mine set to show a yellow light at 200 degrees. At that point I can flip the switch on the fan in a slow, grinding, hard riding condition to keep the temp at what I feel is a reasonable operating temp. Turning the fan on is impressively effective under any condition to bring down the temp quite quickly...and I mean quickly. It's good, effective, cheap insurance, and I really liked the control it gave to moderate temps.

 

Nice report TNC.

My TM36-68 jets are on back order and won't have them for another week or so. Hope to have had them soon enough for the Labor Day weekend ride up to that place that looks like Mars (remember last year's pics?). Nice going with tuning there. Very impressive.

Also plan on the manual fan switch mod. With the thermobob installed, I figure this is kind of a no-brainer. There shouldn't be much of a chance of running too cool even if the fan was left on too long, eh?

Looking forward to some pics.

 

Scott, I bet I didn't take but a dozen or so pics on this trip. I'm just not into taking that many pics anymore. It's just more fun to enjoy the ride and not mess with photos. I don't get tired of the riding and camping on these trips, but the pics seem to end up being the same old thing. Oh well.

No, I don't think you can cool the engine too much with the fan. However, I wouldn't try running it excessively just from a fan life perspective. It doesn't need to be used that much, but when you're grinding up a steep, long ascent on some of those climbs in CO, it's nice to see the water temp stay at a reasonable level.

 

Hello,
I installed a 34 mm pumper carb on my 250 and so far love it. I live at 6200 and bill blue gave me a 137.5 main and told me to try the 40 pilot that was already installed. It runs great. At the end of September I'm going to ride from San Francisco back to Tahoe where I live. Most of the ride will be dirt. I'm hoping the carb will handle the elevation changes. I'm a carb newbie so please correct me if I'm wrong. If I leave everything the same as I go down in elevation there is more oxygen so I should become leaner? Do you think a turn or turn and a half on mixture screw will be enough to richen it up? I don't want to have to rejet in the middle of my ride. Also can u give me a quick lesson on the clip position in regards to rich vs lean? Do you have any pictures as I have only been inside the carb to change the main and a mechanic friend was there to help. Any suggestions or advice would be great. Thanks! Matt

 

Nice report! love riding the little klx with the euro bikes and doing everything they do.

the fan, anyone have part # for a lower temp fan switch?

 

RB, I don't know...I think the manual switch is really the way to go. It doesn't disable your normal temp switch, just allows override as wanted. That said, I'm not sure I've even heard of a lower temp switch option. Is there one?

 

Pics or it didn't happen TNC
You're starting to sound like a grouchy old man there. hahahaha
Seriously though I know what you mean. I love to record my rides with the GoPro,but when the battery dies, or the card fills up, it's somewhat of a relief. No more monkeying with the camera, its just riding. Double edged sword though, I just sat and enjoyed today's ride (pre-riding our clubs hare scramble) for the second time at my computer. good stuff.

Glad you had a good trip , sounds awesome.
Dan

 

Hey, I think I might even have a video to link to shortly from over on ADV. I lead the day's ride with my New Mexico buddies on the Hancock/Tincup route one day, and RideFreak says he has me on the video going up a couple of the rockier sections. We'll see. That will be a change from just seeing my KLX sitting in beautiful locations of scenery...LOL!

BTW, I haven't even downloaded the pics off my phone camera yet.

 

dan888...you wanted pics from the CO trip? OK...here's your pics...and it's truly from this this trip.

 

Is it you who negleted to close the cover? lol. We're awaiting serious videos of your ride, if I may remind you