Since you are making Olympic-worthy leaps to conclusions about this bike allow me to quote the actual live human beings who test-rode it for Motorcycle Consumer News:
".....this very flickable little bike is pound-for-pound one of the most entertaining sport bikes it has ever been my pleasure to ride."

"Everything appears to be built to Austrian standards...the 390 Duke reveals no blemishes or cheaply finished bits to detract from its overall impression. If you didn't know it wasn't built in Austria there's nothing to suggest otherwise."

"The trellis-style frame is elaborately braced for a very stiff structure that gives the short, lightweight bike excellent stability."

And they liked the powerband most of all. Since these folks are professionals who have a lot of experience on a lot of bikes I'm inclined to give their views more credence than those of someone whose sole criteria is price. And the fact that it is made in some exotic place they will never visit.

Look, I'm not carrying the torch for KTM but I find it nothing short of preposterous to read criticisms of ANY bike by people who have never ridden or even seen it. This discussion is, in fact, pointless since you feel free to make up any phony criteria you want to diss it, being unhampered by any actual facts but generous with your unsupported assumptions almost exclusively based on the fact that it is inexpensively MADE IN INDIA.

And you don't think that is a race-based stereotype? You might want to examine your prejudices more objectively.

 

Can you guys go measure your peters somewhere else?

So, back to topic, what mods are worth doing again?

I started with a stock 2007, rode it for a while and pushed some of its limits. I added a 300 header, aftermarket exhaust, jet kit, and removed the airbox lid. The power fits the type of riding I do; 60mph back roads, fast gravel and two-track, and mild offroad. Increased the fuel capacity with the 3.7 acerbis; now i can cruise 180miles before stopping and the radiators are protected. Added new bars after the stockers bent and installed HDB handguards. Added a cyclerack for camping trips and as a side benefit, ended up making the bike nearly indestructable with the HDB guards. Last was the suspension; re-sprung and re-valved. Wow, what a difference offroad.

For what it is, a cheap way to get into dualsporting, you can upgrade as you go. You might have more in it than its worth in the long run, but at the end of the day, its a weeine 250cc bike that that takes lickin and keeps on tickin. Ride and upgrade it to suit you and no one else. I hope I can be in the position to keep it forever. I will know that after learning to ride the wheels off of it, I will be better prepared to move up if I ever decide to.

 

A friend of mine, who has a WR250R was looking at some other bikes, one of which I believe was a Husqvarna TE250 (he looked at several different ones). His WR250R has passenger pegs. The TE250 doesn't. No big deal, right, since he never plans on carrying a passenger? The key is, and he found through research, that there are no pegs because the rear subframe was not designed to carry the weight of a passenger. So the TE250 is lighter than his WR250R. But, he could load some gear on the rear of his WR and go riding with it with little worry of the rear subframe breaking/cracking. On the TE250, I understand his research led him to a statement by Husqvarna that the rear load rating was basically 0 - the rear subframe was not designed to carry a load (let alone a passenger). That right there leads to a weight saving - if you don't need to carry a passenger, or any 'cargo', you can make the rear sub-frame lighter by using materials and construction that aren't designed to carry a load. Also, the Husky called for a top-end and partial bottom-end rebuild every 10,000KM - his WR called for a valve clearance inspection after 24,000KM. This is one of the factors that's caused him to keep his WR.

Beyond that, I don't see where KLX678 inferred anything about a difference in frames between the KLX250SF (supermoto) and the KLX250S (dual sport).

 

Hell, you're so late to the show, it's all been mentioned.

 

Geez, you are one egotistic individual now, aren't you. You sure are carrying a torch for something. I'd recommend reading lessons.

The Motorcycle Consumer News thing... did a search, nothing showed up on anything dual sport. It presently does not exist in a pre-production model yet - aka no media tests done yet. You are the one with no supported facts. The bike is NOT out there, MCN rode a Duke - which is not a dual sport!

I have seen the KTM 390 sport model, incredibly nice decent fit and finish, probably the same with the Duke, I sat on it and looked it over a lot. I like it better than the Honda or Kaw sport models and according to tests it runs strong. But my point has consistently been they have no top shelf Brembos or suspension components like the stuff on the Austrian KTMs. KTM is cutting quality in components, like the differences between the suspension and braking components on a Corvette Z06 versus the standard model. The brakes on the standard model are good and all, but NOT what is on the Z06. In the same vein, many components, like brakes and suspension, on the KTM 390 are NOT what is on a 690 where the 690 parts are pretty much on par with the 1290. A bike built to a price point.

There are sacrifices, price cutting moves to be competitive. That is what I was talking about - price cutting moves, including building in countries with lower labor rates. Apparently you cannot seem to comprehend what I've written.

Now why not go learn to read for comprehension. When what I have written is compared to what you are claiming it doesn't make sense.

 

rgmr250, your post about the TE250 is a very interesting read - to me.. I've always wondered about the reasons that dual sport bikes seem to weigh inordinately more than similar offroad bikes.. (Aside from the increased weight of a few extra lights.) I am quite aware of the obvious differences in fluid capacities, construction materials, etc, but I never thought about design requirements for subframes being a factor..

Our ability to carry 2 AND haul gear is a paramount feature of the KLX to me.. I was really hoping the KTM 350 EXC-F was going to be my next bike - until I noticed they had no passenger pegs ! I guess hauling around an extra few pounds for our capability is a tradeoff I can live with.. For instance, what other dualsport 250s can be outfitted into a "full blown" sport adventure bike.. ? Yes, I know the WR250R can be made into a sport adventure - but how many spare parts do you have to carry in order to get the fuel injection going again if it fails on top of a mountain, in a desert, with you and your significant other, 250 miles from the nearest Yamy dealer ?

 

My friend and I have both contemplated getting lighter dual sports - KTM or Husky. We've both been mostly turned off by the high price, more involved maintenance schedules, and in some cases, much higher seat height. I think that materials used can make a difference in weight as well. IIRC, the Husky was at least 40 pounds lighter than the KLX. Would be really nice to drop that much weight. My buddy just replaced his dying battery with a Lithium Iron - it's like 4 pounds lighter than the regular battery.

Speaking of fuel injection - our first big outing, his fuel pump failed (very common problem with the 08 WR's apparently) in the middle of nowhere. We ended up pushing his bike, in the dark, for about an hour. Turns out once the fuel heated up from slow technical riding, the pump would fail. After enough time, it cooled enough that the pump started working again. It was a hellish ride. His battery failed a few weeks ago, after a crash (the battery had been weak he said), so we ended up doing some more pushing until we got it to a location where he was able to bump start it.

 

"..so we ended up doing some more pushing until we got it to a location where he was able to bump start it."

A good reason to do the kickstart retrofit to the KLX.. I have never understood the logic in manufacturers removing kickstarters.

 

I just put a lithium in my FE650E.. The difference in weight between the two has to be experienced to be believed..

 

You know, I've read these posts and find nothing that even hints towards race-based stereotype or racism, other than what you've generated in your head. It seems that some people are just waiting for a trigger to set them off looking for something that they can somehow construe as racist and make something of it.

Also, where did anybody diss the RC390 that you're so vehemently defending? It's like somebody says "When water boils, the result isn't Ice" and you're then vehemently defending the fact that Ice is just water in a frozen state.

In general, something made for much cheaper is likely to be lesser quality. No, not always, but generally, yes. Lesser quality doesn't mean that it looks different than a higher quality item - the more cheaply made item might look every bit as good as the expensively made item. However, the cheaply made item might fail sooner etc. There are a lot of Chinese manufacturers who are able to 'copy' items that look exactly like the 'real' thing, but they are usually still poor quality because they fail soon - example, a friend of mine likes watches and bought a 'rolex' from a chinese company - the watch looked great, but stopped working after 2 weeks (lots of other examples). There's a lot of cheap crap made in China, but there's also a lot of good quality stuff. Same goes for India, and Thailand and other countries. Saying something is cheap (Cheap doesn't always mean poor quality, it can mean cheap, as it inexpensive as well) because it was made in India (or China etc.) is a pretty acceptable generalization. It doesn't mean that the people making the items are any 'lesser' than somebody making a similar item in another country in the world.