If I recall right, the KLX had a small advantage over the CRF in the quarter when tested by Motorcyclist in their test where they dissed the KLX because it was carbureted and had a bad handlebar bend.

After eliminating the KACR I wonder just how much that is an issue, my bike starts fine with virtually no warm up needed to ride off. And I can't believe those goofy road bike cowboys wouldn't swap out for a set of KX or CR bend handlebars, heck they do $500 tire swaps to even up the field on sportbikes, why not a $30 set of handlebars on a dual sport. Back in the 70s that was often an immediate swap for DirtBike! and others. Handlebars were often swapped out by the testers for their favorite bend, because they knew it was a minimal preferential change.

Sorry, I got carried away...

1/4-mile per CycleWorld

CRF250L 16.67 sec @ 73.98 mph

KLX250S 16.65 sec @ 74.89 mph

WR250R 15.49 sec @ 80.31 mph

I would observe, based on some drag racing knowledge, that the KLX has better midrange based on the mph difference, which is greater than I would expect with a .01 second difference in the time. The CRF with better low end would get out easier, but I think the KLX has better general mid range power, only losing out by .1 hp in their dyno testing:

Horsepower per CycleWorld

CRF250L 19.6 @ 7500 rpm

KLX250S 19.5 @ 8310 rpm

WR250R 24.8 @ 9890 rpm

So, there are the numbers.