Just completed 2+ weeks of riding and camping in the Moab area on my '06 KLX250 turned 300. After decades of riding KLR600/650's out west, this was almost like cheating. Dropping 120 pounds of iron and getting 11" of travel do wonders for attacking some of the aggressive trails in Moab.

A quick recap on the bike...full Muzzy exhaust...Kaw 300 cylinder/piston...Dynojetting of 128 main, DJ needle, 35 pilot, modded airbox, Kouba fuel screw...Acerbis 3.7 tank...Vapor instruments...no turn signals (not needed for Texas registration)...Nuetech tubeless...full Racetech front and rear suspension mods...14/47 gearing.

Trails ridden ranged from White Rim, parts of Pritchett Canyon Behind the Rocks, Thomson Canyon, Horse Canyon, Lockhart Basin, Beef Basin, Seven Mile Rim, Spring Canyon/Hey Joe Canyon, and many, many others. I mainly rode more challenging jeep tracks and trails, as the main dirt road sections are decently boring on this bike.

I was amazed at the fuel mileage on my 300 setup which was just barely broken in for this trip. I got the worst mileage tank of 47mpg on my Horse Canyon ride which is 90% deep sand. This part of the ride sucked, as I was constantly just trying to ride a ribbon of tire tracks. The power of the bike, however, was quite adequate to stay on top of the sand in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd when the sand was just power robbing fluffy stuff with no apparent bottom. My best mileage was 57mpg, and most rides were consistently in this area. And mind you, I didn't putt around on these rides for the most part. The smoother sections were attacked with speed and the rougher trails just require aggressive throttle to get over and up. Fuel mileage was a pleasant surprise in these conditions. With the Acerbis tank, I wasn't challenged for fuel whatsoever.

The Race Tech suspension mods were so worth doing on this bike. All the rocks, ledges, and ruts were just eaten alive by the suspension. The wheels stayed on the ground getting constant and reliable traction when needed, and losing traction on scrabbly, gnarly climbs is critical on Moab's terrain.

The Nuetech tubeless setup with a Pirelli MT21 in front and a Kenda Trakmaster in the rear was totally bombproof. Tubeless Slime was in both tires and the cactus and rocks never challenged either tire. I ran 18 psi in the tires, mainly out of some fear of rim damage, but frankly I'm pretty sure I could go decently lower. The rocks and ledges at Moab kept me on the higher side of pressure just to insure a no-problems trip. Traction was still excellent, and this bike would tractor up just about anything. I'm constantly amazed at the tractable powerband of this bike. I've run the Nuetech system for about 8 months now with no issue at all. The inner liner tube stayed at a constant pressure and being able to tweak the main tire pressure just like a normal tube setup was nice...even though I pretty much settled on 18 psi for the norm.

I installed DID's best 520 X-ring chain, and while I can't believe this, I haven't needed to adjust the chain since I installed it about 8 months ago. I keep checking, and it keeps staying at the original recommended slack. I don't get it. I've put about 2000 mainly off road miles on this bike, and the chain hasn't needed adjustment. I don't use this bike on pavement very much at all. I use Dupont's dry wax PFTE chain lube from Lowe's for about $5 a can, so nothing special there. Frankly this amazes me and makes no sense. Yeah, this bike isn't a KTM690 powerhouse of chain stretching force, but come on.

Another surprise was that I didn't even have to touch the Kouba fuel screw when we skirted altitudes of nearly 10,000 feet on a couple of rides in the La Sals area. I also didn't notice any great power sucking demise in power at altitude. I was a little worried about this for my summer Colorado trip that I always take, but now I feel a little better about how this bike will handle those higher altitudes in CO. I think CV carbs are a benefit in this particular area.

Anyway, the camping, the riding, the bike, and the rider did just fine on this Moab trip. I didn't pay one cent for any camping or motels, so this trip was pretty cheap. I only ate out about 5 times in 17 days but still ate extremely well. Between the solar shower and portable chemical toilet they took care of those distasteful personal issues that can make primitive camping less comfortable.

The only work I had to do on the bike was to disassemble the control lever plate on the fuel petcock because of some grit that was causing some fuel to dribble while turning the petcock off and on. The rubber sealing parts were just fine, but the grit was causing a clearance issue when turning the petcock handle. The problem was fixed in minutes. That was it except for lubing the chain every evening. The bike didn't even use any oil over this many days of riding. I love this bike.

 

I would love to ride out west.
thanks for the report.
Jim.........

 

sounds like a blast, im definally doing moab one of these days. how you do the free camping, primitive spot vs. set camping area with a fee.

 

Looks like some awesome scenery!!!!!!!! Has to be a cool place to ride. Glad to hear everything went without a hitch. Any more pics?
Dan

 

Great write up man. I'm not a big fan of sand at all. I'm glad its scarce here.

 

punken, on the camping deal, mainly BLM and forest service land surround Moab. And while the feds have pushed people farther and farther away out from town to find accessible camping, it's still there in great amount. When I go to Colorado and Utah, I almost never pay for camping. It's still our land, and we should be able to camp for free if done responsibly. I don't need the rest rooms or other conveniences offered by pay locations. There's plenty of excellent gear to make primitive camping pretty darned comfortable if you dig around. Plus, you don't have to put up with the frequent loud asses in congretated campsites who have no consideration for their neighbors.

deej, actually most of the trails around Moab don't have much sand. That Horse Canyon I mentioned is a rarity to consist of so much sand the whole way. Most stuff is hard packed with embedded rock.

dan, here's a few more shots.

Moab is not an expensive trip depending on distance and fuel cost to get you there. You don't have to pay anyone to ride there for the most part...the White Rim Trail requires a $5 entry fee to Canyonlands National Park. Most all other rides are on public land. The amount of trail mileage in the area is ridiculous. The town of Moab isn't big, but it has all the needed logistics of motorcycle shops, huge grocery store for food and ice, gas stations, and just about all other requirements and some luxuries if wanted.

Hey...that one pic with my van in the snow is up in the La Sals. A short drive down to the valley and desert yielded dry land and a good riding day. Upon returning to camp that evening, the snow was gone and the ground was dry. Overall, weather was excellent.

 

Are you running your chain at maximum slack? I think if you run your chain with as much slack as you're allowed it will strech less than if you run it at the tightest allowed.

Nice pictures!

 

I agree on the chain slack. I took careful measurements of the chain tension with a shock link detached to check for the tightest spot in the axle path, and IMO the proper chain slack for my '06 seemed closer to that of the KLX300 which for some reason is about 5-10mm larger than my '06 KLX250S. Too tight a chain tension is at least damaging to the chain but worse can destroy the bearing on the output shaft.

 

Great pics, that looks like awesome riding. I've never been to a place with such big skies. I can only imagine what it's like to look out on those vast expanses and being able to see for so many miles. Truly awesome!

 

Great ride report. Looks like a beautiful area to ride in. Thanks for the report.