Ok I know it's been talked about and it's all hypothetical but with things quite at the moment with post jhoffy and cam mod fever I thought I would pose the question.

If we take brakes, tyres, chains, sprockets and a set of piston and rings as consumables how many miles do we reckon we can get out of our klx250.

For what it's worth my feeling is that given I ride on the beach alot and do alot of bush bashing with this bike my steel frame and mild steel components will give up through rust and fatigue and make this bike unusable long before any internal mechanical components fail through end of usefull life.

 

Interesting question. So much is up to how good you are with maintenance (including rinsing your bike after riding on the beach) and how far you are willing to go with replacing failed parts. As far as the frame rusting, there's no reason why you can't tear the bike down, do a chem dip strip on the frame and re-paint or powdercoat it every five years or so. As for fatigue on the frame, it's all mild steel, easy to cut out and replace bent or fatigued sections. I don't think there's really a finite life span, since just about any part of the bike is replaceable. I mean, even if you finally wore out the gears and other components in the transmission or lower end, you could always source out a low mile engine from a used cycle parts dealer and use it for parts.

 

I still have my Grandfather's axe. It's had the handle replaced 11 times, and the blade/head replaced twice, but, it's still my Grandfather's axe.

I think you are correct. The salty environment will kill the externals (including rubber parts) before the engine is "used up".

 

Hey, I live in west Texas with super low relative humidity. Does this mean I'll have to ride this piece-o-crap KLX until I'm dead?

But seriously, hardly anyone keeps a bike long enough for it to return to dust. Keeping some paint on the frame before rust does any actual damage is easy. Keeping the valves in spec, changing oil/filter regularly, servicing the air filter, and keeping the oil level up will yield a very long life for the engine barring some fluke, bad luck, or horrid abuse.

 

Totally thought this thread was about something else..

 

Even replacing gears is not that difficult or expensive. I've replaced broken second gears on two different bikes in my past and the gears themselves are not expensive.

Like home ownership. People buy new homes every 7 years, not because the old one is wore out.

If you keep the same bike for 10 years then you will be an oddball. How many of us here are riding bikes from 2002? Technology will improve and designs will get better, think fuel injection, bigger gas tanks, better power, and lighter weight.

My last XR400 was a 2001 and I raced that thing hard for a decade. Proper maintenance meant that the thing ran and worked like new.

 

Highbeam there is nothing on a 2009 KLX 250 that wasn't on these bikes back in 2002. Go look at a 2002 KLX 300 or a 2000 KLX 300 same thing as we have now. As far as how long these bikes will last, if you take good care of it, a long time. I have a friend in Flagstaff that is still riding his 2000 KLX 300. I would avoid riding it in salt water though or storing by the beach if possible. Wash it frequently and use copius amounts of WD-40 if you do. I still love to take an occasional ride my 2001 YZ 426.

 

Hey Highbeam..Im riding my 03 Harley still, and will always,I Will have that bike as long as I can throw a leg over it...

 

I am a firm believer in living below your means.. Yea I can afford a KTM, 12 or 13 of them if I wanted, but to me its all about moderation. I got a KLX because of the price and I love Kawasaki bikes.. this bike is it for me.. I love it, and I will take care of it for years and years.. Heck, I am even losing weight, so I can be 25 lbs lighter so that I fit the bike better.. I am officially a KLXR and will stay that way.. for a LONG Time sorry husky, sorry ktm..

 

I still ride my 1979 suzuki TS 100 oil injected 2-stroke about twice a month. My dad bought it in 1984 and gave it to me in 1991. 10200 miles on the original pistion.