The s has a 13 tooth the sf has 14.

 

Swo, where are you getting your info? The KLX S uses a 14 tooth OEM front sprocket. And all 50-state KLX's are super lean from the factory. While the California model might have a leaner setup, all them are stupid lean, and the needle might be the worst element.

 

Hey!, I just wanted to thank everybody for the input! My buddy came over this afternoon & he took out the carb, re-jetted it, drilled the choke jet, changed the needle, & reassembled the bike. All of this in about an hour!!! We then went for a 50+ mile ride, stopping at a gas station (AND RESTARTING) then to a resturant (AND RESTARTING), then to the ATM, (AND RESTARTING), etc!!! The bike is darn near perfect. I only choked it once after the bike was put back together, then on -NO CHOKE!!! 5th & 6th gear are very usable. After the road trip, I took it into the woods, NO PROBLEM! A very practical 2nd gear. WOW! What a day & what a bike!!! Joe

 

Oh, here are some interesting things we found while in the carb: After removing the plug/cap we turned in the pilot jet, counting how many turns in, it would go. To our surprise, it was the same amount recomended by most of you guys, (2 turns out!) So, we really didn't need to remove the cap. No biggie. The other thing that struck me was that there was no adjusting grooves in the stock needle!? The needle was just that, one position, nadda nutin else! And the "so called drilling" is so minute, He did it with his fingers, seems that you are just polishing the inside of that jet. All very interesting. But pays off in heaps! Again Thanks guys! Joe

 

One more thing, we removed the snorkle, It's a wonder the bike even ran, hardly any opening at all!

 

is there a rev calc from going from 14 to 13..... corresponding speed and RPM. I have to drive about 25 mins to my dirt location... highway...65+ will there be excessive wear on the engine with a 13T?

 

Well, lower gearing results in more revolutions which is more wear, but I don't consider it excessive. See gearingcommander.com and you can play with all kinds of sprocket sizes.

 

Nice to hear your success on the enrichment circuit drill. My bit could not be twisted with fingers only and there were some very small shavings that came out. And that's kind of interesting setting on your pilot jet screw. Mine was 1 turn out, and we put in a Kouba screw for simpler adjustment. The general consensus on the stock needle is that it should be replaced with the dynojet needle or an N1TC. I went dynojet which is adjustable, and I think the N1TC is also.

 

IDRIDR, We got very, very little shavings, & the pilot screw settings being so varied, makes one wonder if Kawasaki is doing any quality control these days? hhmmm...
I used dynojet through out.

 

Thinking simply, dropping one tooth on 14 is about a 7% change. So at a given higway speed, your revs should be about 7% higher. Does that make any sense or did I think too simply?