Hi guys,
I picked up my brand new KLX250 yesterday. I have a feeling I will be on this forum a lot as I get the bike set up to my liking. I drove from Minneapolis to Chicago on Friday night to pick up the bike. Came home yesterday. I still have some set up to do to get the bike on the road (or off). The maiden voyage will be later this morning. I'll try to get some pics and my first impressions posted later.
Julia in MN

 

Yeah, another female!!!

Hope you enjoy your bike, I have to wait a few months to get mine. Did you have to lower it at all?

 

Welcome to KF, queenpdog. Congrats on the new ride and be sure and post up some pics when you get a chance. I think I saw you over on advrider, is that correct? Glad you got your bike and it's not real cool that the bike shop didn't set up your bike for you - charging for setup is pretty standard, but most dealers will waive the charge if you press them on it. They already make a good profit from MSRP, and charging for setup is simply a "tax" they add on.

 

Welcome Julia, It's nice to see another female rider, my wife was beginning to think she was the only one. She has the 2006 XT 225, the KLX was way too tall for her.

 

Welcome to the gang, queenpdog!

Sounds like you may be new to this forum, but you're not new to the sport. In any case, I think your first impressions are going to be good, but as you get the bike set up to your liking, your impressions will just keep getting better & better!

I know its a little early for this (and we hardly even know you), but with a nickname like "queenpdog" ... we just gotta know! Can you post a reply to the "nicknames" thread when you get a chance (or "take the dare" -- whichever is more appropriate)?

Mike

 

welcome, this place is very addicting.... this bike is a blast!!

 

Well, I got the bike set up and ready for a ride. I took off from home about 2:00 (it always takes me longer to get going than I think it will). First thing I have to say....4,000 RPM's? [sm=signs006.gif] That got me 40 MPH in 6th gear. Is anyone really able to comply with the break in guidelines? Guess I'll be sticking to back roads for a while. I did my best but I would think it is almost worse for the engine to putt along at 4k for extended periods of time. I tried to keep it low and vary my RPM's as much as possible.

First stop and first ever pic of my new bike -- beautiful Lake Minnetonka. No Vikings party boat out there today (they were busy getting their asses handed to them in Buffalo). By the way, GO TWINS!!!



The next thing I realized is that this plank of crap that they call a seat is going to have to go. It is an istrument of torture. Any aftermarket options yet? Corbin? God help us.
I finally got to some dirt to try out the tires and suspension. Real nice!



This little guy really liked the new bike! By the way, it is bone stock except for my trusty Garmin. Not for long, I think.



Another real plus that I noticed is that the transmission is smooth as butter. I think BMW could learn a thing or two from Kawi. No false neutrals, no mis shifts. Just trouble keeping the RPM's low. I don't like to short shift. I think I will need to adjust the shift lever down a bit. I'll have to look into that tonight.



At about 65 miles I stopped to put in some gas and check out what kind of mileage I was getting. She took .75 gallon. That's Like 85 miles to the gallon. Can that be right? I'm used to getting 45-50. Cool!
More fall colors....




To answer a few questions, I have not lowered the bike. I did order some links from Kouba, but I'm not sure if I will use them or not. I guess it depends on what seat options I come up with. The current height is okay for me. I have a 32" inseam.
I have been hanging around the ADVrider sight and will probably post some pic there as well.
As for the name, queenpdog, I am the queen of the prairie dogs. I'll explain in the nicknames post.

Thanks for the welcome everyone. So far I love the bike. can't wait to get it broken in and let the revs go. Here's the bike now. I put exactly 100 miles on today. At this rate she'll be broken in soon! Yipee!

 

Good looking pics. I'm looking forward to more of your posts.

 

Great pics, queenpdog!

The seat is fine for off-road only but any time I spend in that saddle for about 30 to 45 minutes or more and I find myself twisting and scootching around alot to try and find some comfort. My solution was to cut out some seat foam and use a gel pad insert, and then some memory foam on top. During this process I widened the seat just a little also. You can see what I did here:

https://www.kawasakiforums.com/m_66430/tm.htm

Gas milage sounds a bit high, though I think I had a few fills that were in that range. It mostly depends on your riding. I typically get about 60 to 65 MPG on the road and a lot less off-road, proably down in the 40's depending on the trail or terrain.

 

4,000 rpm's? Not for me, I went with the mototune break-in, hard high and lows to seat the rings, but you have to make your own decision on that one, Here's the link scroll down to Break-in secrets. Nice pictures, fall is awesome, I just wish it was followed by summer again

www.mototuneusa.com

Here's my bike, and again welcome. Oh and just because its clean doesn't mean I haven't gotten it dirty. LOL 3500 miles and still looks good.