The bike has never shifted very smooth from day one in my opinion, I just deal with it lol. It's no Honda to say the least.

 

Ambient temperature should have little to no affect on the shifting action of a unit construction engine, at least once it's up to operating temperature.
Oil weight tends to have some bearing on shifter feel so perhaps that's worth a try in your case.
Having said that I have never found the little KLX's particularly clunky either. Then again, I also ride a Buell so ANYTHING else feels like butter by comparison to it!

 

I think the source of the problem was the operator. I recently started wearing some new much stiffer riding boots than what I had been wearing. Just didn't realize that I wasn't moving the shift lever quite as well and completely. I was out for a couple of hours yesterday and when I was paying more attention to what I was doing the shifting seemed normal.

 

Lotrat, I'll have to agree with you. I'm an engineer also. When you or I hear someone talking about something they really don't have any scientific or engineering grasp of, we know it in about 2 seconds flat. Senior Engineer? I'll bet your B.S. detector is one of the best. It sort of has to be or you wouldn't be a Senior Engineer. The engineer at Red Line is not that clown you and I have met many times. Just out of school he was sought by many of the large petrochemical mfg's but he wanted to do something a bit more interesting. Like I said, he's a very nice guy and a very smart one. He phoned me back and we discussed my klx250s uses and needs. I love discussions with any intelligent person. He didn't just talk about the best oil choice for my klx but we also talked about why. Phone him. You'll like him. He's one of us.

 

I'm an engineer too... I want internet acceptance within this clique as well :-P

The guys an Applications Engineer I assume?

 

To DRM. Sorry, forgot your question. Dave decided Red Line 10-40 Motorcycle oil was best. NOT their 10-40 Automotive oil. There is a difference and he explained why. My shifting was awful until Factory Pro replaced the plain bearing shift star roller w/ a ball bearing roller and I made the return spring for the roller stiffer. Works well but it will work better when I make the return spring more stiffer.(more stiffer? sorry)

 

More stiffer is good, just ask the womens.

 

LikesToThump: Brother, you have been accepted. (we're having jackets made!) Who's an applications engineer? And who cares? You made it sound like an applications engineer is pretty far down on "Engineer Food Chain". Should we send out all our diplomas and licences to each other? If you own a klx250 you are a member of a unique clan. We're all nut's. But that's O.K. We will, as a group, fix all of Kawasaki's stupid stuff and make these bikes what we want them to be. And have a bit of fun doing it. You folks are a lot of fun. I'm enjoying this.

 

To ol'klx-r. Let me get this straight. Are you telling me that women know how to make our bikes shift well? No kidding! Who knew?

 

LikesToThump, An engineer? In Detroit? WOW! The heart of our country's engineering empire. The place that made the U.S a giant in the world. Does the history of Detroit have any influence on your work or your attitude about it?