Bought it to get back on a dirt bike; wanted to get a street legal bike to avoid the cop hassle. The bonus is getting to ride on back/gravel/forest roads to get the trails. Wish it had about 10 more horsies and was 20 pounds lighter, but it's not bad for the $$$.

If/when Kawi comes out with a KLX 450S, I'll be first in line. Don't really want the KTM/Husky hassle factor for maintenance, and besides, there's something exciting about that lime green color.

Lance

 

Lime green is the best color out there. Reminds me of the limes I put in my Gin & Tonics...........whoops was that out loud?

 

I always loved mini-bikes as a kid, and grew into loving motorcycles ... used to buy every motocross magazine I could afford. Had a couple "one kick-start away from the junk yard" bikes, and then finally got a brand new 1978 Yamaha DT-175. Only had it for a few years though, but really loved it.

Flash forward to 1998 - I stopped in a local Kawasaki shop, and just happened to be at the right place at the right time. They just got a 1996 KLR-250 from a dealer bankruptcy liquidation, and theywere looking to unload it. My income tax refund was on its way, and the two events just happen tobalance each other, so it was a no-brainer.

Flash forward to this past July - Took the KLR-250 in for serving and starting chatting with the Service Manager about bikes and he told me about the KLX250S. They didn't have one on the floor, but someone hadtheirs in for maintenance, so he took me back to have a look at it. Just like with jasc, it was love at first site. The KLX is everything I wanted when I got the KLR (i.e. a street legal trail bike that could get knarly in the woods), but it wasn't around back then. I've been toying with the idea of trading in for a bigger bike forthe lastcouple years anyway, and figured "If I don't do it now, I'll just be that much older when I finally do trade it in.".

Traded up at the end of July and never regretted it since.

 

I love my KLX. I wanted a dual sport to make my riding easier. I've had dirtbikes for some time, but loading and trailering them to the riding spots slowed me down or even stopped me from riding. With the dualsport you can get a quick ride fix in one hour.

When I was looking at bikes I knew under 650cc was for me. Just didn't want the weight.. I'm 5'9'/175lbs and the 270lbs KLX is heavy enough. I have always been a Yamaha guy, but Yamaha doesn't seemed interested in the dual sport market. Too bad to, because they make great bikes. They'll catch on soon, dualsportsare a growing market. The XT225 was to lame for me.

The Suzuki DRZ400 was beautiful, but the height was a problem. I was tippy toes sitting on it. Figured I would dump it on the road stopped at lights. The Honda 650 was just too big for the trails I want to ride. No name brands, well, I don't think so. Of course Husky, Gas Gas, and others were an option for maybe the GM's in the world ($$$$).

So I heard of the KLX250s and after finally tracking down a dealership that had one I looked, bought, and road in the same day. The green was hard to live with, but its grown on me. Love the styling, SUSPENSION, ergonomics, size, handling etc etc.

Only complaint is it is underpowered. The bike is set up for the intermediate to advanced rider, but the 250cc motor just doesn't get me hard.However, the KLX fits in that slot between small beginner dualsports and larger cruiser dualsports like the Honda and KLR650. If Kawasaki puts a 300cc-400cc standard motor size in this bike they will have a unbeatable combination. The fact is with just $550CDN I invested in aftermarket performance parts and some of my time I have transformed this bike into a much more responsive, aggressive, powerful bike. And with 300/330cc upgrades and more, you can take this little bike to all sorts of new heights.

Two thumbs up, but how about some colour options?

 

I wanted to move up from a TW-200.


This was the most bad *** dual sport I'd ever seen (Dad started me on dual sports/off road bikes so I'd never played with an MX bike) so I bought it.


I love it. I'm probably a little hard on it playing on my track, but Im still really slow, so Im not pushing the bike past the limits... I do push myself past my limits tho[:@]

 

To have fun... always wanted one.

 

One reason...the other day I was riding through the woods, came out of the woods right onto a major highway. I pulled out, put my signal on and merged into traffic and rode home...mud flying everywhere. Two days later, I pulled out of a riding spot, and was riding home, a town cop came around the corner the other way. I am in full off road riding gear, covered in mud, the cop, just smiles, waves and keeps on going.

KLX - The ONLY real dirt bike that comes with a plate!!!!


Oh yeah, and the fact that my 6 year old son has been riding a KDX50 since he was 2.5 helped me FINALLY convince my wife it was time dad had one too.

 

Have to say that the dirt bike with a plate and the very reasonable price for a brand new bike sold me. Suspension is killer, but power was way off when new, but with themods and info found here it's come a long way! Still if they make a 450, sign me up! I also had a Yamaha DT-175 that was an air-cooled 2 stroke (never see that again on the street)with one the first monoshock suspensions. Love the way people stare as if to say why aren't you in jail yet?! This thing is just plain fun to ride, no matter where you are, pavement or dirt.
I love my KLX!!

 

Well, I can tell you why I bought a D-Tracker over the DRZ400SM.

I was so close to buying the 400SM when the Kawi dealer reminded my that their is no requiremnt for bi-annual vehicle inspection on 250cc and below and then went-on tell me about all of the performance mods -including the300cc bolt-on- you could do and still stay beneath the inspectionRADAR. Now, while my friends with larger machines are busy swapping back to their stock parts to prep for inspection, I'm going riding! That, along with the lower seat height and weight (I'm 5'8" with 31" inseam), helped me make the decision.

I haven't regretted the choice so far.

 

I bleed green.