I just noticed that a good bit of you folks are from Australia, where you can get bikes like the WR and CRFX series with a plate right off of the showroom floor.

So i'm curious, why did you folks pick the KLX? I know that there are some good reasons to take it over more performance oriented bikes, but i'm curious to know what was yours?

Hell, it's not even that hard to plate a WR or CRFX in states (depending on WHICH state), and then there's always the DRZ400S and the XR series to be had. So again, even for those of you from the states, why the KLX?

For me, there were a number of reasons. Hell, I already had a lighting kit on the way to mount to a WR250, and to my knowledge you can even get a two smoke plated in HI. Experience was hardly and issue too, as i'm confident in saying that I had more than enough experience to mount a 250F.

One of the biggies was that our DMV is open for a whopping 2 hours, and those are during school hours. I'm a student, and I definitely wasn't willing to ditch school 5+ days just to try to get a plate.

And even if I DID cut class for my plate, there was still the problem of carting my bike to and from the DMV and inspection offices multiple times. Nobody in my immediate family has a truck, as I usually go riding with my uncle and his family, who have a trailer. So, again, because of the DMVs hours, we couldn't get him to take off of work a week straight just to get me a shiny plate on my bike.

And then even if we did rent a Uhaul or something, I needed a car, and I wasn't willing to put my mom through buying both a bike and a car (I still feel guilty about the bike, trying to see if I can't get a job and work it off). I could always get a ****ter car and a used bike, but then came the problem of vehicle maintenance. I don't have the money to try to keep a 100,000+ mi car alive, and I don't even happen to know how to work on cars, only bikes (and not very much at that).

And even if I did go the car + bike route, we only ride a good 3 times a month at most, and that's on a good month. So, even if I did get that manly thumpin WR I wanted, it'd end up sitting in the garage and being ridden maybe 12-20 times a year. I wanted to be able to ride more often than that.

Then I decided on the KLX over the DRZ for a number of reasons, mainly weight. I'm a small guy, 5'9" and 140lbs, and I definetly don't have the meat to muscle around a DRZ in the woods. Not to mention, our riding is really really really slow and technical, so the extra power of the DRZ would NOT have made up for the weight gains. 400cc's is overkill for HI streets anyway.

Ok, well, i'm sure you guys don't give a rats *** about what I have to say, but I sure as hell do about you. Why'd you take the KLX over all the other bikes?

 

simple- best looking street legal dirtbike for sale in the USA under 5grand; only the Husky is better lookingbut also a lot more money.

 

For a negetive on Honda, they are getting rid of all the small dealers, and puttin their bikes, atv's, cars, generators, outboards, all under one roof.. So you wanna buy one of their bikes or get it serviced, you gutta speak to a car salesperson. Honestly I am not sure about Australia, or any other country. But that is the way they are going in Canada.. Basically they don't want you looking at a CR and then be able to look at a WR in the same building, and same goes with all their other product.

 

I like Kawasaki
I like green
price (KLX was around $5,000 cheaper)
300cc kit free (was a special when I bought mine)
seat height, WR, CRF, XR, DRZ etc too tall for me
all I can think of right now

 

I went with the KLX due to it's streetlegal dirt bike features, speedo w/tach, passenger pegs, cooling fan, and luggage rack; all of which I use. I I had considered the KTM, but it does not have many of the above features. I had not ridden off road in 15 years.
I was well aware it was lacking in power. I bought one anyway. The lack of power turned into a blessing, keeping me from going too fast in the wrong places for the first few months of weekly dirt biking. Super handling saved me from nasty falls, and lower speeds attainable due to low engine power minimized injury.
Most of my falls were from the seat height, I tipped over while stopped on flat ground. The down side of being a little man.
I had a 340 kit put on recently, and it made the bike what it should have been powerwise. However the 340 would be too much for my skills back at the time I bought it.
Now that my skills are better, I do lot of trails, MX, doubles, go to work, take my kid to-from school, everthing is perfect. Things are good.

 

The KLX is one of the most versatile bikes around, especially for the money. Harley guys like to personalize their bikes and will spend thousands to do so. We can get the same grins for a lot less bucks. With the KLX, we can make it whatever we want and still not have spent an inordinate amount of cash to do it. Even if we mess up a bit, we don't usually go broke getting it right in the end. Power, suspension, it's all doable. And the chassis is a proven winner. It handles great in the woods and is not prone to breakage. Even if it does break, mild steel is easy to weld. And as somebody else mentioned, if you like green, it's one of the best looking bikes out there.

Bill Dragoo
Norman, Oklahoma
KLX "250" 331 actually
FXDX (Dyna Sport)

 

From the "states".....It's light,It's nimble,It's cost effective,Oh did I mention cost effective? mine was 4400 OTD with a 4 year warranty and the KTM was over 8G for the 450......but it was a 450.If Honda offered their Japan "only" model XR400 I would own that but they don't.The XR400 is an AWESOME bike and weighs in only 4 or 5 lbs heavier but it's not available here.They also offer it in an SM model which is also a huge plus...once again not available here....the undying reliability of a Honda XR???? c'mon those things rock but i'll keep the klx as I can mod it out and BB too with mostly factory parts and it stays reliable and offers no grief......not to mention the best chain adjusters known to man!!!!! THEY WORK!!!!!!!!!! why change to the stupid style for the "'09"??????not to mention drop the suspension travel??????? Maybe more GIRLY MEN responded to thier JD Powers survey than who actually ride them offroad AND to work.

 

It had a plate from the factory, I like green, Did not want to buy an offroad only and then find out I wouldn't be able to plate it, Ktm's finacing sucks, although if they would have had a plated 250exc I would have got it anyway. I knew the 450 would have been too much power at the time I was looking. The Husky dealer was to far away. And I liked hanging out on this forum.

 

I bought it because I couldn't plate my yz and the TTR was just too much of a dawg,it caught my eye the first time I saw it and knew I would be a proud owner quickly

 

For my Walter Mitty fantasies, a huge KTM or a BMW would get the nod but in reality the little KLX is the right one for me. Money was not the deciding factory but, $3547 out the door made it a "no brainer". It's not so heavy or tall or powerful it will get me into trouble as easy as a strong 2-smoke or big thumper would.

Yes, I could plate a KLX-300 or an XR-650R but, why? Do I really need something that will run 100MPH in the open desert? Do I really want to shove something heavier around all day?

Plus, it's fun riding all day at a leisurely pace getting 80MPG