I’m almost ready to pull the trigger on one of these but I’m a little concerned about the bikes ability to climb steeper hills on hard packed dirt.
I’ve never personally ridden one but reading different reviews and comments has got me wondering if I need a different bike !
I live in SE Idaho and surrounded by mountains and national forests do I need to be able to tackle some challenging terrain at times.
Anyone got experience riding the Rockies in a KLX300?

 

It's in the gearing and how you ride. Gear it for where you ride. That and anything under around a 400 requires momentum on steeper hills. Gearing and rider technique. You rev some or you don't make it. But then the big bores would be more of a hand full in general riding, the reason why a lot of riders like the CRFs and KLXs. Relatively easy for trail riding. If you really want to slog around you should look into a trials bike with the trail riding seat setup. Now that's a bike that will pull you through rough terrain like a tractor.

 

Yes I agree , in my previous life I had a 1980 Yamaha TY250 . I loved that bike and all the challenges I would attempt climbing the steepest hills I could find .

 

Also consider rider weight in your decision. On smaller more moderately powered bikes it becomes more of a factor.

 

Yep. I had a Sherpa T. I never was much of a hill climber. Most of the time I would find the path to the top of a hill, knowing that most hill climbers won't go down the hills they climb. Then I'd ride down the hill with the T to see what it was like. If it was too loose I'd skip it, but usually I could climb it knowing what the surface was like.

I will say a lot of riders don't like winging up a four stroke, but the KLXs can take it, peak HP is around 8600 rpm and they will over rev up around 10,000, so I would definitely say don't be afraid to let it rev. They don't really put out strong stuff until around 5000 rpm, the kind that will help when trail riding. I'm not much of a hill climber, but I know I'd have my KLX singing.