Gm Gents,
Just joined the forum. Recently purchased a 23 KLX300r. fairly clean. Guy installed a ProCircuit system and the power commander module, other than that stock. Have a few things id like to do to it right off the bat. Gonna need tires, and Id like to replace the footpegs, add a skidplate, break away levers, and handguards. maybe springs, but I plan on riding it a little before I jump into that. Can I get some input as to what some of you guys have done? Thx!

 

Good deal. Post your questions and comments in the KLX250 sub forum, that is the one that is mainly active about all the KLX250 and 300 bikes. They share about 90% of all parts. Biggest difference is the bigger bore.

Do use the search, it works pretty well. The forum covers a lot of years so there is a lot of knowledge to partake of in the KLX250 sub forum. I always just click on the "New Posts" in the very top bar of the page, which will show me all new posts so I can catch both the 300 and the 250 sub-forums.

In a side note, if you experience cam drive rattle in the mid rpm I'm the guy who makes the manual cam chain tensioners. If it doesn't rattle, no problem. If it starts to rattle it will not fail catastrophically. It takes a fair amount of time to get really bad. The manual tensioner is half the cost of a new OEM tensioner and solves the problem But, again, no noise, no problem. You don't need to fix what isn't broke.

 

Good to know on the tensioner, I didn't hear anything test riding it, but that doesn't mean its not there. Ill keep an ear out for it. thx!

 

@Rockboyz like I said, no noise no problem. The auto tensioner gets progressively worse, unable to hold position and kicking in further, but that takes time. So it isn't instant, it isn't catastrophic, it should be dealt with in a couple thousand miles. So if you were commuting you could go for a bit before you're pushing the limits. Gives time to get the new tensioner and fit it in.

Only one bike, to my knowledge, has the risk of catastrophic failure and that is the Honda VTR1000 Superhawk/FIrestorm. It is a different issue, the front cylinder has the tensioner vertical and on top. If a rider makes a habit of short rides where the engine can't heat up it can form condensation in the engine, which can cause corrosion. The front tensioner gets little oil and is subject to corroding to the point of actual breakage. The front cylinder cam drive suddenly goes slack. It can destroy pistons, valves, and heads. Definitely not good there. I've heard of them failing with 5000 miles, but when the rider does get the bike up to full operating temperature the bike can go tens of thousands of miles. The rider forums recommend replacing those tensioners regardless of mileage. It is a safety measure.

One customer I had actually had the tensioner break while riding. Fortunately for him the engine didn't jump timing and he was able to get stopped before destroying the engine. He had just ordered a set of tensioners. He put them in and found all worked well in his case.