Hey all I'm new to this site but not new to bikes. Grew up on minibikes and original "enduros", rode a Victory Kingpin for years until a couple of years ago I wanted to get off road again. I bought a 2017 KLR 650 and I'm having a blast. So much so that I traded the Kingpin in (plus $$$) for a Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro. But both those bikes are pretty heavy for really technical stuff so I'm adding a KLX300. Joined this site to learn about it.

 

Hi. If you do a 300 check out both the KLX250S and KLX300 sub-forums. The bikes have a huge amount of similarities between the first liquid cooled KLX250R in 1994, which became the KLX300R, the second generation 250S/SM in 2009 up to the newest 300. The engine displacement and the EFI are the big differences, a lot of the aftermarket components fit all the bikes because the basic chassis has remained the same except for body mount stuff.

I went from a KLX650 - not a KLR - to the 250 after riding one my brother was looking at near where I lived. It was like riding a mountain bike, still is. As heavy as so many complain about, it is darn good for a dual sport play bike and dinking around on errands. It wasn't a race bike, like the KTMs, when it was first introduced, it was a play bike. And play it will!

 

Yeah I won't be doing any racing, I just wanna throw it around a little off road and try to improve my skill set. I have family living in the CO and AZ and would love to dink around out there (I'm a midwesterner).

 

I'd say you're looking at a good choice, if not to just start with, to go long term. It is a great "dinking" bike for sure, low maintenance as well. The way it is with dual sports, it will likely be a good resale if you did decide for more power/less weight.

 

I'm getting older so don't think I'll ever get into 2 stroke stuff, hard enduro or anything like that. Probably won't want to spend the bucks getting into KTMs or Huskies either, but I won't rule that out.