Issues to be aware of with buying older KLX250
 

Hey folks - new to Kawasaki forums and reaching out for the groups wisdom. I’m an experienced street rider, but new to off roading. Done a ton of research and it sounds like an older KLX250s. Wanting a dual sport that is great for a diversity of trails, can take a beating, and is reliable/dependable. I like the idea of simplicity too. I’m fine with wrenching on the bike - I do it with most other mechanical things I own (for reference I’m 5’10” and 200lbs).

I’m curious if there are any known issues I need to look out for with an older (1st gen?) KLX250s - particularly 2006-2007 years. In my area, I can find some for $2k-$2.5k with anywhere from 4k to 10k miles. I know these bikes are generally very reliable - bulletproof? - bikes. Is there a mileage point at which they are no longer worth their cheaper price?

I also know forums such as these often have answered these questions over and over again - so if these is a thread I should just jump to, please let me know. My issue has been lots of these are threads from a decade ago. Curious about buying a mid 00’s KLX today.

Thanks!

One thing for sure, the cam chain tensioners tend to fail to hold adjustment. A characteristic is a rattling coming from the right side of the engine. It starts out making the rattle around 4000-6000 rpm, but will start rattling more and more. If it gets bad enough it will damage sliders or possibly have a cam chain break. Takes a fair amount of time for that to happen, so if the bike has the rattle and runs out good you can use the noise as a bargaining chip. The OEM tensioner runs around $100 and may or may not go bad again, a manual tensioner, which I sell, will adjust out the chain slack and lock in place when following installation instructions, costing $39..00 usd plus shipping depending on where you are. It is pretty simple to use a manual tensioner and a lot of miles between adjustments. I'm sure riders here will comment about this.

If the bike is really hard to start, odds are the carburetor has stock jetting and is crazy lean. Ask about jetting, many of us 250 riders have done so. If it fires right up and is off choke relatively quickly the jetting has been done. If you want some information on jetting, klxster here has the DynoJet stuff down pat. The Kiehin jetting has been known for probably around 15 years or so now and is listed in a web site that has a tremendous amount of information, D. Pippin's KLX page. Click here The jetting is listed in the carb mods continued section.

Suspension may be soft for your weight, but talk with the owners about engine tuning and suspension adjustments and changes. I don't know for sure, but I believe my bike has stiffer springs from one of the owners, because sag is good and it doesn't bottom out, I weigh 200 lb. The previous owner didn't have the bike for long and had little knowledge about it. Needed the tensioner, had the rattle.