Greetings,

I am a senior rider from IL and am considering adding a pre-owned KLX250S to my fleet. This would primarily be an extra bike for when my adult son visits or joins me for a dual sport ride or trip. My main interest in this forum is to find out what to look for in a late model (mid to late 2000's) and what I would expect to address. For instance, I have heard that they are jetted very lean from the factory, so would appreciate any jetting advice. Any and all suggestions would be welcome.

Thank you,

Fred Z.

 

Hi Fredz, welcome to KF.
2006 & 2007 are one generation that are considered a little more dirt worthy, have an extra inch of suspension travel, a taller 6th gear, and analog gages. They skipped 2008 in the states. Then 2009+ is a next generation with carbs, digital gages, etc. Fuel injection added to most recent models.
You'll probably want to re-jet. Lots of wisdom here. There's some other little things but generally nothing glaringly problematic with these.

 

Thank you for the reply. In the meantime since I submitted my question I have found a low mileage 2010 model that is well set up, with a Renazco seat, rejetted, luggage racks ,etc. It is presently being shipped to my home in IL and should arrive within the next week. I imagine that I will have more questions once the bike gets here.

 

Fred,
Congrats on the purchase. Looks like you found a pretty nice bike set up for dual sporting. That renazco seat will be a nice improvement over the stock 2x4 stick of lumber supplied by ma Kaw.
One issue that tends to plague these KLX models is the OEM automatic cam chain tensioner. It fails much too often. You'll notice failure by upper engine noise, usually in the 5,000 to 6,000 rpm range, sounding something like rocks shaken in a metal can. Not to fret, though. Failure is usually not catastrophic. If you have noise, or if it develops in the future, a replacement manual cam chain tension adjuster is available for a very good price and manufactured by a member here, klx678. I'm not trying to make a sales pitch. It's just too common a problem and Mark's replacement part works well.

 

Thanks for the tip on the cam chain tensioner. They seems to be problematic on many bikes, ranging back to my 1987 Concours days to my 2012 Super Tenere. My 14 Super Tenere has an updated model which seems to have addressed the earlier problems on the Gen 1 bikes. Some of the Gen 1 Tenere owners have gone to a manual tensioner, such as you mention.

Thanks again, for the advice. I'll pay attention to top end noise. Looks like I need to be looking for a larger tank for the 2010. Other than that, it looks ready to go.

 

Yes, if you're doing any mileage you're going to want a larger tank and/or a rotopax-type thing. Acerbis has the largest at 3.7 gallons, then I think IMS and Clark. I have the Acerbis and like it, but some don't like giving up the stock shrouds for the Acerbis 'wings.' Check justgastanks.com