Looking for a really good woods trail tire that is good enough on the road for safety reasons, not canyon carving. D606 seems like a good option. Looking for reasonable wear, I am happy to replace once a year for the right tire. Little story below to illustrate my point. I am also looking for a good bar setup, need taller and less sweep than stock. So many options and personal preferences, but if you are 5' 11" plus and spend a lot of time on the pegs looking for recommendations and what you have done for cables. It is difficult to draw information from searches on this topic.

I went riding with some guys I used to ride with back in the day. First time I went riding and left my kid behind because I knew it would be a little gnarly, and I had not road with these guys like this since we were around 20. I stopped riding 3 decades ago, they did not (they still haul ***). Man am I slow, now you may think because one of my buds was riding a 2021 Husky FE501 dual sport and the other was riding a 2022 KTM 250 EXC TPI(2 stroke) that I had a reason to be slow. After a short bit I was rung out but kept going. We were riding upstate NY wood trails, not super rough, but challenging at speed, plus the number of water holes on these trails holy ****. Some rocks, slick mud with tons of leaves on the trail, some parts washed out, tight turns, hills, blah, blah, blah... The biggest downside is the dual sport tires on the KLX, they have to go.
So my bud with the 250 says you want to ride my bike, obviously I do, but I am whooped. I said sure. The 501 leads, I go next on the 250, and the KLX (not me) last. The ****ing KTM 250 rocks, holy ****. In short order I can feel the ground, loft the front end at will, the bike is planted, the suspension handles everything. I feel like I am flying, but being reasonable since I don't want to crash, but going way faster than I was on my KLX. As I am roosting up the trail, all of a sudden, I catch a glimpse of the front end of the KLX in my peripheral vision, holy ****. I got passed by the KLX. So moral is the KLX can haul *** in the woods, just not with me on it (yet). The other moral is I could hang with the other guys on the KTM, really easy to go fast on that bike. When we stopped again my bud on the 501 says I guess you found your bike. I want one (will have to wait though). I was not fatigued by this bike in the least, plus the way it was set up was perfect for me.

Makes me realize I need to do a little work to tailor the bike for me and woods riding.

 

This is super interesting to read. I feel like I get tired really fast on my KLX off-road (and I'm in the northeast too, similar terrain) but I've never ridden a better off-road bike like a KTM so I always wonder how much of it is my own condition vs the bike making it harder.

Did the KTM feel a lot lighter and more flickable or no? That's one thing guys with actual dirt bikes always say to me about the KLX is "wow that must feel really heavy".

Did your buddy that rode the KLX have anything to say about it?

 

Just getting back into riding it is difficult to quantify and everything is going to be subjective except for the tire evaluation, but I will take a stab at it.

Weight plays a role, but that was not the biggest part in my opinion. The KTM was significantly lighter, but I also took a ride on the 501FE which is very nice bike, but the owner is quite a bit shorter than me so the bike was not as comfortable due to the bar height, and I had to work harder and could not initially ride quite as fast as I was able to on the 250 (bar height seemed high on the 250 until I started riding it). Those two bikes have a 20 lb difference, where the difference between the KLX and the KTM 250 is 70 to 80 lbs. The KLX turns well, and the terrain was not too much for the suspension for the most part. While the 250 is a true competition bike and is really well put together, I don't think the weight was the major part for the riding we were doing. It just felt really well connected to the ground, and I was not tense on that bike at all. So a big part was the mental feedback loop.

The stock tires on the KLX are definitely not good for the kind of woods riding I was doing, especially the front. Both the other bikes had good tires, and the lack of traction on the KLX made it slide around a lot killing my confidence and making me much more tense. I can ride it pretty hard on hard pack gravel pit type stuff and not get nearly as tired.
The bar position is low on the KLX, setting the bike up with a better bar I think will help. I have a riser now, but the sweep for me anyway is not good for being up on the pegs. Plus, I think I need a little more height on top of the riser I am using now. I have to experiment with it. That I think is the number two thing.

The last thing that the KLX needs is different gearing. The space between 1st and 2nd is not good for the type of riding I was doing. I am also going to do some basic mods for a little more snap and maybe try the MCM. Having power also makes it a little less tiring. The quality of power on the KTM 250 2 stroke was fantastic. Lifting the front end was effortless, again it gave confidence which made me more comfortable and relaxed on the bike. Other than some basic changes the KLX is not going to get a whole lot better on power, so I will just take what I can get.

All of the stuff I am looking to do is fairly cheap, so it makes sense. I am not trying to transform the bike into something it is not, and for the money the KLX can’t be beat.
Riding more off road and just getting confident on the bike will help too. I got the bike for fun and to teach my youngster to ride (grabbed a new KLX230 for him at the same time I got the KLX300). Bike has been perfect for that. The KLX is not ever going to be the same as the KTM and the Husky, but I think it has enough capability out of the box with a proper setup for me to do much better and have more fun on the trails, and most importantly not have to work as hard. Something else that hopefully is obvious, the KLX is a way better street bike than the KTM (not meant for the road) and the Husky (which is street legal). I did not expect to get into trail riding as much as I have, so all I really want to do is optimize the KLX for the trails since I am not worried about the street aspect (it will still be good for 2 lane country road riding) as much and to keep riding with my kid. Getting the KLX more dirt worthy is just for the times when I go trail riding with the guys that I can’t (yet) keep up with.

Both my buddies said right off the bat, ditch the tires. They also thought the KLX was great bike and a lot of fun and performed well on the trails. They did enjoy riding it. Both of them could ride it a lot faster than me, and they both recommended the bar change and tire change and thought that would make a big difference for me.

 

KLX is a trail bike IMO, the KTM & Husky are race bikes. Your not going to keep up with them. If you want to ride with them hard, you might as well get the KLX out the door and pick another bike. Too many changes are required, it is lacking in all categories.

 

I hope nobody got the impression from what I said that that the KLX is going to equal a Husky or KTM, not sure how that leap would be made. Anybody got an evaluation on the D606 in wet wooded trails?

 

I run Michelin 5 Star Med, I think, but I ride in rocks so I can't help U. They are not street legal, but I've had them up to 70mph so I'm good. I like my Kawa 350, I can almost keep up with a KTM 350 on the trails, but it is a struggle. I end up at the overlook about 1 min behind usually. I can drop him on the highway though, cause of gearing.
Your post seem to lean to making a bike that would match a KTM 2 smoker, it ain't going to ever do that.

 

Well I disagree. Keeping up with the race bikes all depends on your skill level. I sold a Honda '93 XR250L last year that would prove you wrong. I had stripped some of the unnecessary weight off (still street legal) but engine/exhaust completely stock. It wouldn't win any drag races for sure, but I could run with A and B level Enduro riders on single track Arkansas hilly terrain. Of course couldn't stay with fast A or AA riders though. All the other riders would be on Betas, KTMs, GasGas etc. So much fun going fast on a slow bike! They would be spinning in places I'd be hooking up. Would have to brake later and get on the gas sooner. Owned it about 15 years and due to pushing it so hard, rebuilt topend 3 times. That was due to keeping it pegged out. Even did a few AMA dual sport rides on it. Those that have done those know that little races break out along the route. I got into one with other guys on KTMs and a few Yamahas on a tight twisty gravel road . Passed all but the leader on a 450 KTM. I could catch him in the turns, but couldn't quite get around. Then he would stretch out a lead on each straight. Some of the most fun I remember having on a bike! My recently acquired '09 KLX250s feels a lot more capable. All it needs to ride fast in the woods, in my opinion, is good tires, set suspension for your weight, narrow bars, handguards, take off unnecessary items to save a few pounds and re-gear. Learning to ride a slow bike fast and pushing it to it's limits is, in my opinion, the best way to learn.

 

U are a better rider than me, if you had been on a KTM, U would have won!

 

I really like Kenda Trakmasters. A lot cheaper than 606's, and I think they work better in mud.

 

I have heard they work well, are they Ok on the street? I don't need great on the street, just safe and adaquate for normal street driving.