Kawi designed the KLX to be a "50-state" bike, which meant it had to be easily outfitted with enough EPA crap to be legal in CA.

Still, one of the reasons I bought the KLX over any other bike was because it is so easy and cheap to breathe new life into it! The other manufacturers whose bikes are so much more rideable are so much more expensive as well. They paid dearly, in retail price, to meet the EPA standards AND have a "rideable" product. Kawi chose to cork the KLX and keep the price down, fully knowing that those who buy it can, for under $400, un-cork it and transform it into an awesome bike.

Keep in mind that mine (from the crate) has never had a single starting or idle issue, like so many others have reported...

 

honestly the only small displacmet bikes that are 100%( at least to my feelings as to how a bike should be) cost upwards of 10k ktm exc350 or the betas are amazing bikes but i couldn't throw 2x the cost for a bike when its not my primary bike and i think to date i've only spent 1800-2200 on my bike to get it to where i want and that is to me better than spending 10k pluss i have never had to work on this bike other than normal wear items where as a ktm would have required more $$ to keep up

 

the klx is what it is, it'll never be a powerful quick snappy bike like some of the competition from europe or MX negined conversions.. But it has great run quality and will go 10's of thousands of miles without rebuilds. The suspension will; never be as good but will do fine everywhere once setup every where but long stretches of woops. In the tight woods it does better than many other bigger DS bikes I or my buds own. It's kind of fun to 'take it to" some of the unsuspecting exotic bikes on a humble KLX. They are fairly short and they turn well, the weight is low CG so the change direction well. Out in the open where the speeds get higher and the woops get deep, that's where it has limitation. As far as power, it has very little to do with going fast.

 

oh don't get me wrong i bought it for a reason lol, and it does all it does beautifully, i'm a firm beliver that you can ride anything anywhere and do anything with it comes down to the person behind the bars and how they can ride not the limit of the bike look at what guys that raced baja in the early years they did amazing things with what they had at the time if you gave them the bike we have now, back then it would have blown the doors off (respectively lol) anything you just have to be a goodenough rider to do it and if you are willing to spend the $$ beond just bolt on stuff like i have it really makes a big diffrance like it would in any motor

 

Just saw this comparison... folks really like FI.

 

Rider had an article comparing the Honda Kawi and Yamaha 250 dual sports either this month or last (just go the mag from a buddy). They gave the KLX the number 2 spot behind the Yamaha. I'll try and get a scan or pics up when i get home from work.

 

Kind of a short sighted review in my opinion.
If I wanted a reliable, start anytime, 250 road bike, I'd buy the Honda.
But I want a DS 250. And around here, ground clearance is king off-road.
The review compared stock tires. So what? Kawi was trying to keep the price down so put cheap tires on.
And they barely noticed that you can adjust the KLX suspension, but can't on the Honda. Not a good place for cost savings in the manufacturing process, IMHO.
I like the adjustable factor of the suspension. I adjust it for road and off-road conditions.
And I bet if the KLX had a handlebar mounted choke, they wouldn't have been so negative about how it starts. Me either actually. I'm not a big fan of the choke on the carb. The KLX's throttle housing has a plastic blank filling in where the choke could go, hmmm....
I'm not against FI, it will mean the end of me working on my own bikes, well at least until I learn a whole new bag of tricks. I like working on my bike to fix it, I'm not sure how I'll do when a computer gets involved. I've read the FI threads here and my hats off to those guys that can tune them. I'm just not one of them, yet.

 

How does that FI work after you drag your bike out a spill in 3' sink hole crossing a creek? Honesty I don't know.

 

A real key deal on these two bikes is potential and how you're going to ride them. If you want a bone stock bike that will never see any more than a rough dirt road, the Honda might actually be the better choice. If you're looking to go do some real off roading along with pavement duty, the KLX has so much more potential than the Honda. The suspension will be a serious drawback on the Honda. There's little to mod this suspension to equal a modded KLX fork and shock. It's a heavier bike to start with, and you can lower the weight of the KLX just as easily as the Honda, so you're still at a lower weight with the KLX. The stock motor of the Honda is pretty nice, but there are so many mods for the KLX from bigger bores to pumper carbs, etc. The intended duty of the bike would be the biggest factor here IMO.

 

I'm considering purchasing a new CRF250L, as well as a used KLX250S. I recently sat on a CRF250L at the local Honda dealer's showroom. The bike truly feels heavy. I rode a friend's KLX250S last summer, and I was favorably impressed with the Kawasaki's suspension. I have my doubts about the Honda's suspension.

What's the actual curb weight of the KLX250S? Some riders say the CRF250L actually weighs 310 pounds, instead of the specified 320 pounds. Does the KLX250S weigh less than the specified 298 pounds?

Spud