i know this is the KLX250 thread, but i cant find a 650 section on here. was wondering if there was a section for that, or i have to look elsewhere. it looks just like my 250 just a lot bigger. i just got a 96 KLX650 with 2 engines, one kickstart, one elec. just wanted to read up on as much info as i can to get this big beast goin again

 

Yeah, it was a very good bike that just didn't get the popularity I think it deserved. I didn't look, but it's a little surprising that there was no category forum here for it. The bike didn't hardly sell at all, and they disappeared quickly. A shame really. You'll probably get some input from klx678 here.

 

i did some reading and found info on what a few differences are. it really is a shame, they should bring back the 650 like they did the 250. i love my KLX250 but its power is laughable and leaves you wanting much more. ive always been a Kawi guy so i didnt really want to get something else. a friend bought a 96 KLX650c some time ago and hasn't made any progress so i got it. im trying to decide if i want to just fix it and have 2 bikes, or cram the 650 engine in the 250 frame since the size and weight would be much more favorable (im an excellent welder so not worried about that)

 

You won't jam the 650 into the 250 frame. Much smaller and won't fit. They may look similar, but not similar enough. The 650 was my main ride for about 20 years, doing all I did. When I test rode a KLX250 for my brother, who was looking to buy one near me, but over 100 miles from him, I found it was like riding a mountain bike. I bought one. I plan to do a 300 kit/carb/pipe on the 250 hopefully this winter after getting heat in the "shed". A 300 lb 300 is much more appealing than a 375 lb 650 on the trails in eastern Ohio. I think out west, the riding is more wide open in a lot of areas, not so here.

The 650 has a lot of parts becoming rarer, virtually no bodywork can be found other than the fenders, which match to the KLX300. Some big parts are not available either, like heads. Mine is still in good shape, but appears to have a rod bearing disintegrating (bronze like chips in the oil filter) so it's time to tear the engine down with 50,000 miles on it I really enjoyed the bike, still the strongest Japanese dual sport 650 made. It is a shame it didn't take root. It was cost. It was $5400 where the KLR was $4400 and the XR 650L was $4900. The KLRs sold out first, then XRs, then they might sell one or two KLXs. I worked in sales in a dealership that sold Kaws and Hondas and, how it happened I have no idea, but I'd never seen nor heard much about the big KLX650. I wanted a dual sport back in 1998 and the KLX was pointed out. I had to travel to Detroit, around 200 miles one way, to look at a used one. Fortunately it was a very good bike with only 1710 miles on it. Paid $3100 without an argument or haggling.

I did do a big bore using a 102mm Kawasaki Vulcan piston pushing it out to 678cc and adding more power everywhere in the range. That is the reason I'm kind of pumped on doing the KLX300. I used to think big bores were problematic, but learned it just wasn't so. The compression was near stock, so it was basically doing a simple cylinder rebore with rings and pistons, just some added cost for the bore job. I got a hold of a rare Baja Designs full exhaust that uses a tapering head pipe opening up from head to tail pipe, the tail pipe is a reverse cone megaphone set up as well. With the air box opened up and a Dial-A-Jet the bike worked fine through all the other changes. We even had the opportunity to run it against stock and stock with big bore KLXs and it pulled all of them in the long run.

Fun bike, I just need to retire to get time to tear it down and rebuild it without long delays that too often result in basket cases.

 

If you're looking for big power out of the KLX250/300 you're probably on the wrong bike. I used to race real competition dirt bikes during my enduro years in our state circuit...usually powerful 2-strokes. I'd suggest anyone looking at the KLX250 should do so with a realistic expectation of what the bike is intended for. The KLX250 does fine even in spirited off road riding if you address some of its suspension failings like bad damping and spring weights.

 

i really want to do the big bore on the 250 so i was leaning more on the path of putting the 650 together and having 2 bikes. i know the 650 trail capabilities are limited, so it would be more of a road going bike for me. the 250 is much better in the trails im sure. ive never ridden a KLX650 but i have been on a KTM EXC500. from what i can tell, it has similar power to that and i like it. i just dont like the way the EXC felt under me. ive only had Kawis and i think thats all i may ever have. the only sources of information i found for the 650 was ADVrider and the yahoo forums. ive looked through the ADV site a little bit but im having a hard time finding the info on yahoo. other than being 98% disassembled (which is the way i got it) the only real problem the bike has is the cam cap broke like they all do. along with all the parts (i hope they're all there), i got a good engine from a KLX650R. from what ive read, the only difference between the C and the R engine is the kick start and Nikasil plating. it looks to me that i can just swap over the elec. start onto the R engine rather than swapping heads. is this something i can do? i know i cant just put the R engine in the C frame because the plug connectors are different. is the R engine better than the C or are they exactly the same?

i know the KLX250 isnt really meant for huge power, nor do i really expect it to be a race bike. i got it to ride around town and hit the trails. its really fun, but im pretty much at its limits without doing a big bore. thats probably what ill do to it. i have a KX100 also, thats way better off road and much more exciting. i prefer 2 stroke, but the KLX is street legal. i got the 650 from a friend, so that just fell into my lap. if i was going to buy another bike i think it would be the KLX450R and make it street legal. unless thats not good for the engine. i was talking to an engine builder that does alot of KLX stuff and he said the KX450F engine really shouldnt be used for the street because of the engine harmonics. i know the KLX450R is basically a KXF with some changes, just not sure if its off-road only or its ok for street use

 

You are barking up the right tree using the 650 as mostly roads and probably dirt/gravel roads, and the 250 for actual dual sport. From what I know most parts are interchangeable on the two engines short of the ignition stuff. Even the kick start can be built into the C engine. Not really worth doing due to the brake lever being in the way and the odds that as long as you keep the battery decent and a good plug in the bike (I'd change about once every year or two, when I had the tank off for any reason), you won't use it. Heads swap out and you definitely should consider a cam chain tensioner, mine ate two in less than 15,000 miles and I ended up doing a top end, replacing the cam chains. I do make the tensioners and it is only $40.90 including shipping in the US. But there is a good chance one of the two engines has a manual tensioner, they were a bit notorious for the OEM going bad.

I think I am the owner of the Yahoo KLX650 group, the late owner snuck one over on me, making me the owner on the sly. There is a lot of information in the files there, information in the forum using the search, but the actual forum is a poor set up, no where near as good as this or ADVriders. I'd say keep communicating here in the KLX250 group, answers can be had, ADVrider has one good thread KLX650 riders UNITE, and use Yahoo. Feel free to send me an email, I will give you any information, kriegercct@clems-garage.com

 

I tell ya what, klx678...if they had just kept the chassis of the '84-'86 KLR600 they would have been just fine. I had an '85 and '86 model both. One was originally for the wife, but she lost interest a few months after getting her MC license. I kept her '86 in a fairly stock dual sport setup for commuting, pavement, etc. I highly modded my '85 model for serious dirt.

The beauty of the 600's was that it was a very good, strong, lightweight stressed member frame. The swingarm pivoted at the rear of the engine. The frame was light but not a "flexy-flier". The frame also took a 6-gal Acerbis tank that also transferred over to my KLR650 later with very little modification. I had a KX fork on it and a Works Performance shock with remote piggyback reservoir. I was younger and racing enduros back then, and that 600 was light enough and powerful enough to ride some serious off road terrain without whipping my tail. I didn't race that bike, but I road it in many places I would never ride my KLR650 later on.

With a full exhaust, rejetted carb, and an airbox mod that allowed use of a semi-large K&N filter, the engine had plenty of power. But it was the lighter weight...compared to KLR650...and suspension that shined on that bike. I was so disappointed when I got my '88 KLR650. Off road it was a pig compared to the 600. I immediately moved to swap in the 650 engine into my 600 chassis but discovered the engine case no longer had the provision for the swingarm mount. I sold the 600 and regretted it. I had two 650's over the years, and they were fine, but they didn't perform on the dirt anywhere close to the 600, and that's even a 600 in stock trim.

The swingarm/engine case thing got me to thinking. Did the KLX650R and the dual sport model have the swingarm attach to the rear of the engine? I always found it strange that Kaw completely changed the engine cases between the 600 and 650 KLR's.

 

I would have to look, but I don't believe so. I'll check later this week.

 

ahh, ok. now this makes sense why you have so much info. i never made the connection. i got a manual tensioner from you for my 250, unfortunately it was after the oem went bad and broke things. i was actually going to e-mail you to get one for the 650. both engines have the oem, was not even going to risk it. the ignition stuff thats not interchangeable, do you mean the coil, igniter, harness...? or are you talking about the generator? im hoping i can use the complete R engine and swap the whole side cover (along with associated parts) from the C. it seems like that would be much quicker and easier. plus the C engine has been sitting for years not properly covered so there is lots of dust, dirt, and crap in the head. which probably means its in the case too and that means i have to do lots and lots of cleaning. whereas the R engine is really clean and ready to go. also, i think the machine shop i use can fix the cam cap so i would just take my time and have that engine completely gone through so i have a spare all wrapped up ready to go.

from what i can tell, yes. the KLX650R engine looks like the KLX250's, just a lot bigger. the bolt goes through the frame, swingarm, and engine.