Hey mel...do you still have your KLX? And BTW...any of the crew from your neck of the woods thinking about going to RMAR over in Silverton this August?

 

You guys sound like XC MTB racers.... My bike is better because it's 300 grams lighter...!

 

hmmm.... almost same price as KLX, 20lbs heavier, probably same HP at wheel stock, no big bore or other proven serious power upgrades out there (yet), probably will not be decent selection of aftermarket parts available for some time.

While i think its great that honda is attempting to breath some more life into this much neglected niche market... looks like they dropped the ball IMO.

 

No...but wouldn't you think since Honda waited to come to the game until 2012 for the watercooled 250 DS class that they could have been more competitive on their finished weight?...not to mention much in the way of dual sport innovation other than fuel injection compared to the Kawasaki or Yamaha.

It's Honda, not some 3rd world manufacturer. They should have done a better job overall. While there's probably no way this bike will be junk, for a company who has done so well in their competition off road bikes, they have continually dropped the ball in the DS market for many years now. Twenty pounds more weight is just another strike against it.

 

It's a really nice looking bike. The fact that it's a Honda means it'll sell, and being $500 less than the KLX and $1000 less than the WR is a good thing. Looking at the bore/stroke numbers, it's much closer to the WR motor than the KLX, so the KLX will have torque all over it.

Being fuel injected is a killer for me. I hate EPA-spec FI on these things because they pretty much suck out of the box and you need a $300 Power Commander to smooth things out. I rode a WR in March and HATED it because you had to gas the **** out of it to get it going from a start because the EFI was so twitchy.

I hate to "hate" on it, but this is a great example of Honda Mediocrity.

Rob

 

I think it is really aimed more at a commuter to capture the market that is not interested in their CBR250R.

HP claims are based on the actual of the CBR250R. Honda does their thing and I don't mind the bike at all. Kind of like the CBR250r that lools like a sport bike but is really a dressed standard. This may look like a dirt bike but better at the commute type duty.

More bikes to choose is a good thing in my book.

 

Yep, the KLX351 sumo gets ridden more than anything these days. Forest Service has shut down most of our old riding and we have to go pretty far to find some decent off road.



I've heard that a few of the guys are talking Silverton, but nothing firm yet.

Sorry for the hijack, we now return to our regular programming.

 

The rack/trail is more laid back also, probably handles a little slower than the kAWA. The tank size on these things (including Kawa) are crazy, if you ride hard your not going to get 70mph and then your running out of gas.(BIG PERIOD)

 

Looks nice. I like the white one. It's not for me because I have my klx almost the way I want it to be.

Isnt this only available in Japan's market?

Dont get your boxers in a wad....

 

It's on Honda's U.S. model lineup, so it definitely looks like it will be available here. You know...I guess I'm really disappointed with Honda in their whole DS lineup because I know what they're capable of. They make killer competition dirt bikes. Honda and Yamaha were the pioneers of the DS style bike...Yamaha going 2-stroke and Honda going 4-stroke. Here we are in 2012, and Honda uses a 230 engine that started life in the 60's over their really great 4-stroke motors like the XR250R that came out in the 80's. Honda had one the very best and realiable watercooled 650 engines and chassis in their XR650R, but they threw it away and stuck with an 80's aircooled 650 DS. Honda just doesn't seem to have any enthusiasm in the DS market, and it shows.