I'm getting ready for the first race of the year, a desert race, on the KLX. I have 1200+ miles on it and have most of the mods done to ride real off road. The stock tires are really not bad but I want more so they are to be replaced with Dunlop 606s front and rear. I want DOT legal tires and figure I might as well try the Dunlops first.

So I ordered the whole mess from Rocky mountain which I've been doing for many years. 606s, Bridgestone HD tubes, and the motion pro rimlocks to match the rim.

First thing you do is set the tires by the stove to warm up. Cat seems intrigued.

Then rip off the OEM tire and tube. Stow them as shown for future use, really though, they'll just take up space from now on. Note the more open tread pattern of the 606 front.

Not sure on pitcure limits so I'll make post 2 to continue.

 

Kak-a-saki did one thing that I'm proud of them for. They made it so that you can move the axle up far enough to slip the OEM chain off the rear sprocket without messing with the master link. Good job Kawi, almost makes up for the dumb change away from snail adjusters.

Then rip off the rear and sit and stare at the half mounted tire, the super thick tube that needs to be stuffed in, and the valve stem that you know will be awful to poke through the rim.

I am using windex for lube, one big cast iron tire iron and one smaller iron to install.

Then I reinstall after airing up and making sure no leak down occurs. Tighten rim locks and valve stems. Then the final most important thing.... Slime. I am a big fan of slime. 8 ounces in each tire per the specs.

 

Took it for a 30 mile test ride on the road to wear in the new tire and distribute the slime. Boy oh boy was the KLX suffering from out of balance tires. Pretty bad at freeway speeds.

I stopped by several auto parts places and even a discount tire to find some stick on tire weights. The DT guy was afraid to sell me weights. Finally found them at O-reilleys, which is what schucks used to be. 4-2 ounce strips for 5$.

I have no idea what a rimlock weighs but figures that I was at least 2 ounces out on each tire so I applied two ounces to each rim as shown. Note that the front rim is too skinny to put them on the normal way so you need to contour them to the center hump. Not sure if they'll stay put or not but something is needed for the road with rim-locks.

Hope you enjoyed my schpeel.

 

I bought a low mileage '09 a couple weeks ago and just added a rimlock to the rear tire today. It took 3 oz to balance it.

It was probably your front tire giving you the most "bounce". Out of balance rear tires don't seem to be a big deal, but an out of balance front tire is really irritating on the road.

 

So tell me, is a 6 gallon bucket the approved center stand for these bikes? I've never owned a bike without an attached centerstand until the KLX250SF and the idea of spending $100 for a jack stand doesn't sit well...

 

beautiful bike man I love black

 

That UTF bucket worked extremely well for the job. Just high enough to keep both tires off the ground but not too tall to flop the bike up onto it.

 

The front rimlock is much smaller so maybe the 2 ounces is enough. Still some bounce but tolerable. Do the 606 tires cause some of the bounce or can it all be blamed on those rim locks? It's pretty easy to add more weight but pretty hard to know if I have added too much or not enough without removing the wheel and rigging up a balancing stand.

I too like the black, it is the SF plastic moved over to my S model. The worst part is that every scratch is very noticable. Maybe after about a thousand scratches it won't be so bad.

 

HIghbeam, it looks like you've got the older metal rim locks (hard to tell for sure), they take closer to 6 oz to balance. Shortly after I got my rim locks Motion Pro came out with the newer high tech (blue) plastic ones which are a lot lighter. The better balance weights are the ones that go on the spokes, can't get brushed off by rocks. My bike: one wheel has the stick ons, the other the good ones. Done at the same shop, different days by different mechanics. I put a bead of GLOOZIT around the stickons after I marked (light scratch) their location.

 

I have read here on the board that there should be a dot on the new tire indicating the heaviest spot on the tire. It would help to mount that opposite the rimlock. If the stick on weights don't stay put, they sell spoke weights that attach right around a spoke. oops ol-klx-er beat me to it
Black bike does look good.
Dan