My brother and I have just returned from a weekend of trail riding at a dirt bike park west of Sydney called Binacrombi. The main reason we went there is that my brother has a Honda CRF450R (motocross version, so not road registrable) so he cannot ride in the state parks (legally). The park is on the western edge of the Blue Mountains, so it was freezing cold, very hilly, and very rocky. Oh, and it's right near the Abercrombie river, so there were river crossings.

So, with the scene set, we arrived at the park after a 4 hour drive from Sydney on Friday afternoon. After unpacking we took our bikes to the small but rough track near the cabins to get a bit of a feel for our setups. A bit of tyre pressure adjusting later I was feeling a little happier, but my brother wasn't quite right. He was still much quicker off the mark than me though, so we figured he'd be fine.

We woke to a freezing cold and frosty morning on Saturday, but we were determined to go riding. (See my frozen socks video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPmDKDmkxVM) There was a simple circuit through pine trees we used as a warm up, and it made us realise we were in for some slick and rough riding with plenty of nasty rocks all over the place. My brother was being knocked all over the place on his CRF, but I was finding things pretty good on my KLX. The new springs in the suspension were working a treat and soaking up the bumps beautifully. In spite of the loose dirt in places, and the slippery wet patches, my stock tyres seemed to be handling fine. I checked the rim clean when we got back to base after about an hours riding and it seemed to be a perfect 2mm of clean edge. I think I had about 12psi in the front, and 11 in the rear.
See my Rim Clean video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwfc6MYDSt0

My brother, on the other hand, was not a happy chap. He had to drop his pressures further and dial his compression damping right out. After that he was a lot better off handling wise, but we soon found out that 450cc of power can actually be too much when it comes to tricky conditions.

In the afternoon we did a great long trail that took us on a great mix of uphills, downhills, tight twisty sections, wider open sections, dry riding, and wet riding. We soon discovered that I was MUCH quicker and more comfortable on the uphill sections, but the lighter combo of bike and rider in my brother and his knobbly shod CRF450 (some 60kg's lighter in total) were superior down the steep hills. The river crossings were pretty simple really, but again, the more useable power of the KLX meant less clutch work getting through the water at slower engine revs. At the end of the trail was a nice wide open couple of km's where we got to open the engines up and enjoy a fast run home.
See our first break video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxNKkexVyQo

Back home for our lunch break, a father and son combo were very interested in the route we had just done, so we decided to do it again with them. The father had a CRF450X (the endure version of my brothers bike) and his 15 year old son had a little KX85. The youngster was very concerned about drowning his bike, and they were both very tired after attempting a hill climb the day before and ending up pushing their bikes up most of the hill (before they realised there was an easier route around the hill later). Anyway, we set off with me in the lead because I had the GPS to follow the track we had already been on. Not that it helped much coz I ended up taking a wrong turn – up a massive hill that just kept getting steeper. I couldn't afford to stop for fear of not being able to get going again, so it was quite a while before I reached the top. In first gear she just chugged up the steep slope without any fuss.

After waiting about 10 minutes at the top of the hill and not hearing any other bikes I decided to go back down to see what was going on. I met my brother two thirds of the way down the slope – he had fallen and was turning around to head back down. The other two were at the bottom with their helmets off. Guess why? It was the hill climb they had attempted the day before that had left them shattered, and they were not going to attempt it again under any circumstance. So just to recap – KLX250 made it up no problem first time, and 2 CRF450's has failed to do the hill. I think we can forgive the little KX85 for not making it up.

Back on track, we pressed on with the river crossings and the main trail. My brother and I rode across the rivers, but the other two chose to cut their engines and push their bikes across so as not to drown them. I thought they were silly until what happened next. My brother had lead us around first time at quite a pace and there was a deep puddle which we hit and only just managed to get through. With me leading, I was going quite a bit slower and forgot how deep the puddle was. Bad mistake. Half way through the damn thing my engine got swamped and cut out. My heart sank as I thought it had sucked water in and that I had scribbled my engine. After pushing my bike out my brother rode through without fuss, and we helped the other two push their bikes through. While doing that somehow my brother managed to restart my bike. I can only assume I need to do the crank case breather mod so that the engine can swim.

Not long after that we put the other two on the open trail back home and we ducked onto a trail we hadn’t seen before. We were both feeling pretty confident by now, and were burning along the trails pretty quickly. Another mistake by me. I got to a blind rise only to realise there was a tight off camber bend to the right – and I was going way too fast to make it. My back end was hanging out to the left, but to avoid hitting a tree I had to flick it out to the right so I could go between the trees. That's when I noticed a strand of wire hanging at neck height across the trees. God knows how I reacted quickly enough, but I dumped the bike and narrowly missed taking my head off. I did go tumbling quite badly, but the protective gear did its job and left me with only some bumps and bruises. I was really lucky!

With a seriously knocked confidence I limped home and called it a day. The bike was fine except for slightly bent handle bars and my bark busters out of place – small damage all things considered. This bike is bulletproof!

We finished the weekend with a very placid 2 hour ride on familiar trails on Sunday morning, then packed up and drove home. Yesterday was a cleaning and maintenance day, and other than some evidence of muddy water in the air box, there was nothing to be concerned about with the bike. So you know what – I think I have made the right decision getting the KLX250, even if it doesn't have the power of a 450. The only thing I wish was that the bike was about 30kgs lighter.

(Unfortunately I didn't take any pics, but I have a few vids that I need to edit and upload still.)

 

Sounds like a blast! Thanks for sharing. I can't help but wondering why the wire was hanging there though. Do you suppose it had a meaningful purpose, or was it someones bad intention?

 

60 kgs weight difference?

Wow, that's a lot...

 

I think it used to be a fence at some stage - nothing done intentionally to hurt anyone. Still, not a good thing.

Yeah, my bike is about 25kg's heavier, and I am 35kg's heavier than my brother - so the combined weight difference of bike and rider is about 60kg's. Can tell you now, that weight difference x gravity when going down steep hills = damn difficult to stop momentum!

 

Unfortunately most of my video footage was rubbish, but I did manage to salvage these (added links in the write-up above):

Frozen socks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPmDKDmkxVM

Rim clean (perfect tyre pressure)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwfc6MYDSt0

First break
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxNKkexVyQo

 

Hey , that was a good write up, I could see the ride in my head. Pictures would be good too though. Loved the sock vid. Funny to me because it's 90 degrees F here and about 90% humidity too. F-ing tropical here, and I'm in the air conditioning watching a guy pick frozen socks off the outside railing. Good stuff, sounds like you guys had fun.
thanks for the report
Dan

 

Great writeup. Just what I have been saying about the KLX for 4 years