I was able to take my bone stock klx up to the mountains around Stanley, ID over Labor Day. I got to do quite a bit of fire road riding and even some single track.

The only single track trail that is close to my family's place is the Boundary creek trail that connects to the Casino Creek Loop. It is about 5.5 miles to the top, starts at 6700' and connects with the Casino Creek loop at about 8300'. I had been on this trail a couple of times on Honda 90's and had hiked it once so I was fairly familiar.

The bike performed well but not as well as I had hoped. There are 6 or 7 steep switchbacks that I had trouble negotiating. The bike's turn radius was too wide and I ended up having to pick one end of the bike up, pivot it so i wasn't heading off the cliff, and then try to get going again. What is the best way to tackle switchbacks? I think it would have helped to have lower gearing to help with the slow speeds around the switchback.

Even with having trouble, I was able to make it to the top.

I then went to try to go south to get to a Casino Lakes viewpoint but the trail quickly showed me that I didn't have the skills or the equipment to make it. There was a section of steep trail about 30 yards long that was more of a boulder field than a trail. I gave the bike full throttle, made it about 3/4 of the way up and the back tire hit a rock wrong and spun out. I lost my balance and ended up dropping the bike on the left side, snapping off the ball on the clutch lever. So, after that I decided I better head back down.

Overall, I had a blast and definitely tested my skills. It would have helped to have lower gearing, better off-road tires, and of course hand guards! It would have also been good to watch an experienced rider negotiate the switchbacks because I don't know if it is just my inexperience or if the trail was really that hard. Thanks for reading.

 

Wow! What a view. Thanks for posting that.

 

Hey Jaemer,
We were in Copper Basin this weekend doing some rough stuff too. Add a skid plate to your list. I'm running 13/45 gears and wished I had the 13/49 back on. There were a few places I wanted to go slower than 13/45 would easily do so I practiced my clutch slipping, and a lot more where I wanted to be in 2nd but that was too high. Ride report to follow sometime...

 

yup, skid plate and cargo rack are also on the list. How big of a pain is it to switch sprockets? I know I will need the highway speed next summer for commuting but it would be nice to have the low end too. Would it be worth while to switch gearing just for a weekend then go back to stock for the commute?

 

Now that I have practiced it several times, I can switch between the 13 and 15 on front in about 15 minutes. I rarely put the 14 on even though it's in the box. Remove the CS guard and case saver, loosen the CS bolt (big breaker bar and a socket through the rear sprocket jammed against the swing arm), loosen the rear axle bolt (don't even remove the clip), slip axle forward then the chain off the rear sprocket, change front sprocket, and put it back together.

 

That doesn't sound too bad. I'll have to look into them.

 

The 13 (and 15 I think) are easy changes to the stock 42 tooth rear sprocket and existing chain and the 13 will bump you some to help with the steep trails. But my experience is for that steep, tight trail work you'll want to get a larger rear sprocket and longer chain to match it. I've tried 45 and 49 tooth rear sprockets, have the 45 on now, and will be going back to the 49 sometime soon. I believe TNC and some others here are using 47 rears.

 

I think i will try switching out the 13t and 15t next spring for the situation and see how that goes. If more low end is needed, then i will look at changing out the rear sprocket and getting a different chain. Thanks for the help.

 

Just to be clear, 14T is stock. Get the 13T for more low end. Most don't use the 15T on the stock rear sprocket; I use it only because I have such a large rear sprocket and need higher gearing for road riding.

 

if you are going to run mostly dirt like i do with my 07 a 12t front an a 52t rear is an amazing setup for dirt and i usually get around the switch backs by dropping a foot in the corner gettin on the front break a little and grabbing the gas a bit and whipping it around best to get this down in a dirt lot before going and doing it on the trail, thats my procedure for really tight ones but if you have a little room you can do what i like to refer to as a SX turn and you will take the high line into thr top of the corner drop your foot and all your wieght to the inside of the corner getting as close as you can to the bars and shoot for the late apex of the turn and pin it and with the klx stoc a little feathering of the clucth and get thr rear to swing a bit then sit back and get the rear seated again and ride out of the corner, again do this some where with space and noting to run in to