Craigt,
I was in your shoes about a year ago. I bought an 09 with 125 miles on it for $2950 after about 10 years off from riding anything but street bikes. After 45 miles of riding I went on a 750 mile dual sport ride in the Nevada desert and was hooked! Although the bike in stock form was fun, I quickly realized i had out grown it. I started looking for something lighter and more powerful. They are out there, ktm 350 being what I thought the best. It is however close to $10,000! I read and researched and finally decided to keep the klx and mod it. It now is a 351, with gold valves and springs in fork, and gold valves in shock. I put on racks, guards, rim locks, etc. I have about $4500 total into the bike and I feel like I have a very worthy all around machine. It is not a super light bike, but I feel it is super reliable, powerful, road and trail worthy, and with the suspension mods, able to handle most terrain. For everything but crazy technical trails and long high speed pavement runs, it puts a huge smile on my face. It so far has not left me stranded nor completely broke. Someday i will have a 300 2 stroker, the klx, and a ktm 690. But for now and for me, the mods were totally worth it. I hope that helps you. With all of the info on this site, you can do all the mods yourself. Good luck!

 

If you do start mods on your KLX, start with the suspension. I just re-sprung my 07 for my weight and it made the biggest difference. I wish I had done it before the intake, pipe and jetting. I think I will be doing a big bore not to far in the future. The lack of power at altitude became apparent recently when riding with better riders on bigger bikes.

 

So this might be a consideration before any carb change... think it would have kept me from busting my ankle?


Nah, nothing would have helped there... other than a tad more skill and good fortune. You can't get much slower than a few mph. If it had just rained Sunday night, like it was supposed to...


I am serious about it though, a better place to spend the money?

What did you do on the rear? Revalve again or fluid change/spring change?

 

The rear shock damping was OK as delivered, but I definitely needed a heavier spring for my weight, riding, and bike equipment. I went to a 6.0 spring from Eibach for the KLX300. Since I was changing the oil anyway, I did a Race Tech Gold Valve kit. I just changed the oil again right before my recent Utah trip.

 

The first two most important upgrades you can make are either the big bore kit, or the suspension. Either one can come first, either one can be second. These will drastically change how the bike feels.

From there, tires are the next most important aspect of how the bike handles off-road. Don't forget handlebars that fit YOU

Finally comes finishing touches, pumper carb, cams, outward appearances, etc.

 

what he said!

 

So, I talked to a guy at a local Kawasaki shop and he indicated that the KLX450 requires alot more servicing than the KLX250. That might sway me away from the KLX450. Also, I couldn't find much good data but it appears that the KLX450 get much worse gas mileage. I saw contradictory info but I think 35mpg for the KLX450? That would make it less useful for longer trips.

Does the BB351 change the service intervals for the KLX250? Also how does the BB351 affect engine braking?

 

Service intervals? What service intervals? I change the oil whenever (same maintenance)

The engine braking is vastly more imo

 

Yeah, the engines and overall bikes between the 450 and KLX250 are extremely different animals. The KLX450 is really a competition bike at heart. It's not a great candidate for dual sporting at least as far as most people define dual sporting. It would be a lousy commuter and not great on the highway. It's a great bike, but perhaps not the best DS choice.

Service intervals on a big bore KLX250 will not change. Engine braking will be a bit more aggressive on a bigger bore, but I can't see any negative effect from that in real world use.

 

Don't drop down 2 gears in the rain and expect it to slow you down lol