First post so introduction. Name is Erik. I'm in eastern NC. New to motorcycle riding so my 09 is my first bike ever and have been exceedingly happy with it.

The number of items searches on google reveal is staggering so hoping to get some guided advice.

First issue is my rear tire is gone after a wopping 4500 miles. 90% of those miles have been 2 lane highway running about 60. I use the front brake primarily and I don't think I am taking off that fast on a regular basis. Is this surprising or abnormal for the stock tires? I'm thinking I want to go with some tires that are more road oriented. It's pretty flat around here so I'm thinking a 60/40 or 70/30 tire would be more suitable for the riding I'm doing. I'm hoping for recommendations and links would be even better.

Next thing I need is some hand guards. I've looked at the Acerbis Rally II and the MSR hand guards so far. Big thing here is it needs to be green and shield my hands from wind as much as possible since winter is just around the corner. Perhaps there are some models I've overlooked.

I've been thinking about a windscreen for the winter months. I found this one: http://www.twistedthrottle.com/trade...tview/935/668/ Anyone had any experience with this model or others? Will it make it appreciably more comfortable riding in the cold? The wind blows a lot here on the coast in the winter so I'm wondering will I get tossed around more when a "nor-easter" comes with the added wind resistance?

Last of all, luggage. So far the only saddle bags I've found explicitly claimed to work on the klx250 are the dirt bagz. I was thinking about some hard boxes but nothing turned up in my searches. Also, a friend of my suggested that the hard boxes are a no-go on dual sport since they are more likely to break and cause problems with off-road spills. Opinions? I'm not seeing hard boxes that are made to work but I was thinking that if I was willing to spend a little a machine shop could fabricate something to hold them. Issues with the rear part part of the frame not handling the stress? If it sounds silly, I must admit I genuinely don't know. Also, in some of the pictures of posters here I've seen luggage racks but as far as a google search that will reveal them I'm clueless.

To put all of this in perspective, I'm trying to get equipped for distance so I can travel to far-away places, camp, hit up terrain parks, and move on to the next one. That and I have a social life spread over a 200 mi radius now because of the ridiculous gas mileage I'm getting

Look forward to the replies. -Erik

 

Erik, Welcome to KF

I'll let Deej chastise you for the the lack of a proper introduction - hey,it's his yob. As regards the barkbusters I have a set of Tusk D-Flex in correct Kawasaki barf green. They work.

4500 miles out of your tires. Wow. I've got just over 1500 on the stock set ( 70/30 road/dirt ) and they're just about gone. Have heard here that a Kenda 270 has a much longer life - might give it a try.

No comments on luggage, but then again I'm not looking to go too far. Good luck, and use the search feature here - lot's of good stuff.

 

I've been told you don't need too much of a windscreen, the small ones do an incredible job of keeping the wind off your chest.

As for luggage, with a bit of tampering and playing around, the RJ range is cheapish and fits quite well... this is what Ive done with mine, and now that I've worked out how to do it, its about a 10 minute job getting them on and taking them off.