Wondering if anyone has some suggestions to drop weight on this 07 KLX250.

Believe stock weight was 260 dry, so about 270-275 wet? I'm getting a twin brothers exhaust, but what else can I do to drop weight? I've got a cyclops aftermarket headlight which is lighter than stock..lol

Trying to shave off about 20-30 pounds. But this bike don't really have alot of "extra's" built into em..Even if I swap the exhaust with the twin brothers, remove the plate, passenger pegs, blinkers, swap levers for stronger/lighter models over stock I still can't see a reduction in maybe 5-8 pounds total..Very far from the 20-30 I'm aiming for..lol

Anyone got some suggestions? If I chop the Subframe and bracket on the plate on a side mount that can be removed would I ruin any structure aspects? You don't really sit that far back on the bike..But I also don't want plastics bouncing, so not sure if that would even work..lol

 

Aluminum rear sprocket & some sort of Ballistic or Evo2 gel battery should shed quite a few pounds.

 

I don't think you'll be able to lose 25 pounds on the '06-'07 models...don't know as much about the '09 and later models. One place to drop some weight and gain a nice benefit is losing the stupid, stock, instrument panel. It's an old fashioned piece of junk on the older model IMO. Replacing it with a Vapor unit yields better info and drops significant weight. The old instrument panel has been weighed on here before, and it was decently heavy.

The exhaust is another good place to drop some weight and gain a performance benefit. The OEM turn signals are a bit heavy too. Here in my state they're not required. I removed mine, but if you actually commute a lot in an urban area, I do recommend turn signals...maybe some lighter aftermarket units. The stock headlight on the older model is a bit of boat anchor too...lighter units are available. I don't know about the aluminum rear sprockets being a great choice on the KLX if you use the bike a good deal on the pavement. They're great for race style bikes used for racing or strictly off road, but they don't live nearly as long as steel sprockets when you start spending time on pavement. There are a couple of very high quality alloy rear sprockets out there that have a decent durability, but geez...they are crazy expensive from most sources.

Cutting off any parts of the subframe just isn't wise IMO. If you're down to that level of weight concern, you have the wrong bike. On the wet weight of the '06-'07 models, I think you're closer to 300 pounds than you think.

 

Weigh the bike ready to ride. Just use your bathroom scale and roll the front wheel on it and then the back wheel and then add. I bet you are nearly 300# but then again most 4 stroke (non-motocross) bikes ready to ride will be about the same. The KLX is a light dual sport.

I switched exhaust, switched to a vapor, dumped rear blinkers for flush mounts. But then added bark busters, real skid plate, UHD tubes, slibe, real tires, rim locks, etc.

It is was it is. Chasing pounds on a 300# bike is pretty silly when most of us could stand to lose some weight ourselves.

 

Highbeam, our weight as the rider is "suspended" weight which makes less difference...so go ahead and have that extra piece of chocolate cake.

 

n00b question:

Isn't everything that's not wheels/tires/forks/swingarm "suspended" weight?

Or do you mean that any load that isn't firmly attached to the bike is suspended (because it can be shifted around)?

OR ... do you mean that any rider wearing suspenders effectively weighs less than a rider without suspenders (because all the weight of their pants is carried on their shoulders, of course!)?

I'm leaning towards option 3, because SCIENCE.

 

Great post prefader.

I have heard of rolling weight, or unsprung weight being the wheels and tires. Having ridden XR400 weight bikes for most of my life, the KLX feels adequately light, it's not a pig. A little more weight might even be nice on the freeway up over 60 mph.

I suppose that the heavier the rider is, the lighter the bike feels. If I weighed 300# I bet the KLX would feel like a mountain bike.

 

I'm with Highbeam on this one. I lost about 10 lbs on the bike, but heavier tires added some back on. I haven't even added the barkbusters yet. Can't worry about it too much. Lighter bikes cost thousands more...who needs the headache. There was one guy on this forum who dropped an amazing amount, but it wasn't street legal anymore.

 

Please do not hack up your subframe in the interest of losing weight.
Just don't.

 

Prefader...my post had nothing to do with science. I just wanted another piece of chocolate cake.