Bill_M
Well-known member
I don't see any thread here yet on the variants of the KLX230, so starting one...
Picked up this little beauty for my wife last night:
It is the KLX230S model, and has the ABS option. Not totally sure whether or not my wife is going to like the ABS... she really likes drifting around corners, so if it interferes with that, I'll be looking for info on how to disable it.
Already ordered a few things for it: SeatConcepts seat, PMR rear rack, and the Pitbull pins for the KLX to be able to use it with the trailer restraint system we already have.
We finally are throwing in the towel on her WR250R which has been a bit of a lemon. It needed a valve adjustment at about 7500 miles, again at about 8300 miles, and now at about 8800 miles, the valves are back to zero clearance at TDC, and they are maxed out on the shims, so will need a tear-down, inspection, rebuild, and who knows what might be wrong with it internally to cause such extreme valve wear. I don't have the mechanical ability to do this, so I'm selling off most of the farkles, and then will sell what is left as a parts or fixer-upper bike. The dealership won't estimate what it might cost to do the work without tearing into it first... but best guess is anywhere from $1500 to $3000.
For comparison, our two WR's were bought within a month of each other, have identical upgrades, and have always had identical maintenance. The only difference is my bike has a few hundred more miles on it because it was bought a month earlier. My bike has never needed a valve adjustment, and runs perfectly, like a brand new bike (which it should, at a little over 9K miles, it is barely broken in). These bikes aren't even due their first valve check until 26K miles. The only reason I've checked the clearances on my own bike are because of the problems with hers.
This will be a good move for her... we're not getting any younger, and she already has some difficulties with the height of the WR when we get into rougher terrain. The new bike is about 2" lower than her lowered WR, and it carries the weight quite a bit lower.
For now I'm keeping my WR... I'm about 3" taller than her, and have a good bit more upper body strength, so I'm fine on the WR for now. But depending on how it goes, I may end up going the same route at some point.
Picked up this little beauty for my wife last night:
It is the KLX230S model, and has the ABS option. Not totally sure whether or not my wife is going to like the ABS... she really likes drifting around corners, so if it interferes with that, I'll be looking for info on how to disable it.
Already ordered a few things for it: SeatConcepts seat, PMR rear rack, and the Pitbull pins for the KLX to be able to use it with the trailer restraint system we already have.
We finally are throwing in the towel on her WR250R which has been a bit of a lemon. It needed a valve adjustment at about 7500 miles, again at about 8300 miles, and now at about 8800 miles, the valves are back to zero clearance at TDC, and they are maxed out on the shims, so will need a tear-down, inspection, rebuild, and who knows what might be wrong with it internally to cause such extreme valve wear. I don't have the mechanical ability to do this, so I'm selling off most of the farkles, and then will sell what is left as a parts or fixer-upper bike. The dealership won't estimate what it might cost to do the work without tearing into it first... but best guess is anywhere from $1500 to $3000.
For comparison, our two WR's were bought within a month of each other, have identical upgrades, and have always had identical maintenance. The only difference is my bike has a few hundred more miles on it because it was bought a month earlier. My bike has never needed a valve adjustment, and runs perfectly, like a brand new bike (which it should, at a little over 9K miles, it is barely broken in). These bikes aren't even due their first valve check until 26K miles. The only reason I've checked the clearances on my own bike are because of the problems with hers.
This will be a good move for her... we're not getting any younger, and she already has some difficulties with the height of the WR when we get into rougher terrain. The new bike is about 2" lower than her lowered WR, and it carries the weight quite a bit lower.
For now I'm keeping my WR... I'm about 3" taller than her, and have a good bit more upper body strength, so I'm fine on the WR for now. But depending on how it goes, I may end up going the same route at some point.
