Invalid fields exist in below form. If you are currently subscribed, check your email for a secure link. Didn't receive an email from us? We're Sorry. There has been an error. The was actually built by Suzuki and dressed in green by Kawasaki under a joint marketing agreement that began a few years ago, but has since gone by the wayside. So Kawasaki's own was a logical machine to fill the need for a lightweight dual sport machine. While the addition of the KLX to Kawasaki's US customers was expedient for the company and fortunate for us, there's a caveat: the motorcycle will not be sold in California since it doesn't have the extra emissions equipment necessary to pass the state's strict emissions laws.
The KLX comes with a small rear rack, something that must be purchased from the aftermarket for many bigger bikes. The rack doesn't preclude a tool pouch on the rear fender. Unfortunately, the tools included are woefully inadequate lacking a wrench sized for the rear axle nut and excluding all the low-quality tools we've come to expect from Japanese bikes.
The Kawasaki has a full instrument panel with includes a tachometer, something not always seen on bigger dual sport bikes. While it's not likely that a rider will flirt with the redline on this bike-it takes a long time to rev that high, and power has long since tapered off once you get there—the tach does serve to provide some useful information about what gear the bike is in.
This may be particularly beneficial for novices, in part because of another useful feature of the —a six-speed transmission. The KLX has a wide-range six-speed box that provides a usefully low first gear for trail-riding, and a overdrive top gear for highway cruising with a ratio of 3.
The only drawback is that with a headwind or even a slight grade, the bike must be downshifted from 6th to 5th gear to maintain speed on the highway. Under normal conditions though, we saw speeds as high as 90 mph indicated on the open road, and the Kawasaki made a remarkably good highway cruiser for a The seat is also quite flat and relatively comfortable for such a small machine, making it possible to sit comfortably for an hour or more.
Being a dual sport bike, it also retains the benefits of a tall and slim motorcycle in traffic, allowing the rider to see over the top of most cars, and slip through traffic. In fact, the KLX is a perfectly civilized town bike. With its quiet exhaust and modest power, it doesn't annoy the neighbors, nor inspire hooligan wheelies like more powerful bikes might. It also has good but not astounding disk brakes at both ends. The front lever has an adjustable engagement point, and there's less dive under heavy braking than you might expect from a bike with 11 inches of travel thanks to plenty of compression damping in the front fork.
The rear is controllable enough, considering there's also plenty of engine braking available. What wasn't always so controllable was the transmission. One rider complained it was difficult to move from neutral to 1st gear and from 1st to 2nd. Others didn't seem to have the same problem. There are also other mixed bag features depending on a rider's level of experience. The fuel petcock is a good old-fashioned unit with a real off position, unlike modern vacuum-operated units.
This means the rider has to use it-and remember to turn it on and off-in order to avoid relying on the carburetor float valve. Behind the petcock, in an awkward place to reach with thick gloves, is the single-position choke knob.
Pull it all the way out, and the engine starts easily with a push of the starter button. However, there's no halfway position, as experienced riders might expect, the chock is either on-or-off The KLX comes with plastic hand guards good for both deflecting light brush and keeping hands warmer in cold air. You really have to reset your head to cope with the power drop on the standard bikes. If you keep these bikes for any length of time then the chance of you not seeking out a bit more oomph are small — but more of this later.
The overall dimensions on the two bikes is compact too, maybe a little more so on the Kawi than the Honda. Although we appreciate that they are built to budget, not fitting alloy bars to bikes being made in is a bit rich — ditch them and go alloy before you take the bike out of the garage in our opinion. The cockpit and the Kawasaki is pleasing and really easy to read compared to the more slim line off-road models. Out of the two the plastics on the Honda work better, as the tank shrouds on the Kawi seem to catch your riding jeans on occasions.
Similarly — we can hardly believe we are saying this — the footpegs are better on the Honda being both wider and more comfortable than the skinny steel items on the KLX. One annoying glitch on the Honda CRFL that was really noticeable was the fact that the engine is asymmetrical and really sticks out on the right hand case, forcing your legs wider than the left. In comparison the KLX feels much more natural.
Both machines come with road based semi-knobbly tyres that sort of do the job on both surfaces, but inevitably fall short once it gets slippery, giving them a vague and uncertain feel.
They grip, just take a while to do it almost like they are operating on a fly-by-wire interface, rather than handlebars. As a final note, the fuel economy on both bikes is just staggering. Impressive stuff. Where the one excels, the other has an answer up its sleeve. Both are extremely easy to ride both on and off-road, but if left standard you will soon find their limitations. For the CRF, releasing the power appears to be relatively simple. A quick swap on the strangling pipe that Honda have fitted to a far more free breathing FMF version releases the horses like opening all the stable doors at once.
From a shy librarian it removes its glasses, shakes loose its hair and is suddenly far more fun to be with. Next up the tyres need to go in favour of proper off-road rubber, though what you choose depends on the terrain. In the UK we go for a trial rear and enduro front, but in Vietnam and Laos where we will be using these, then enduro both ends is the best way to go.
For the KLX, the older engine needs a bit more help to get real sweet. Where the stock bike lacked the snap to overcome trail obstacles, the upgrades make it one hell of a bike for adventure motorcycling, and a worth successor to the legendary Honda XRs we used to run and love. The King is dead, long live the King.
Ride Expeditions run incredible tours in amazing places. From the flooded trails of Cambodia, to the hilltop tracks in Laos, our trail riding holidays will make you smile from sunrise to sunset Click Here Facebook Twitter Google-plus. Great comparison, thanks! Completely transforms it. Great write up but Im astounded the WRR didnt get a look in?? Thanks for your comment Matt.
I had a close look at both bikes before buying. In the end the KLX came out best by a large margin, it has better suspension, more ground clearance and weighs less. Hi, thanks for a really interesting write up. I currently have an xr and a klx efi which I would like to upgrade and eventually use to replace the xr. I would be interested to hear your views on if you think the modified klx is as good if not a better all round bike than the xr?
Look forward to your reply. We use them in Cambodia and they are a great option. After that you can either tune the existing FI unit or fit an aftermarket part — we did the latter. Watch this space for the extended version of the above! Julian — Ride Expeditions. Physically smsller and lighter appeals to me, plus i prefer to look of it. Came from the dealer with this mod already on it, I think they were using it as a demonstrator. It had km and the new pipe on it when I bought it but I was the first person to register it.
Are there any free mods that work? The one downside to this bike the KLX is the hard cold start and long warm up period. Maybe they have gone fuel injection now, that would be a huge improvement to this bike but I still got a carb. The mods we carry out are to fit the barrel, complete exhaust system, upgraded ECU and bin just about anything non-essential to bring the weight down.
After that you could look at the suspension to improve the handling. It had a very low seat height, low weight and decent performance on the trail. I recommend it! Would it be possible to get a list of the parts you have used and an idea of the cost?
Look forward to hearing from you. Regards Steve Ward.
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