Be safe everyone. I am on the way to the ER. I ride the same route everyday. Today there was a truck with a trailer stopped in the road and a car parked to the left. (country roads not much more than 1 lane wide usually) I was locked up for awhile before hitting the car and flying over it. Left leg caught the mirror mount. Now I'm going to get sewn up.
I was doing some yard work, noticed a few trees had fallen. I left one where it fell and moved some pieces from a different one to make another obstacle. Decided this was a good chance to get in some practice between rain storms. I have an acre. My wife is going to help me design and build some endure style obstacles with different levels of hardness to practice on to continue to build up skill and muscle.
Does anyone else see weather like this and get excited? I don't ride in the rain necessarily, but when it lightens up/stops, its on. I know there will be deep water, mud galore, up hill slick clay with washouts and running water. Yesterday I got a flash flood warning effective until Wednesday.
I recently got a brand new 2025 klx230 on an impulse purchase. I ride with my wife a lot. I swapped to a 49 tooth rear gear from the 45 tooth stock. It helped a lot. I'm in Texas and the temps are in the 90's with heat index over 100 at times. Between the tissue paper soft suspension (rear is adjusted to stiffest possible), the getting hot (clutch and lifters get louder), and the underwhelming power, I am weighing the 2 options. Trade in for a 300, or buy a ECU, fork stiffener kit, exhaust, big bore kit, EGR delete kit and everything else i may need. Pros of air cooled is I don't worry about radiator damage and can still get cooled off if I ride fast enough. Although with the wife and suspension, faster is not always an option. Cons of water cooled is a puncture can be crippling on the trail. And yes, sticks, fallen trees and uncleared paths are common and I do ride through anything despite how thick it is.
I ride in terrain that changes from grass, to bottomless sand, to sloped gravel roads, clay (hard when dry, greasy as oil when wet). I have a 2025 klx230 with stock irc trail tires. They are not confidence inspiring at all. I ride about 90% of the time with my wife as a passenger. I am looking for a DOT approved tire that is maybe 20/80 on-road/off-road. I have narrowed it down to these 2 (after I purchased a set of irc ve33/ve35 not noticing they are off road only). Anyone know anything about either of these? Any suggestions appreciated. I am leaning towards the mitas set.
My switch finally arrived after traveling around the US unnecessarily.
Bought a tail fender eliminator kit. Mount is worth the $36. Light is not confidence inspiring. Housing is cheap as you would expect. (I just really wanted the mount). For anyone thinking about this kit, there are 2 versions. 1 has brake, blinkers, running light, license plate light all in one. That version needs a resistor wired inline of the red brake light wire. The other version is just running/brake light. It has it built in and is the normal 3 wires like factory, but does not include blinkers.
First, thanks to everyone that replied to my original post. The info, pictures, suggestions helped a lot.
For now I like this idea/placement. Removed OEM blinkers, mounted in OEM location. Wired Amber ring to be used as blinkers. (I may wire them to be used as running lights also.) I ordered a 3 position switch since these lights have spot and flood lights separate. Ideally that should be great for on road (Spot) off road (flood). I have to wait until tonight to fully adjust before I can reassemble everything. Curious to know opinions.
I am on the fence when it comes to the look of a windshield on a dual sport. I ordered this on Amazon for around $80 to test out. (RevZilla one is over $200) Immediately noticed the bike felt quicker. It definitely helps cut the wind. Even at 5'8 and 165lb, I am not a huge wall, but enough to feel the turbulence from passing cars. After installing, bike had no issues getting up past 70mph, I was not a bobblehead as much. Longevity and quality of windshield is left to be tested. For anyone who is thinking about it, for the price I recommend at least trying it. After seeing other redditors post they have been using the same Amazon part, it was good enough quality testing to try it myself. Added a $20 tachometer also. I don't know why Kawasaki didn't make it part of the cluster from the factory.
I have worked the last 24 days in a row with 1/2 a day off. The stress of dealing with people was enough. Left for work at 2:30 this morning. Worked like a possessed man. Got the f$@k out as soon as possible. Put away my phone and music. Just listened to thumper rip through some back country emptiness. Wish I could live in the middle of it all.
I picked these up from Walmart to test out. 4" with amber driving light and white hi/low. They say DOT approved. The placement sucks, but I have a 2025 klx 230 with inverted forks. Unfortunately not able to move them higher. Hopefully the performance will overpower the hideousness of the look and placement. Curious about opinions. What are other people using?
I have a 2025 klx 230s. I will be using it as a daily driver to/from work. 26 miles round trip, on a country highway with speed limit of 65 with steep hills. I am looking for an exhaust and maybe some other upgrades/mods to help the engine run a little better. maybe even lower some rpms. I still want to crawl around in the trails, so I'm hesitant about sprocket changes. Any suggestions appreciated.