u/mtb_ed

I have a KLX300 with ~1,000 miles. I find it suits my needs on dirt, and around town to/from home. However, it is not enjoyable above 50-55 mph unless the wind is low and I am not going uphill.

I would prefer a bike I can ride to/from BDRs, which means a fair amount of time at 55+ mph.

I'm curious if anyone here came from a KLX or CRF 300 to the DRZ4s and what you impressions are? Did you give up a lot of nimbleness off-road? How much better is the on-road aspect?

What about when carrying camping gear?

Thank you.

UPDATE / RESOLUTION: The steering stem nut (spanner nut) was too tight.

I posted a similar topic on FB a few weeks ago, but looking for help. I have not seen reports similar to my issue anywhere.

At 250 miles or so, my 2026 KLX started to hand handling issues as it warmed up. After 30-60 minutes of dirt riding, when I got back on the street I noticed the bike is twitchy. It does not feel confident turning. The front wheel/tire feels slippery. It gets so bad that I do not feel safe riding and end up limping home at slow speeds, turning very slowly without leaning the bike.

Kawasaki dealer said nothing is wrong. I suspected the shock. It appeared fine. My dealer did not ride the bike long enough, or at all, to notice the issue. My dealer (and other dealers) are more than 2.5 hours from me. Not possible to keep returning.

I chalked it up to a bad rear shock build. I found a great local suspension shock who rebuild both the front and rear shocks, while also re-valving them better. When cold the bike handled good (less nose dive, etc). But after 20 minutes on the road I could feel the handling becoming less confident. It got worse as I road the dirt forest road nearby. I experimented with increasing the compression and rebound (turning them in for more dampening). That sort of improved handling but on the road made the front way twitchy.

My suspension mechanic thinks it is shock fade due to heat (the engine and shock cavity does get extremely hot). The suspension shop wants to use a thicker oil and put some kind of heat shield in place. He also suggested removing the restrictive muffler/exhaust to allow more airflow.

However, I have not heard of anyone else with this behavior and there are a ton of these bikes out there. I feel I should not have to take all these measures to keep a shock from overheating, if that is what it happening...

Any ideas?

As it is, I cannot trust this bike. I feel it is not safe to ride after it warms up.

EDIT: I wonder if it is the steering stem nut being too tight? I am not sure why that would get worse as I ride the bike though? heat still? My handling issue seems to match these threads:

https://www.reddit.com/r/KLX300D/comments/16popgr/steering_issues/

https://www.reddit.com/r/KLX300D/comments/14mbluv/steering_adjustment/

Background: middle age, getting back into motorcycles. Road street in my 20s. Mountain bike currently. I want to learn to ride dirt, BDRs and moto camp.

I have a two month old KLX300 that fit the bill for what I wanted as a gateway back to motorcycles / dual sports. Unfortunately it is a 'lemon' of sorts (I won't go into details, not relevant to my question). The resolution I have is my dealer will buy it back at 100% exclusive of delivery, prep and DMV (no tax where I am). The caveat is I need to buy another bike from them. The dealer sells all four Japanese makes, KTM and Beta. I have short listed these:

KTM Adventure 390: price and appearance are good. I wanted to do BDRs and light adventuring riding/camping which I think the KTM can do. I am mostly concerned about 1) quality and more important 2) the YouTube reports of the engine having no low end and being inconsistent, harder to ride off-road. How true is this? I am a novice off road.

Honda CRF300L: Basically the KLX with lousy suspension. I'd have to put money into the suspension. However, I dislike the red color strongly enough to cross it off my list.

Suzuki DRZ4S: Very capable dual-sport. I little heavy for a pure dual-sport (30 lbs more than the KLX) with a seat that is an inch higher. The seat height is ok for me. Small fuel tank, like the KLX. I would need an aftermarket tank. Price is high for what it is ($9k).

Beta 390 or 500 (the 350 and 430 are too rev happy). Very pricey ($12k) but a friend has the 500 and swears by it. I suspect they need more maintenance than other bikes on my list. Pure dirt bike with license plate. Not sure about road comfort.

Of these, I like the price and versatility of the KTM the most. However, I am very concerned about the engine's power delivery. I'd appreciate feedback. Thank you.