KLX300 First Impressions By Tony Saunders Email: [email protected] www.trailzone.co.uk

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Review One

This document came from www.trailzone.co.uk and represents my personal opinion. Check it out for updates. Review 1 dated: 11th July 2002

______________________________________________________________ I promised a review when I had chance to spend some time on my new kwak so here it is. I’m not going to bore you with the usual oft repeated specifications and plagiarised facts and figures. Rather this is a personal opinion of a new KLX300 after I have done about 750 miles since taking delivery. I bought it from Bavins of Diss, Norfolk and have been pleased with their service. List price was about £3,800 but I got an excellent deal for cash. ET James were about the only other Kawasaki supplier in the country that had one left. What I didn’t realise was that, unlike a car, you can’t just go along to dealer, ask for a new bike – the dealer goes off to Kawasaki and they get a bike delivered. With offroad and competition bikes, they are manufactured at

the start of the “season” (around Sep/Oct) and the dealers get the bikes to sell. Once they’re gone – that’s your lot mate until next season!. So it took quite a bit of phoning about to find one. ET James had one (MidWales) and Bavins of Diss had one too. They were about equidistant from me (Matlock, Derbyshire) – but as Bavins promised a better deal for cash – they won the toss. Peter Bavin brought the bike up on his truck for £50 – which I was well happy with as riding the bike back would have been time consuming and just about as costly. I also got a Paddock Stand – totally invaluable. The bike as standard is not road legal. You need a Dipped Beam, Horn, Brake Light, Speedo and appropriately legal tyres. Provided is the Kill Switch, the main light, trip counter and the rear light. Contrary to various things I’ve read, you do NOT need indicators – but if they are on the bike they must work (particularly for an MOT). I had a stock road kit installed by Bavins. Horn, Brake Light, Main light dip beam switch and Speedo. The whole lot set me back about another £100 or so, plus about £70 for the two tyres but it was obviously necessary. The numberplate is the “legally required size”.. mmn probably snap off at some point but I haven’t replaced it yet with anything smaller. It arrived with Bridgestone Gritty tyres which are road legal and almost indistinguishable from the stock tyres. Apparently the Motocross tyres have 16mm of tread height, whereas the road legal tyres have 12mm. What I do know is that the stock tyres have Not for Highway Use writ large on the tyre wall and thus are easy prey for the local politzia. I have done about 750 miles now and the rear is wearing down. I have heard that the Gritty tyres are prone to this, so I may look at the Pirelli P21’s or some other alternative when it comes time to change. The first night I impatiently swilled some petrol in from a five litre can I have had since the petrol “crisis” a few years ago and kicked it over. Being a fourstroke you can’t just kick at it until it starts like you can a two stroke. The instructions for starting it are printed on the tank and to be honest sound horrendous. The reality is that you should develop a feel for where Top Dead Centre (TDC) is and give it one firm kick all the way down. It does require some choke when it’s cold., although I generally click the choke off within a minute of use or I tend to forget it’s on. Tick-over can be adjusted via a plastic knurled knob on the carb. I ran out of petrol the following morning on the way to work – fortunately – reserve got me to the petrol station. Watch the tank!! – or you’ll be having such a good time minging about you’ll run out somewhere inconvenient. When cold it starts very easily. When it’s hot its maybe a little harder to start – although to be fair the only time I’ve had trouble is when I’ve been tired; when the bikes been dropped and stalled or when I’m in an awkward position to be able to kick it over positively. There is no decompression lever – it has

auto-decompression which is excellent and simple. An electric start would be a dream – but as it would add about 8-10kg to the overall weight, I am somewhat ambivalent. The weight of the bike is around 100kg and it feels light. I have to get the damn thing down a set of stone steps and through a gate whilst doing so (backwards) – then to run it back up a wooden plank to get back out on the road. Not the best scenario but I don’t have a garage. It is locked up tighter than a tick though at night with four professional bike chains / ground anchors and an alarm – through a locked gate with three padlocks. I am not taking any chances and of course I have guns in the house When riding on the road, the bike handles perfectly. It really is the Fred Astaire of its class. In the dry it can be flicked around corners with ease. In the wet, when knobblies are making about four square inches of contact with the wet road, it still handles positively and with perfect manners. Off road – well it positively leaps to life and skits over rough ground with precision and stability. Even on water-eroded trails with much exposed loose stones up to the size of a hat, it never feels as though it’s going to let you down or do anything unexpected. It is very forgiving of mistakes and the suspension set on default settings (Setting 12 front and rear on a 1 to 16 position) means you get a firm ride, with little or no front wheel chatter except at higher speeds in excess of 60 mph on the road. I confess I haven’t yet played about with the suspension settings though so I won’t get into the pros and cons here now as I am hardly experienced enough to do so. The stock bars are not up to much. First time out offroad in Linacre Woods near Chesterfield, I dropped the bike taking a corner and the bars twisted out of shape. They were not much good after that so I spent £30 on some Renthals and at the same time threw the plastic green handguards away that came with it. They look like green ears and would be little use other than to fend off small flies and twigs. Acerbis metal reinforced handguards and a crossbar pad for the bars completed the look. The clutch and front brake levers I loosened off so they can move in the event of a crash. To be honest, the lights / kill switch / main beam dip switch and the horn all have separate switches and are impractical to use. I shall replace them with an aftermarket switch (see the picture right) that brings all these functions into one switch… when I stop riding the damn thing for five minutes I changed the oil and filters at 500 miles.

I should have done it after 100 miles I think, but I misread the manual. The manual is adequate, but like most supplied manuals it leaves you begging for a Haynes and as soon as I see one, I'll have it. 1.5 litres of Oil if you have changed the oil filter. I was told by a chap at Moto Brox in Derby that the back suspension is worth stripping down about four times a year to grease and clean. I oil the chain regularly but probably not as regularly as I should. How much does it do to the gallon? – I haven’t run it dry yet, but the tanks apparently holds 2.6 gallon – about 13 litres. It appears to use 5.2 litres for about 70 miles of mixed riding. So this would extrapolate to about 150 miles. I have heard that 120 miles is more like it so I will keep you posted when I update this review at periodic intervals in the future. How does it compare with a two stroke? I have only ever had two strokes. My last bike was a Yamaha YZ250. The powerband on that was typical for a twostroke MX bike – nothing – then all! – I suspect the power curve when plotted had an almost vertical line at about three thousand revs. The KLX300 is nothing like that and never does anything unexpected. It provides smooth controllable power with a torquey grunt that is perfect for trail riding. Drop it into second and wheelies are almost a snap – except I’m not good at wheelies - .. yet!.. I have heard a tale though of a KLX 300 seizing up after a prolonged wheelie due to oil starvation – you have been warned! The lights are adequate and the build quality is typical for a Jap bike. There isn’t the feeling of quality like you get from the KTM EXC’s – but then they are about £1.5 - £2k more expensive. No Brembo brakes / Talons / Renthals as standard here. You do get the feeling that they’ve perfected the art of strength and design with something that looks like it’s been knocked up on a modern churn-em-out production line. Long rides are not particularly comfortable. After about 20 miles you’re shifting your arse cheeks about. After 30 you’re lifting yourself off the seat for a few seconds after every few miles. It’s not a bike designed for touring or long distance mile chomping on the roads. It will make the 80 mph as shown on the dial, but it’s 150% focus!.. you’ll find you shun the long A roads and dual carriageways in favour of the country lanes everytime. It simply isn’t much fun above 60mph and feels slow compared to the traffic around you. In town, or on the tighter slower roads though and you’ll leave those R6’s behind almost without fail. It springs into life and you’d be no better off on the back of a Gazelle… but watch out for those unexpected hazards – farm tractors stopped across the road around a bend for example. The brakes are good – discs at front and rear – but they don’t mean diddly on the road with knobblies.

The bike (being new) also came with a “Spares Kit”. I have had one before with my Yam YZ – although as that bike was second-hand – so was the kit. This time – brand new and it arrives after the dealer has registered the sale with Kawasaki UK. Check out my website www.trailzone.co.uk for a complete list of the spares kit contents, in the off-road section. So – did I buy the right bike? Well – without borrowing a DRZ 400 ; a KTM 400 EXC ; a Yam WR etc – I probably won’t know. I weigh about 13 stone so 300cc is perhaps a little on the low side for me. Some people have said they’d prefer the extra pull of the 400cc or even 600cc. My feeling is “bollocks to all that”. Power is not everything by a long chalk. The extra 20 kilos or so that the DRZ carries around means it’s a heavier bike and more cumbersome. True you could strip stuff off it, but what’s the point and anyway you ain’t going to strip out the electric start now are you? Have a look at the following on the Internet. Check out www.planetklx.com I LOVE the KLX. It’s capable of so much more than a average trail rider like me is ever going to squeeze from it I’m sure. It looks the bollocks – sex on a stick. It handles with style, grace and charm and it delivers useable, competent power right across the range. I know two others who have KLX300’s too - both have had other bikes – both rate the KLX. Having seen the new 2003 KLX 400 – which is the result of a Kawasaki / Suzuki collaboration – it appears that the new KLX is simply a Green DRZ400. Whether this is true in fact remains to be seen, but it sure looks like a DRZ. If so I have a feeling it will be a sad move. I wouldn’t have deplored the idea of a 400cc KLX – but if it IS simply a DRZ with Kawasaki livery, then it means the end of a great bike. After all – if I want a DRZ – I could buy a DRZ! I suspect that the KLX 300 will become a much sought after bike, particularly if the new 400cc version is based on the DRZ. The 300cc version 2001 / 2002 is already very popular and difficult to obtain second-hand. I had a lot of trouble getting a new one, but to be fair it was late in the year to be looking for one. All told a top bike! Totally recommended.

Rating: 95 /100 Pro’s: Weight, Power delivery, Handling (particularly in corners), Easy to mod. Cons: No electric start, Poor stock bars, would be better with KX forks as they have more adjustment.

KLX300 First Impressions – Review Two By Tony Saunders Email: [email protected] www.klxzone.co.uk This document came from www.klxzone.co.uk and represents my personal opinion. Check it out for updates. Review 1 dated: 1st November 2002

______________________________________________________________ Okay – Following on from my first review of my new 2002 Kawasaki KLX 300R-A7, I have now done over 2,500 miles on the bike and gone through several maintenance cycles. I promised another review after I had spent some time with it. The first review has been the most popular download from my site so it’s time to revisit the original and see what’s good and what’s not. From my early look at the 2003 Kawasaki KLX 300R it has not changed (other than cosmetically). I would therefore be confident that this review will apply to the 2003 model as well as the 2002.

My first review was carried out after 750 miles and I had done little fiddling about with the bike as such. I changed the stock handlebars for Renthals and added Acerbis handguards and a padded crossbar pad. I added a tool bag for the rear mudguard (fender to you Americans ☺ ) and that was about it. I have used the bike almost constantly – I mean every day since I bought it – hence the mileage. I use it to travel to and from work and go shopping. It therefore gets a got of road miles in. I think about 80% of it’s use is on metalled roads. The rest is off-road on all surfaces from grass to streambeds. The Bridgestone Gritty tyres have been good all-round tyres. I still have the original front tyre – although that is now getting ready to change due to the amount of wear it’s had – it has become noticeable bad on grass and mud when turning or on the edge of ruts. The rear tyre I have recently changed (at 2,200 miles or so). It was illegal at this stage I’m sure (here in the UK a tyre has to have about 1.6mm of tread across a large percentage of it’s cross-section). It was useless on dirt obviously but I did use it a lot for skidding about on graveled roads and it was great fun.

2200 miles of wear - the worn Bridgestone Gritty compared to the new Michelin rear

I have changed the rear tyre for a Michelin Enduro Competition Tyre (Road Legal) and have used it for the last 300 miles. I can say straight away it’s not as good as the Gritty. I did get stopped by the local police though (literally the day after I changed the tyre – luck or what!) – and they checked the tyre wall for tell-tale signs like “not for highway use” stampings. They were okay –

but they couldn’t find anything wrong – so they wrote me a ticket for the numberplate being “at the wrong angle”. Turned out it wasn’t enforceable so I didn’t do anything… he just wanted to find something I suspect*. It doesn’t have the bite off-road quite like the Gritty. Neither are nowhere near a true motocross tyre obviously – but as I use my bike for getting about I have to be a bit careful. [* At the time of this review Derbyshire Police are on another crackdown on bikes generally and offroad bikes in particular]

The fuel capacity I was wrong about (sort of) in the first review. I quoted it as having a 2.6 gallon capacity. This is US Gallons – which translates to 9.8 litres. This is about 2 English gallons. It does do about 100-120 miles on it. I haven’t run out of petrol yet – and it seems to be a reasonable capacity for green laning. I intend to cross Iceland via the interior next year on it – and it will become crucial. I am in the process of modifying the bike to cope with this by adding a fuel rack for the front. [see www.klxzone.co.uk]. Have I missed an electric start? Been asked this a lot – the answer is no. Only on the odd occasion have I cursed the idea of a 4-stroke kick start machine. Once when I stalled it at the front of a line of traffic and the others have been when I’ve stalled or come off somewhere harsh. I have found that the bike starts extremely well with the kickstart. It’s not been the problem that I thought it may have become. It can be harder to start when it’s very hot – but give it thirty seconds and ensure you’ve a good position to kick from (important – don’t do it unless you’re in a steady position with a good foothold with the other foot) If you find Top Dead Centre (TDC) – which is intuitive after a while. It’s easy and takes only one or two kicks 95% of the time. I have been altering the rear suspension to see what feels best for different terrains. I hardened the suspension to it’s maximum (it is easily done with a flat screwdriver). This helped tremendously when going over jumps as it tended to bottom out on lower settings. It has made it more bouncy over chattery ruts though – but to be honest I don’t race – and therefore isn’t as important.

Problems I don’t think I’ve had any real problems with it so far. Several annoyances though… The main one is the rear light bub. It constantly fails and requires a new bulb. Whether this is something unique to my bike or the KLX range I couldn’t say for sure. As they only cost about £0.40p each and I’ve gone through about six it’s not been costly – just a pain and I have to ensure I carry a spare in the event it goes at night. In contrast the front light has never failed – and although it’s not great is sufficient to see by in the dark if you stick below 30 mph. The second annoyance is the quality of the fixings on the bike. By fixings I mean screws and bolts. Both the screw on the front brake cylinder and the screw on the front brake lever mounting have simply refused to undo and ended up with the heads breaking down so that they will now need to be drilled out. What I wouldn’t give for a complete stainless steel set of screws / bolts for the bike. The hydraulic pipe for the front brake is fine until it reaches the front brake mechanism. (See picture). There is a short hard pipe that loops out under the base of the front fork! – it’s just waiting to get crushed on a rock and break – I’m surprised it hasn’t already. It’s been hit so many times and keeps working amazingly. I need to replace it with some flexible stainless hose… but come on Kawasaki engineers! – think on a bit eh! The annoyingly positioned pipe

But I shouldn’t knock them too much – these are minor and I mean MINOR annoyances. I suppose my riding has improved since I had it. Some days I’m not so sure. I have come off the bike a score of times. None particularly bad but enough to have given the bike a few thumps. The KLX just gets up and goes again. No fuss – no damage and no real scratches even. Since the handlebars always seem to take the brunt it simply needs a good set of bars and all is well. Actually of course I’d have been replacing levers were it not for the guards – but you get the point. The gear lever is the only other thing that occasionally gets bent inward – but all dirt bikes suffer this. I raved about the handling in my first review and I will rave about it here. I

have gone down some horrendous trails – literal stream beds with suitcase size rocks and projections littered with cat-sized stones. If you point the bike in the right direction – have total faith (takes some doing sometimes I know) and keep the power on – the bike will pull you through. It literally dances over rocks – (you know) - the sort of rocks you see at the last second and wince because you can see your self hitting the deck in the next heartbeat!… yet – amazingly no! – the bike pings off and skits to one side and cracks back on course… shit!!.. how does it do it?.. it’s not me I assure you. It’s hard for me to compare it with other bikes because people ain’t keen on letting you take their pride and joy down somewhere like Froggatt Edge – but I can say without hesitation that the KLX flatters a poor rider and makes a mediocre rider feel confident enough to give it some throttle where you’d perhaps naturally want to hold back. This is why I can’t be hard on those Kawasaki engineers for a few trivial annoyances. Maintenance I have had to buy a good set of sockets / spanners / tyre levers / a torque wrench etc. Probably spent about £160 on Teng Tools – they’re supposed to be good quality and certainly seem to be. I’ve followed (and even exceeded) the recommended maintenance for the bike. I’ve not been obsessive – but I’ve made sure that the Oil and Oil filter have always been changed and I always use good quality oil. Coolant / Brake Fluid and the Air Filter have all been visited. Our climate is not hot and dusty like the southern US for example – so the wet air filter may not be as necessary over here as in a desert environment. I have changed and oiled it though to catch any little particles that may otherwise cause problems in the carburettor. Changing tyres was a task I’d not done in years and I have not found the “secret” for it yet. I always pinch the tube the first time and end up repairing. Still practice make perfect. ☺ I have not however done the one thing that I was told should be carried out – namely the regular removal of the swingarm and greasing of the bearings. This has been for two reasons. One – because I wanted a manual to follw before tackling it and, Two - because I was given some contradictory advice by another shop! They said that it was probably better to wait until a convenient point at the end of a season and then tackle it – replace them anyway and have a grease nipple installed. Not sure what to believe. For ease of life probably the second. I don’t jet wash the bike though. I use a hose and soapy rag / brush etc but don’t blast water into seals and other areas that cause oil and grease to be blasted out.

Modifications I have looked at several “mods” to increase performance. I am not sure about the need to do it frankly. I have removed some of the mesh from the inner air filter housing to allow more air through – but all of the simple mods also increase petrol consumption and to be honest I find the bike’s performance fine 98% of the time. The day I can outpace the bike’s ability is a way off yet. Removing the airbox mesh and the lid has made it noisier and it does seem a little better. I shall put the lid back on though because in deep water it increases the chance of getting water in the carb. It is likely to get several bits added over the next 6 months. One is a new seat cover. It was ripped open (a small flap) by my boots catching one day. A replacement one from Stoker looks favourite. Second will be the addition of frame guards and a bash plate. Third will be better hydraulic cables for the whole front braking system – it’s way too spongy as supplied. I am making a front and rear rack – see my website for details on these. Conclusions After the end of my first review I gave it 95 / 100. In the time I’ve spent with it since I have not found anything about the bike that has dented that score. It’s hard to give something 100% and the KLX is not a 100% deserving bike. I doubt any bikes would be. There will be people who ride bikes far better and more aggressively than me. They would probably find the KLX lacking in power and responsiveness for that style of riding. I will stick by my review score because it is a bike that suits riders that are not that good! – riders who don’t want to keep the throttle pinned to the stops all the time. The KLX 300R is a lightweight, crispy package that forgives those occasional lapses of concentration and never hits you with any nasty surprises. For green laning – this is perfect for more people than would probably let on. Some would say the KLX may be a bit boring – I say they’re missing out or simply missing the point. Rating: 95 /1000