KLX450R

[Rydawg1]

Hey guy's, what I'm looking for is the opinion of someone who actually owns one of these bikes. I'm currently on an 06 CR250 (yes 2 smoker) and I'm wanting to make the conversion over to the 4 stroke. I used to live in Texas with plenty of places to ride (red river/nacona mostly). Now I've since moved to Va and there are a lot of trails etc. So the locals here will get a 4 stroke convert them to street legal machines (mirrors/brake light, whatever is needed to pass inspections and get tags). Ok so my questions are as follows:

1 - Does the tail light on this bike already work with the break being used? If not what all is needed to do so?

2 - Will this bike run at highway speeds, at least 60-70 mph for a decent amount of time?

3 - Overall how well does this bike stand up agains the comp, CRF450X, Yamaha WR450F and KTM 450-EXC-R?

I have read some reviews on this bike, but for the most part they are from the manufacturer and tend to be a little biased. But I hear the 5th gear has got some long legs. I'm looking to get one of these bikes coming up in January. Thanks in advance for your time!

[dhighlan]

Well I don't own one but I had the pleasure to ride one this weekend before I was an idiot and crashed. I will say this I am not a huge Kaw fan but I really liked the bike a lot. The rear light is a brake light, 5th is really tall to me, not sure to run at Highway speeds for long as I didn't have the opportunity. I didn't push the bike hard as it was brand spanking new (0 hours/min) when it showed up and not mine. The power was great very smooth, handling a touch heavy, egros were nice. The KTM 450xc I thought was better in tight and suspension was more suited to me. That said the KLX didn't lack anything huge and all around I would give it a thumbs up.

[Keetoman393]

be careful converting an offroad bike to the street. One difference is that the street bikes have a cusion to soften the blow from the drive train. Every time the piston makes a power stroke, it causes the transmission and drive line to jerk. This is fine in the dirt because the wheel spin softens the blow. When you are on pavement, there is nothing to soften it and you can be looking at a catastrophic failure. I have read about rubber mounts that you can buy that mount on the wheel somehow but have never seen them in action.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

P.S. Sorry to hear you left our area!

[Rydawg1]

Well the main reason for the street riding is just to get from one set of trails to the other. They don't all connect and there are small distances of around 3-5 miles that we may have to ride on the street. I don't want to scew up my tires or my bike so I won't be doing any heavy accelerating. Basically it's just to cruise to the next trail entrance. But the cops/state troopers in the great "commonwealth" of VA will pull you for anything just to write you a ticket, so I want the bike to be "legal". There's also a great place called Hatfiled McCoys in West VA. Where you can ride you dirt bikes anywhere you want. [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] so this place is going to have to take the place of Red River lol. I haven't been in VA for 3 weeks and I already want to be back in TEXAS!!!!!! If, for nothing else, I can't stand the Redskins.

[YZalltheway]

Well a dirt rider magazine I had reviewed all those bikes that you described above, and over all the ktm won because it was street legal straight from the manufacturer. With that said, they gave the klx 450 second, it would have been their first choice, if it would not have been for that shiny piece of metal on the back of the ktm.

[Stevie5-0]

I have a klx450r, the tail light does not operate with the brake application, to get a brake light you gotta add a brake light and a switch. The easiest way to get the switch is to install a pressure switch in the place of the front banjo bolt, run some wire and your gold. The bike is plenty fast, will do 100, no sure how long it will cruise at round 60 but would think a while, stay on top of the oil changes etc. No idea how it compares to the comp, but susposed to be the cats ***. Heard the Honda's were blowing up.