Thanks everyone! :wink:
Wow, this bike is just a blast to ride! I'm still coming down from my 116 mile trip home. It was the most fun I've had on a motorcycle in a very longtime. I took my wife out to dinner lastnight and all I wanted to talk about was the bike. She said, "Wow, you really like that little bike. I haven't seen you this excited in awhile!" Oops, I'd better cool my jets! :oops:
Yesterday, when I rode up and over the mountains I was shivering from the cold but didn't care much as I was having a blast. I had to change up my riding style a little. The front 300mm brake is great. Honestly, it's overkill! One finger on the lever is all you need and you'd better not squeeze much. This thing will stop... NOW! The gloves that I took where KLIM Tomahawk Gore-Tex all-season/all-weather gloves. They're on the bulky side but warm. My index finger covered the brakelever at all times and when I would roll off the throttle, I would gently squeeze the lever a little. That's all that's required! The tight twisties is where this bike is great! I was on the throttle, roll off, brake just a little to set it up and back on the throttle. In the turns that weren't quite as tight, I'd just power right through the turn, keeping the speed up as I exited. The frontend wanted to pogo on me some, most due to the road surface. I may need to fiddle with the settings a little but the rear shock was very good, which is surprising to me. Overall the bike works very well for it's intended purpose. You're not going to win any dragraces with it but get the speed up and you'll leave 90% of most vehicles behind. They simply can't hold as much speed through the corners as the SF can. This bike appears to be breaking the laws of physics as you ride it. My thought was that this little bike just can't be this fast. It doesn't compute and that's what makes it fun. I'm so glad I bought this thing. It's already filthy dirty and I'm hating that. I need to wash it. My house is 1.1 miles up a dirtroad and it's very muddy due to the rainy weather we've been having lately. We have rain and snow in the forecast for the next few days, so I probably won't be riding for awhile. And we have a trip planned for the weekend so that's out. Major bummer! A new bike and no riding! :roll:
Now, we get to have some fun as I mod it up!
Ok, Weldandgrind you knew it was going to happen! As I said, just bolt-ons for now but the go-fast stuff will happen at some point in the near future. This bike is too much fun to leave stock for very long. New tires won't be far off either. Any thoughts on tires out there? I want something semi-aggressive and very sticky. It must have an excellent wet weather rating. Maybe the Tourance or Distanzia. My search is on. It sure looks like a 140mm will fit on the back. The 120mm front will easily work. At first, I thought that a 19" front wheel might work better for me. At this point, I'll hold off on that and explore the 17" wheel and tire possibilities.
The KLX250 bike is huge overseas. In Southeast Asia it's a cult bike. If you want to see some great videos, go to YouTube and type in D-Tracker. There's a D-Tracker Motorcycle Club in Thailand that posts some great video of their rides. There is also a 125cc version of the D-Tracker and I'm pretty sure both models are fuel injected over there. Europe gets those bikes too. You'll see both the 125 and the 250 in the videos. It's not quite the same bike but you will see the family resemblance.
I'm off to cruise the net and look for parts. More pictures to come later as I start removing some weight from the bike. I'll be placing an order with both Light Speed and Wheeling Cycle Supply (DRC) in the next few days. I'll be calling GEICO today and upgrading my insurance as I only put liability on it to get home. If something happened to it, I'd be very sad and I'd have to have another one. :roll:
FastDoc, thanks for the clarification on the horsepower numbers. Not sure where I saw 16 to 18hp posted. She seemed a lot faster than that on the ride home. The 20.5 and 21hp ratings seem to be closer. Also, is the S model seat comfortable? I was so excited that I forgot to check out the S model that they had on the floor. The SF seat isn't bad but that strap hits me right across the backside. The strap has got to go!
Cheers!
EDIT: I resized the pictures down to make them fit better with the text! Hopefully it looks better now!
SamM