2009 Kawasaki KLX351F project bike

[SamM]

What a great little motorcycle. The 116 mile ride home from Tri-County Kawasaki in Petersburg, WV was a blast. This bike is probably the most fun you can have with 16hp. What a rush! It was a little cold in the mountains but it was great being back on 2 wheels.

At first, I was thinking that the front 17" wheel would be the limiting factor on this machine. It's not! The stock tires are. I'm hoping that a 140mm rear tire will fit on the back. A may also get a 120mm tire on the front. This bike is freakishly fast for it's size. It can easily runaway from most vehicles in the twisties. In a turn, I don't let off on the throttle. It turns in great and you just power through the turn, wide open throttle. It's crazy! I can't wait to hot rod this thing!

Here are the pictures!

SamM

[FastDoc]

16HP???

You sell the bike short!

It dynos at 20.5 RWHP. :P

Will try to post link for you.

If you can live with the noise there is 3-5 more HP in there with $400 of mods and about an hour and a half...

[FastDoc]

On the Area P dyno, the SF was able to crank out 2.5 horsepower more, up to 20.5 ponies at 8,800 rpm - possibly due to a better transmission of power from the street tires than the S’s knobbies. Torque is up marginally to 13.7 ft-lbs at 7,400 rpm.

Also note the Area P dyno tends to read a little lower than most other dynos...

Here's the rest of the article:

http://www.motorcycle.com/manufactur...iew-87863.html

[FastDoc]

Testing on the Two Brother's Racing Dyno shows just under 25HP with their (loud ass) pipe, jetting, and airbox mod (snorkel removal).

Like I say if you don't mind the loudness go for it!
:P
I know you will... 8)

[Weldangrind]

Originally Posted by SamM

I can't wait to hot rod this thing!

I knew it!

[SpudRider]

Originally Posted by Weldangrind

I knew it!

X2!

Your bike looks great in black, Sam!

Spud

[SamM]

The May 2009 Cycle World test shows 21hp @ 8100rpm. So, I guess I was wrong. Pretty sure I saw a report that stated 16 to 18hp stock somewhere. Bikeland did a 330cc engine kit, had the head ported by M-Tech, added a 36mm flatside Mikuni carb and a new exhaust. All that work only netted 29.8hp on their test bike. It seems to me that more power than that should be possible with that combo. The salesman at the dealership today mentioned that the Kawasaki KFX400 atv uses the same engine. He said the head was a direct swap. I may look a bit further into that later.

My first course of action is to remove some weight from the bike. I'll be starting with carbonfiber parts from DRC and Light Speed. The cf parts will include frame protectors, rear caliper guard, rear mastercylinder guard, skidplate and fork shields. DRC makes cf air deflectors that have intregal LED signals, so the stock signals, tailight and inner fender will be removed. DRC makes a clear lens taillight that also has intregal turnsignals and a plate bracket. The bike will also get new Moose Racing black aluminum handguards and ProGrip Superbike Gel grips. I may go with a new much smaller and lighter Li-ion battery.

Any engine modifications will have to wait until the riding season it over.
This is now my daily driver. After that, as I said, all bets are off!

SamM

[SamM]

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

[RageHardIntoTheBendies]

Sweet ride!

[FastDoc]

This bike appears to be breaking the laws of physics as you ride it.

As a rider of a similar bike I understand. The S version does a great job in the dirt as you might expect. I'd like to try an SF on the street. With the 50/50 D/S tires even the S model flat out rocks in the commuter and canyon role out here in the desert. I'm pleased to report my mileage has improved to over 50, So I think the snorkel removal has helped.

Like I say if you don't mind a loud pipe a 20% power increase is just $400 and a couple of hours away. I have a TBR pipe, with makes the most power but may be the loudest. If I had to do it over again I'd get a Q4 but I do like the HP I have now. I just wear earplugs on every ride every time to keep my tinnitus from worsening.

As any veteran rider will tell you, it is more fun to ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow. 8)

[FastDoc]

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!

The seats are the same, and comfortable enough for a 2 hour ride for me.

The strap is held on by 2 8mm head bolts and is easily removed and not needed. I don't know what it's there for. I think maybe its required for passengers in some markets.

BTW have you noticed the slick and ultralight rear passenger footpegs?

[SamM]

FastDoc,
If you don't mind me asking, where did you get your skidplate and how much was it?

Yes, those passenger pegs are super slick. I can't imagine having anyone on the back of my KLXSF, so I'm not sure if they'll stay on mine or not. A bunch of stuff is getting ditched. That goofy toolbag and seat strap are history, as soon as I get some garage time.

The seats looked the same to me. Just wasn't sure. Thanks! I rode mine for over 3hrs yesterday and it didn't bother me much.

I've been looking at headers and mufflers all morning. The FMF parts look very nice and they promise lower dBs but the Muzzy seems to make better power. I've also been on the Bikeland, B&B Restoration and Kustom Kraft websites. The Bikeland project KLX330SM is a very cool bike. I may duplicate their build. B&B makes a 351cc kit but they have only produced about 26hp, no headwork and a 34mm carb. Bikeland and M-Tech made 29.8hp with a 330cc kit, 36mm carb, head porting, Web Cams and the Muzzy system. By using a combination of these parts, I believe 30+hp could easily be achieved. Muzzy doesn't sell their parts individually. I may have to buy the Muzzy system and then sell the header, as I would like to try the FMF MegaBomb header with the Muzzy muffler. Selling my KTM 950 engine should yield me all the money that I need to build one killer little bike. My KLR650 engine is also being parted out to fund more cool parts.

My bike is just for commuting, so I'll be using it as an urban assault vehicle. No off-road stuff for this one. I may go ahead and buy the motorcycle carrier that I have been wanting. This will let me carry the bike in and out of my place without riding it on the dirtroad.

Wow, that didn't take long! :roll:

SamM

[FastDoc]

FastDoc,
If you don't mind me asking, where did you get your skidplate and how much was it?

Happy trails, and about $85. It fit great is well made and engineered and easy to install. Happy Trails is based in Idaho and they are good people to work with.

[FastDoc]

I'd be interested to know the power of the Q4 vs. the Muzzy vs. the TBR. I'd also kike to know the db reading for each.

My stage 2 Dynojet, snorkel removal, and TBR pipe have yeilded considerable performance improvement, but that bike is loud. I won't even wash it without earplugs. 8O

The 'quiet' tip may be here today... :roll:

[FastDoc]

I might be interested in trading my TBR for a Q4...