Check out Norm's opinion here:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...s-tourer-65550

as for me ...

I also have a 2012 Kawasaki KLX250S and it's fine for highway use - I live in the wide open western US (Colorado/Utah border) with posted highway speeds of 75mph (120kph) - and while the bike will easily go this fast - tops out around 85mph (136kph) - I can safely stay in traffic at around 70mph (112kph) all day.

I have 6650 miles on the bike (10702km) - bought this with just 330 miles on it - some guy's wife's bike - she didn't like riding her own - worked out for me - any case - I have changed the oil 3 times and have checked the valves once - all good so far. I'm coming off a 2005 DR650 - bought it new - (sold with 42500 miles/ 68397km) with a Safari tank/rear rack/dirtbagz ranger soft panniers/small windscreen and can say that on the road the DR was/is better for droning along- but off road there is no comparison - light is right - the DR is 366lbs fueled (166kg) with the stock tank and no luggage - add a bigger tank with the weight up high and things get more cumbersome. Last ride I did on the DR was a trail in Moab, Utah called the White Rim trail - 110 off road miles with a few rocky climbs and some longer (1.5-2 mile) sections of moon dust sand/silt - not fun on the 430lb DR (195kg) (full fuel load and camping gear). Contrast my riding partner - same camping gear - 1gal Walmart spare gas can - and his KLX250S weighed 80lbs (36.2kg) less - huge difference in our fatigue level at the end of the day - we swapped a few times on the ride and it sold me on the lighter bike - have to mention he used almost all of his fuel (tank/spare can.)

The US version is carbed - I get around 50-55mpg fully loaded on the KLX (4.2-4.7l/100km) with highway speed sections connecting dirt roads - fully loaded with camping gear - easy to moderate pace. Refueling is my only complaint - IMS and Acerbis make larger tanks - but my cheap 1 gal Walmart can is working for now. I'd guess the EFI version gets better fuel mileage.

My area is around 4600 feet/ 1402m in town - to 11000 feet/ 3352m for peak elevation nearby - most dirt roads I'm on are between 5500 and 10200 feet (1676m/3108m). Power on the bike is down at altitude in general - but then again so is my cardio fitness as I climb - so being low(er) on power isn't necessarily a bad thing - I tend to fight the bike less ... I'm not sure how the altitude affects the fuel mileage - though I'd say it helps running leaner up high.

For reference - I'm 5'9" (175.25cm) tall and 190lbs. (86kg) with gear - recreational motocross rider as a kid - lots of street bike riding / skills training / classes - Harley/BMW/Goldwing and assorted sportbikes and now just doder around. As a former Motor Officer - I have to admit that I've taken a few Harley's places they shouldn't have gone

Overall I don't miss the DR - I see more (slower pace) - go more interesting (difficult) places on the KLX with more confidence and at a pace less likely to get me in trouble on the trail or with my friends still in uniform ... best of luck on going light! ... ymmv - but I'm sold.

Michael

Don't even attempt to do it on a CRF 250X, the bike is awesome and I had mine road registered for pottering about on. But I bought it to use on the track as it is a through and through Enduro bike and needs tweaking and servicing every 10 to 15 hours.
I would recommend the CRF 250L though, I used one on my trip a few months ago and it never missed a beat both on and offroad

Wayne

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The Balkans
https://new.horizonsunlimited.com/poi_entity/8417

Nice review of the KLX-S Michael!
We don't hear enough about his great bike, the WR250R seems to dominate the 250 scene and conversation.

Being a DR650 owner, IMO your assessment was good.
That's saying a lot for me as I'm a big DR650 booster. But you got it all pretty much dead on.

I think you're too humble regarding your riding skills. I've ridden with motor cops for years. (San Francisco Northstars MC) I'm sure your skills and training are way above average.

I did the White Rim on my DR650 as well. No problems at all. It things were wet, then I would have been in trouble! My DR has done a lot of Baja, Colorado passes and many US states in it's 60K miles. But must admit I'd much prefer a 250 anytime the pavement ends. As you say .... "light is right".

My DR was totally pooped out doing those Colorado passes ... can't imagine how a 250 could even make it up and over! You're right, the F.I. model does better on fuel ... and also right that with altitude MPG goes UP ... but power goes DOWN. F.I. will keep it running up high, but power still suffers.

On longer trips into Mexico/Central America I would be concerned with carrying capacity of the 250's. But the more I see guys out there doing it ... I realize it CAN BE DONE.

What is your opinion about the 300/330 kits for the KLX? I read a bit about this on ADV Rider thread years ago, have not followed up to see how long those bored motors will last.

50 to 55 MPG is not good for a 250. Is your bike jetted rich? Or is that figure normal for the carb version?

My DR always gets between 47 and 50 MPG. Better at altitude. I'm jetted pretty lean ... as that is how the DR comes from Suzuki. I'm also running open air box, Twin Air filter, Yosh pipe, DJ needle, 155 main. Wonderful performance over stock ...yet fuel economy still good.

Do 250cc (or so, e.g. Enduro style) engines survive long highways?

Any size engine will survive cruising over long distances; so long as the engine's well maintained and not being thrashed.
I wouldn't reccommend a full on enduro as they have very high maintenance schedules and can be vibey; a green lane bike such as Hondas CRF 250L is perfect.

I toured all over northern Thailand on Honda Dream 125's and a CBR150....no problems

Thanks Mollydog...

Here's a link that may answer more about the 330 bore longevity - as well as the overall longevity of the bike.

The Amazing KLX351 - ADVrider

Fuel mileage is a direct result of where I ride - lots of wind / hills / highway miles covered at high speed to get to the dirt and total load I carry for camping trips - combined with my right wrist. Around town I get better mileage - 10-15% for the most part.

Over the passes the bike does fine - it's more of an attitude thing about the pace - no one seems to mind that I'm ever so slightly slower except the guys under 50 in a hurry.

I'm jetted lean 2 steps for around town, so jetted for the 6-8000' (1829-2438m) level even though I live at 4600' (1402m) - the bike has zero modifications from stock on the engine - just a bash plate and hand guards.

Hope this helps the OP with a decision on a 250 ... be well.

Michael

Might depend what you consider "long distance".
Agreed, the "L" version seems to be a rock!
Note the reason for the high maintenance schedules on the Race Enduro versions: High compression piston, radical cams for HIGH revs, bigger valves, all equals more HP ... but more heat = more WEAR.
Yea, me too! But at most I put maybe 2,500 miles on my rental bikes touring my two Thai tours. Did ALL Golden Triangle, dirt routes along Burmese border and all the good mountain roads in the area. In the realm of "RTW", a scoot round Thailand is not much a test of a bike's long range survival ability.

I think it's pretty undisputed that something like a DR650 is going to outlast a 125 or 250 ... no matter how good the maintenance is on the 125 or 250.

Little bikes used as Touring bikes are pretty stressed when set up for RTW.
Carrying heavy loads along with high revs, riding endless highway, climbing high mountains, or churning through deep sand, all are going to wear out a small bore bike before it would a 650. Just the way it is.

Even doing back roads at low revs, a bigger engine will last longer, in general, than a small one.

As mentioned the real joy of the little bike is 1. going off road 2. getting through nightmare City traffic! Little BIKE GOOD!

Wow! That Rickey thread on his 351cc is ... A M A Z I N G! (I did read his stuff earlier but not this thread!) Thanks for posting the link! The guy does BIG miles and it's all good! Would you say his results are typical among those who've done the 351cc mod?

I learned a lot about KLX's from that thread. Had no idea about the pre 08 changes Kawi made to the bike. Very tempting ... as used Carb ones are very affordable here ... MUCH more so than any WR250.

And like many, I would never even consider a KTM350 or the like as a travel bike. I like cheap, cheerful ...and expendable! Ride Ride Ride ..
Wear it out, buy another.

Mollydog - I'm not sure if Ricky's big bore on the KLX250S is typical - but the bike has a solid reputation for long term use.

lucky - Any of the liquid cooled bikes should at least be a match for the smaller bikes Lois P has used I would think - though perhaps not as easy to service (shim type valves versus tappet, cooling system maintenance, etc.)

Here's a couple who are on the road currently on Honda CRF250L's and have essentially had few problems - huge mileage on thier bikes and stiil going strong - plus it's a nice read...

Amsterdam to anywhere

Michael

Thanks for all the info. (And nice read indeed!)

Thing is, something as pricy as the CRF250L or the WR are just over my budget.

After having ridden on a super simple (if a little shitty quality) Pulsar I am all for simplicity. The fewer electronics and sensors the better. So carbs and air cooled would be ideal. I am thinking some sort of 90's bike? I rather buy an old one cheap and put the money into giving it a good overhaul (engine if necessary) than spending all my budget on a new bike that I can't fix myself (even if newer may mean less repairs). Brand new from the dealers is not a financial option for me.....

So thinking Yamaha XT250 Serow, Kawasaki KL250 Super Sherpa, Honda NX250, TTR250 or KLX250.....

If any of these scream "can't do highway" to you, please let me know

__________________
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It is my current view that the parallel import (aka grey import) market in the UK is picking up at present, thereby reversing the market of recent years whereby dealers etc from mainland Europe were scooping up UK registered bikes and exporting them to the rest of the EU - that process has reversed basically; to a great extent how this goes will depend on the exchange rate of the Euro to the £ - in fact, that is the primary factor.

There are some UK dealers who are importing brand new grey imports and there are others, in some cases individual entrepreneurs, who are bringing second hand bikes into the UK; keep an eye on ebay for instance.

In any event, low sales of new bikes in the UK since 2008 have the present day net result that late-registration second hand bikes are in short supply; the overall effect is that the second hand prices for all bikes are very firm and are likely to remain so for quite a while.
Talk to any UK dealer and you will get some form of conversation based on this.

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Dave

Those bikes ALL could do your ride, the key is getting one that is not clapped out, get a low mileage minter and pay a bit more for a good one. Never buy a worn out bike.

Where are you planning to begin your trip? If budget is a big issue, then consider this:
For some parts of the world, it's best to buy a local bike, tour round, then re-sell. You mentioned the Pulsar, so have you done India already?

If not, then India would be a great place to start your trip.
Buy local bike (good value there), re-sell after tour.

Same goes for lots of Asia. I rented bikes in Thailand, others buy then re-sell. Tricky to import a "foreign" bike into that part of the world.

If you want to start in the Americas, buy in the USA. Bikes sell for about half of UK prices. Craig's List and other US sites are FULL of used 250's and others.

Ride the Americas, re-sell either in Latin America or ride back (or ship) to USA to sell at trips end.

Going this route saves THOUSANDS in shipping costs, Carnets and avoids major hassles.

A few bikes in California & Arizona found after brief search. A few 250's with some 350's and 400's mixed in. Every day brings new/different bikes. Check all major cities in Craig's list, also check nationwide using Cycle Trader.com :

1989 honda nx 250
91 Honda XR250L Street legal bike
HONDA NX 250 Dual-sport motorcycle
1992 Yamaha/Serow XT225 plated
1993 Suzuki DR350
1991 Suzuki DR 350
1992 Suzuki dr350 s m
2006 Suzuki DRZ 400S Dual Sport Enduro Low Miles
2001 DRZ 400

Thanks

Yes, did India on the local Pulsars and liked the experience.

Bit worried about the loss in value in places like Australia and the Americas so by the time I re-sell I will have "lost" quite a bit of money. Then there is the cash that goes into prepping each new bike for the trip and the upkeep. (If it's my own bike I prep it once and if done right, won't have to deal with many major repairs aside from the usual consumables like chains n sprockets. Each new bike may have a bigger problem cropping up, once ridden loads per day..... you just don't know with a "new, strange" bike. We had that to an extent with the Pulsars. And now that we know them inside out, we had to sell them again.)

Secondly I don't know how easy it is to say take a Thai bike round South East Asia (import/carnet regulations) or US one round South America? Hadn't researched that so far. But if w had to sell and re-buy for each country, that would be far too time consuming. While we like to hang around places and get to know the people and local life, waiting time = $ in accommodation and food..... $ that could be spent riding.

Not dismissing your idea. In fact it had crossed our mind. Just wondering how much more of a feasible option it really is?

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Sure it (TTR or similar) could do it, much like a WRR, but it's like watching paint dry though. The size of the bike provides the feel of the bike, and any 250 will make the highways (I'm presuming you mean dual carriageway motorways?) feel like riding along an airport runway.

On windy single carriageways they're a lot of fun (WRR way more than the TTR). During planning I try to avoid motorways as much as possible because they're boring as batsh!t. But sometimes you can't avoid it.

Personally, I wouldn't knock back the technology as complicated on something like a WRR. There is really nothing to it, and it's of such high quality, that I don't think I've heard of anything failing on it. The common thing is the fuel pump (with all FI's) due to poor fuel or overheating from lack of cooling. It needs to be submerged in fuel. Overheating is much more common than poor fuel out of the few failures, so it's something that can easily be mitigated.

The good thing is that with FI there is a fail safe when sensors fail. It'll run on a single map in that case. Not sure if you've ever taken a carb apart, but there are a lot more parts in that than a good FI system.

The WRR is a MASSIVE step up in quality and performance (= fun) over the TTR and it's very noticeable. The cylinder is from the R1 engine so it loves revving. My Mrs loved her TTR until she started thrashing the WRR around. It inspires much more confidence. Plus the load carrying capability is much greater (it has an ali main frame, but a steel subframe). It was sold in Australia as the Super Trail when it was first released and it was ground breaking. Honda followed suit a few years later, but I'm not familiar with that bike and the maintenance similarities of the WRR which are remarkable.

I'd take anything you consider for a spin, and if you have a preference based on that, look hard and further afield for that bike rather than using availability as a constraint (which I assume governs price in your search). You could reverse your trip as well. Not sure where you're heading, but I think I saw a WRR for sale in the HUBB in Kenya.

In the end these trips won't be as common in your life as going on holiday, so a little more homework or spending to get your favorite will pay out in the memory bank when the homework or bank account balance is long forgotten.

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Tacos Tyring Travels.com

Lucky Luke! I've not traveled India much, visited a couple times, never stayed long nor had a bike there.

All bikes will depreciate over time/miles, including your own bike. I'd compare cost and "hassle" of shipping your bike to USA or Oz. Trust me, the amount lost on resale will be less than shipping/carnet ... and you can't put figure on stress of managing the shipping.

Yes, prep is part of the cost. But lets take an Americas trip as an example: Buy bike in USA for roughly 35% to 50% less than you could do in UK. You put in some time/prep/$$.

Now you ride the bike round North, Central and South America for ... say a year, say 15,000 miles. (would take at least a year to do it right)

If you return to USA with the bike, you can resell it. Or .. sell it in Chile as so many do.

YES ... you will lose money on the resale ... do you expect to make a profit on this deal? You're dreaming! BTW, there is NO CARNET required for any of Latin America, or N. America either.
If you had your own bike you'd have to ship it out of S. America for about £1000 to £1200 to get it back to EU, more to Oz. So figure that in as well. $$$$

So that trip alone takes up a year. So it's not like your buying and selling bikes every few months.

For Australia, I have no idea. I do know it will cost you a packet to ship your own bike there ... and they'll do an anal probe and cleaning before they let you and the bike in. Then, when you're there, they've got speed cams on every corner for going 5 kms. over limit. Pay on the spot fines. No thanks.

Any bike can have "issues". If you are smart, you will pay a bit more and get a good, low miles bike to start with.

The bit about passing borders with your bike in Asia is a fair point. I know you can only pass through a few, not all, without major hassle. So yes, there you may have to buy (or rent) a bike for each country or region.

But I think there are a couple countries you can link together riding a local bike and have no probs passing borders. Just can't recall which ... but IIRC, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia?? But not sure. Do your research ... current info is all out there 100 times over.

For buying bike in USA, set up a deal on line before you arrive. Try to find free place to stay while there. (HUBB community)

If you prefer to start your trip in Africa then in that case you SHOULD take your own UK purchased bike. Buy in UK, prep, ride down to Spain, Ferry to Morocco and you're on your way. Just don't forget the all those Carnet's!

Once in S. Africa, ship bike to some where else. In that scenario having your own bike should work out. After 6 months or a year traveling Africa you'll be an expert on all this stuff!

Good luck!

I see you are considering a super sherpa.

they are known for good build quality, simple, durable, with no known significant 'problems'.

i chose one due to:

- single cylinder, air cooled, and carburetor'd engine

- six speed transmission

- fairly common tire sizes--21" front, 18" rear

- 520 size chain

- decent built swingarm, with needle bearings

- front and rear disc brakes

- known to be sturdy rear subframe

- decent power and great fuel mileage (i get from 70-90 mpg)

- parts are still readily available

The one thing that i do wish was different in the basic design (not changeable like fuel tank size) is that it uses shims to adjust the valves vs. screw and locknut (which was on my list of preferred qualities).

Things that are somewhat commonly added/changed for touring/dual sport use;

- carb jets, there is what is known as the 'Dr. Jekle mod', which is switching to a 130 main and a 20 pilot and turning the fuel screw out 2 and 3/4 turns from seated.
Current best practice by consensus is leaving the stock main (127.5) and changing the pilot to either 30 or 35, with the fuel screw out 1.25-1.5 turns or so.

With the 30 pilot, mine has quicker throttle response and improved power throughout low, mid, and high range.

No other mods, such as opening air box or aftermarket exhaust, are needed...and have not been found to be worth the money with this bike.

The reason is the Sherpa is wayyy lean stock, and requires a fairly long, choked warm up, even in hot temps.
The jetting changes are not necessary, of course, but convenient.

Fuel mileage seems to stay the same or even increase with the jetting changes.
They are super simple to do and you'd know your way a little around the carb then

- larger fuel tank. The stock one is 2.6 gal.(about 9 l ).
There are no purpose made after market tanks available for the Sherpa. Many people have mounted larger tanks made for the Honda XR650L and the Suzuki DR650 on the Sherpa, with little fabbing needed...nothing beyond a drill, a vise (I work around that ), and such.
I am putting an Acerbis 5.3 gal (20 l ) tank on mine....should give me an approximately 350 mile range.

- and then there are racks, handguards and such. Which is common for many bikes, but not totally necessary.

Hope that helps. i have had one for a few years, it is my primary transportation and i ride everything except single track, including 4,000 + mile adventures with it.