Greetings everyone!
I wanted to give a quick review on my 2018 KLX, i’m coming up on a year of ownership.
Overall, I give it a solid recommendation for anyone that wants more power and more suspension. I have yet to tinker with the front or rear, as the bike has a comfy setup, and absorbs changing terrain very well. She’s certainly not a jumper though!
At only 302 lbs wet, the slight increase in weight compared to TW is not really noticeable. Weight seems to be carried low, and there’s a satisfying feeling of control with a low”ish” center of gravity, similar to TW.
Performance is greatly increased, as there’s a punchy mid range into upper rpms. Powerband is pretty broad, about from 5500-9500 at 4500 feet elevation. Redline is 10500.When Fred and I were in Death Valley, noticeable power gains began at 3,000rpms-much more! I would say that she doesn’t like low, low RPMs the way TW does. Like say chugging at 1500-2000, is “chattery” and sluggish for KLX, whereas TW seemed ok there. High altitudes greatly impact power with KLX, which is a bit of a disappointment, considering it is fuel injected. I noticed this during breakin, when Fred and I ventured into sweetwaters at elevations above 9500ft. 2nd trip there, I swapped in a different air box snorkel(from KDX200) which seemed to help, allowing much more air to enter air box.
Cargo. Here’s where the TW definitely edged ahead. I have a small sleek rack that cosmetically looks great. Functionally, it leaves me wanting. Currently I only use it to affix a 1 gallon rotopax. Positioned ahead of the rotopax, for camp n’ rides, I have attached a wolf man beta bag, which seemed to adequately contain everything I would need for a two night trip, and a bit more. With a little more adjustments I think I could be rightly set up for extended periods. The wolf man bag takes the space of a nonexistent passenger, so as to not overwhelm subframe(lesson learned with TW).
The bike is quite fuel efficient, I consistently get 55-60 mpg, compared to about 60with TW. I have a larger rear sprocket, OEM was 42, I have a 46. I believe the bike could stand to have a little more, maybe a 47 or 48. RPMs at 70 mph are at 8200, so I’d rather not go too much bigger on the rear sprocket. Top speed so far was an indicated 94mph, actual was closer to 90, seems to read 3 mph over actual.
Let’s see what else...the look. I really like the look of the bike. I paid an additional 200 dollars for the digital matrix camp, with blacked out engine, rims, etc. it looks good. Probably not the safest bike, but I’ll blend in with surrounding when in nature for the most part..
Let me know if you have questions! I recently sold my 2006 TW of 11 years and nearly 21,000 miles. While I’ll miss the unwavering traction that the rear tire had, I don’t feel there’s any loss of utility with the KLX. I doubt I’ll be taking it through the rubicon anytime soon, but I think it would do well on that level of technical trail terrain.
I wanted to give a quick review on my 2018 KLX, i’m coming up on a year of ownership.
Overall, I give it a solid recommendation for anyone that wants more power and more suspension. I have yet to tinker with the front or rear, as the bike has a comfy setup, and absorbs changing terrain very well. She’s certainly not a jumper though!
At only 302 lbs wet, the slight increase in weight compared to TW is not really noticeable. Weight seems to be carried low, and there’s a satisfying feeling of control with a low”ish” center of gravity, similar to TW.
Performance is greatly increased, as there’s a punchy mid range into upper rpms. Powerband is pretty broad, about from 5500-9500 at 4500 feet elevation. Redline is 10500.When Fred and I were in Death Valley, noticeable power gains began at 3,000rpms-much more! I would say that she doesn’t like low, low RPMs the way TW does. Like say chugging at 1500-2000, is “chattery” and sluggish for KLX, whereas TW seemed ok there. High altitudes greatly impact power with KLX, which is a bit of a disappointment, considering it is fuel injected. I noticed this during breakin, when Fred and I ventured into sweetwaters at elevations above 9500ft. 2nd trip there, I swapped in a different air box snorkel(from KDX200) which seemed to help, allowing much more air to enter air box.
Cargo. Here’s where the TW definitely edged ahead. I have a small sleek rack that cosmetically looks great. Functionally, it leaves me wanting. Currently I only use it to affix a 1 gallon rotopax. Positioned ahead of the rotopax, for camp n’ rides, I have attached a wolf man beta bag, which seemed to adequately contain everything I would need for a two night trip, and a bit more. With a little more adjustments I think I could be rightly set up for extended periods. The wolf man bag takes the space of a nonexistent passenger, so as to not overwhelm subframe(lesson learned with TW).
The bike is quite fuel efficient, I consistently get 55-60 mpg, compared to about 60with TW. I have a larger rear sprocket, OEM was 42, I have a 46. I believe the bike could stand to have a little more, maybe a 47 or 48. RPMs at 70 mph are at 8200, so I’d rather not go too much bigger on the rear sprocket. Top speed so far was an indicated 94mph, actual was closer to 90, seems to read 3 mph over actual.
Let’s see what else...the look. I really like the look of the bike. I paid an additional 200 dollars for the digital matrix camp, with blacked out engine, rims, etc. it looks good. Probably not the safest bike, but I’ll blend in with surrounding when in nature for the most part..
Let me know if you have questions! I recently sold my 2006 TW of 11 years and nearly 21,000 miles. While I’ll miss the unwavering traction that the rear tire had, I don’t feel there’s any loss of utility with the KLX. I doubt I’ll be taking it through the rubicon anytime soon, but I think it would do well on that level of technical trail terrain.