21J Still Having Fun!

My KLX300

The weather has been either fog to the ground or wind and rain lately, with both you get the cold, especially with fog. Even though I knew it was sunny up where I would normally ride, I just couldn’t make myself get off my ass, load everything up and go find the sunshine, so I haven’t been riding. The other reason for not riding is my expiration date had come and gone on my trigger point neck injections, the very thing that allows me to ride again. They only last a few months at a time and I have to wait at least three months before I can get them again. But until that happened this fall I did ride. I’ve put close to 800 miles on my KLX since June. And the more I ride it the more I like it. The more I like it is a relative term, is it better than all the other bikes I’ve had, absolutely not, but for what I’m using it for its good, not perfect, but I do enjoy riding it. If I decided to expand the kind of riding I’m doing to include say riding single track or desert riding then no I would have reached and surpassed what it’s good at for me anyway. After fifty plus years of riding and racing and a hundred plus bikes it would not meet those expatiations.

Some of my current thoughts, when it comes time to replace the stock tires I will replace them with either the same thing or something similar, why because I believe they work very well for what I’m using the bike for. I’ve ridden so called dual sport bikes for years most all of them with knobby’s on them because a percentage of the terrain was single track or single track desert etc. But quite frankly riding on knobby’s on dirt roads, two track dirt roads and pavement isn’t real comfortable. The stock tires are comfortable and very stable for that kind of riding. I have to admit at this point in my life I’m no longer interested in riding in rain and mud or muddy conditions, done all that. If I did then the stock tires are not good for that kind of riding and different tires would be a must.

The bike is quite, I like that, I’m sure an aftermarket exhaust would give it more power and lighter weight. I would like the lighter weight the bike is heavy especially by today’s standards, years ago no they were all heavy. I do think at some point I will remove the stock muffler just to see how much it weights. But for the kind of riding I’m now doing the bike feels just fine, jumping water bars maybe not so much. In my first story I said I was having issues with shifting the bike, it’s still an issue, but it’s better. I’m on my fourth after market shift lever and the latest one I believe a 1995 Honda XL650 shift lever works a lot better. It’s only going to get marginally better because of my size thirteen boots. The other issue I’ve struggled with is the rider triangle, it’s not comfortable for me. I don’t feel comfortable standing at all, it’s too cramped. Fast Way does not yet make down and back pegs for the bike, maybe someday they say. I used to be 6’1” but old age and having a seat pound my ass for years has resulted in me now being 6’. I just recently went to higher bars and aftermarket clamps that move the bars forward, when I did that I did not put the wrap around handguards back on, just a set of flag handguards, I’m not going to be crashing into stuff on single track trails. What little I’ve ridden it just around my home it feels much, much better and I think I’ll be much more comfortable standing in situations that pretty much demand you stand.

For those of you who have perhaps read my older stuff remember I always used Air Cells on my forks, no matter what. For those of you who have never heard of Air Cells I’ll explain how they work. But first I must say Air Cells are no longer in business from what I can tell. I have enough parts and pieces to make a set work on the KLX. The purpose of the Air Cells was to let air flow from the forks into and out of the Air Cell cylinders, the flow is metered and that helps soften the first few inches of initial fork travel. Most all the suspension companies are very good taking care of the middle and final part of the travel and maybe now they have that part figured out as well. The last time I looked into it Enzo suspension in So Cal was the only company who offered the Air Cell type technically, but they only made it for Showa forks. The initial few inches of travel can sometimes be harsh like when hitting rocks, roots etc. that tends to deflect the front end and allow the front end to move around giving you an unstable feeling, you could still feel the rocks and roots etc. but it didn’t hammer your hands and made the front stable. The KLX has a bit of that feeling, so the Air Cells. Overall the suspension works well for what I’m doing and so for now I don’t feel the need to run out and have them revalved. I haven’t ridden the bike since I installed the Air Cells so I assume they will help like they always have in the past. Eventually (Around 1000 miles) I will have at least the oil changed in the forks and shock, the stock oil is very thin.

For now this is all I’ve planned on doing, just keep riding it and see what happens.

Doug 21J