Why Wait...Go Buy It Now!

2025 Kawasaki KLX300

Not having ridden since December of 2021 because of neck issues then finding myself suddenly able to ride in June of 2025 was a shock to be sure. I have several times now been able to ride and by riding I mean Dual Sport riding no single track riding and I will not be doing that. I am so blessed to be able to even be doing dirt roads and pavement in the mountains I’m not going to push my luck by doing single track. My neck is not fixed and for now anyway have a reprieve from so much pain.

I have left over from all the motorcycles I once had a 2018 Husky FE250F Dual Sport bike with lots of modifications done to it. It’s not the most comfortable bike to ride doing only Dual Sort stuff so I told my wife if I’m still able to ride in a year I will buy myself a more comfortable bike to ride. Well my wonderful wife says to me why wait go buy a more comfortable bike now, maybe you’ll only have a short time to ride be more comfortable now. Well that night I started researching bikes and decided on the Kawasaki KLX300.

I didn’t want some fire breathing motor to deal with, something a little closer to the ground (Less than 12” of travel) just a softer ride all around. One of the most surprising things I discovered while researching the KLX300, it’s sold as an entry level Dual Sport bike, but the vast majority of sales are to people with at least twenty years of riding experience, which tells me those people are looking for the same things I am.

I picked up the new KLX300 and spent two days nesting with it, as I have always done, I make it as comfortable for me as possible, some things are possible with what it comes with and some things not. Mine is grey not green because that’s all they had left, but I like the grey.

I changed the handle bars; the stock 7/8” are to low and the wrong bend for me I bought a set of risers and used fat bars to get the height and bend correct for me. I also changed out the stock grips for a set of ODI’s, this turned out to be a big deal. I ordered a set of IMS foot pegs, (not many choices here)a KLR650 extended shift lever, the stock one is made for people with size 6 feet not size 13’s. I bent the stock brake lever and repositioned it to fit my foot.

A couple of things I was looking for I got in this new bike, I can swing my leg over it to get on, I can touch the ground with both feet and not have to lean over to touch just one leg, I’m 6’ and old so this helps. You need to be closer to the ground, this bike is heavy, if you were on your tippy toes and leaned it too far you would have a tough time keeping it from falling over. It’s quiet and I don’t plan on making it loud. I ordered a 13T counter shaft sprocket, they say the stock gearing is a little high for cruising dirt and paved roads and single track, we’ll see. I also ordered a set of shorter brake and clutch levers the stock levers are too long and won’t work where I like them.

Changing out the grips turned out to be a huge nightmare for me. When I took the throttle apart I looked at the way the cables were attached and thought nothing of it, but when I went to put it back together it turned into a horrible frustrating mess. The throttle housing is also part of the on/off switch and the starter button. You have the two halves of the throttle housing which are the on/off switch and starter button the throttle tube two push pull cables and a third piece that the cables must fit into then installed into the back half of the throttle housing then you have to hook the cables into the throttle tube etc. you get the idea. Literally after and I’m embarrassed to say this hours I was finally able to get it right. You ever work on something and the longer you struggle with it the further way you get in actually fixing it or putting it back together. And true to form most men won’t stop and walk away for a while, we just keep thinking I’ll get it this time, I had to walk away several times. And quite frankly this bike has fought me every step of the way, it has tested my patients at every turn. There’s no doubt a lesson here, not sure I’m up for it though. As long as I’m talking about patience’s I might as well tell this one on myself. The 13t sprocket came so I decided to change it, I had the rear wheel off and the 14t sprocket off when I noticed the 13t sprocket would not work on the splines I have, so everything goes back on except I could not line up the brake rotor so it fit in between the rear brake pads the bike still has the big bulky oversize rear license plate holder that restricted my view I had to move my head from one side to the other to try and see around the bulky rear fender. I ended up taking the brake pads out and made it much easier. When the kit comes to eliminate that big mess it will be much easier to work with. So right now I’m waiting for the correct 13t sprocket, the extended shift lever and the rear license eliminator kit.

Well the taillight eliminator kit came so I decided to tackle that project and once again it bit me in the ass after trimming part of the inner fender per instructions I went to install a flat metal plate to mount the taillight/brake light and turn signals and it was the wrong size, I thought I had ordered the kit for the 24+ model but apparently not. To make a very long story shorter I first tried to reinstall the stock bulky unit but since I had trimmed off part of the inner fender it would not work and even if it had worked would have been flimsy. I was able to make the new kit work without the flat plate for now at least.

Today I did the maiden voyage ride; I ended up doing a tick less than sixty miles and had an absolutely great ride. The bike ended up surprising me in many ways and overall I’m stoked. First it had more low end than I thought it would have, it’s not a turd as long as I’m not trying to be first at the end of a straightaway. It’s lower to the ground so it feels more planted and corners quite well, you do feel the weight and I actually jumped a few water bars. I didn’t get a lot of air and didn’t fly that far but the bike was stable. The suspension worked surprisingly well, it handled most potholes pretty well considering. On the well used dirt roads it was a little harsh on the small bumps, but the overall feeling was good. It is not a tight trail bike but on more open flowing trails for short transfers it would be ok. But that’s not what I bought it for, the more I rode it today the more comfortable I got on it. I think it’s going to more than ok. And I think the stock gearing is just fine for what I’m going to do with it for right now. I believe this bike likes you to use the clutch to up shift it, other wises it can be a little balky.

I did have one issue with it I need to figure out, I had a hard time shifting it and missed more than a few shifts. The longer shift lever needs to have some tweaking done to it, riding it wearing my boots made it more difficult. The bike has a very long shift pattern it reminds me of the old CZ days when you had to lift your foot off the foot peg to up shift. I’m going to do one more ride then send this story to mx43.com.

Did a 74 mile ride today, it was warm, dusty and I had a great time. Shifting was better but not where I want it to be, so it’s still an issue for me. Everything I liked on the first ride was still true on the second ride. Eventually I will change the tires and tubes but actually the stock tires work ok for what I’m doing, I don’t need to be going any faster around corners, the front feels very planted until it isn’t, I’ve not had it slide to the point I think I’m going down, just enough to slow me down. I will also have the oil changed in the forks and shock at some point.  The trick will be if I can just leave it the way it is, because it is ok just the way it is without tinkering with it as I have done with everything I’ve ever had in the past. After all I thought I was never going to ride again a month ago so I should be just happy to ride period, right.

We will see.

Doug  21J