Grace (BikeHedonia)

Fixed the high idle issue. Low tech solution. $10.

The hilux has manual shift and low range but still don't get enough engine braking for the gnarly stuff. Not like cruising down a mountain in an old landcruiser in first or second gear.

It's not enough on the new Hiluxes. You put it in low range and manually down shift and you still don't get the engine braking you need

Having lost brakes due to overheating two out of the three times I've tried to drive down our local mountain in an automatic four wheel drive, I must beg to differ. Please give me back a manual transmission and some decent engine braking because I'm having too much fun to die. And also I'm sick of sitting on the mountain as it gets dark, waiting for the brakes to cool...

I do like the xr400. A good bike for mustering cattle, among other things.

I guess it's a more delicate animal than the other machines I've been riding. I did let it have a little nap in the rain when I first felt it slipping but yeah didn't seem to do the trick. Yes, totally agree with you re service intervals, I will be changing oil etc much more frequently. Interestingly, it has the same engine (but different mapping etc) as the KLX230R, and comparing the service interval recommendations for the two bikes is like cheese and chalk.

Interesting thought re: running in oil. Thanks.

Oh how strange. Yes I tried backing off the adjustment and waiting until the bike was cool, to no avail. But didn't changet the cable adjustment down by the engine...

Yes, Kawasaki just said, "don't go over 4,000 revs and change it after 1,000km". Is there something else I should know?

Thank you for everyone's thoughts by the way, I appreciate it

Nah this came straight from the factory

Yeah I definitely didn't notice any slipping until the final hill where it gave out rapidly and totally. I think you might be right about quality though. Although the klx230r and klx230 have basically the same engine, their maintenance schedules are unbelievably different. The R is clearly in a different performance (and stress) league than the standard, and it makes you wonder what else has been bodged on the inside to keep the cost of the standard edition down, on the assumption that it won't be working so hard.

off road yammies like hen's teeth around here

Diplomatically avoiding the question haha Well done I have a slight soft spot for Kwakas because my first road bike was a zzr250... the beginning of many things

I could have done with a tow from a few mountain goats a few times there...

Neither was I. Having said that, I didn't flog the shit out of it any more than usual, and even if I did it should have endured more than 220km of punishment. I wonder if it was not adjusted right from the factory, or if something went wrong when they chucked the aftermarket levers on? It doesn't make sense to get 90,000km out of one set of clutch plates on the KTM and 220km from one set of clutch plates on the KLX...

So I was like, "let's check out this new remote route through the wilderness!" and THREE DAYS LATER we made it home. Turns out that it was most likely a drug smuggling track not a normal trail... lol.

That looks genuinely delightful.

I still run tubes on my 690 (my round the world, get-stuck-in-random-places-alone bike) because of the repair issue you just mentioned, i.e. what do you when there's a serious tear to the carcass of the tyre.

That is wild

good god, and I'd agree with her. That's KTM parts prices!! My roses cost me about 2 pounds

That's okay, I'm shallow too.

I wish student loans worked like that too...

statute of limitations is usually only 2 or 3 years... a little longer for the felonies

Even better than valentine's day is today - the day after - it's my anniversary of departure. 5 years exactly.