2019 KLX 250

While at my dealer, Tampa Bay Powersports, delivering and loading the KLR650 for the water-pump work discussed in the last restoration post, I noticed that Kawasaki now offered a KLX 250 in Camo. Kool looking bike.

Over the next couple weeks I talked myself into buying it with an eye toward using the lighter dual sport for the Florida Rally tracks. Due to the deep sand and heavy mud, I usually get trapped in the Discovery or B/C groups with the KLR in Florida; some other places also. Plus, I'm just getting old; turning 60 here shortly. The -130 pounds that the KLX gives up to the KLR will ease the pain so to speak. 

So I picked up the KLX on December 5, ran it through some quick trials in Richloam WMA (Brooksville) and was off to the Wild Bear Rally in Ocala National Forest on the 7th. 

I've added a link to the new blog in the sidebar.

Following is a copy of the post from the Wild Bear Safari held in the Ocala National Forest on December 7-8, 2018.

I completed my second Wild Bear Safari Dual Sport Rally this past weekend, December 7-9. The rally tracked some great forest roads and trails through Ocala National Forest on Saturday and New Smyrna Beach on Sunday (before we got rained out on Sunday).

My original plan was to use my KLR650 for the rally, but having picked up the KLX just a few days earlier I thought I'd give it a whorl...even though it only had 20 miles on it. Of course, I had to keep with the running in requirements, but that really wasn't too much of a problem. One of these dual sport rallies, with the constantly changing rpm levels, is probably a good way to do the running in.

Here are some photos of the rally:

So this is my routine setup at the rallies that I attend. I have a 5' x 8' enclosed utility trailer to transport the bike and that holds all my stuff. It then serves as my camper for evenings. If I don't have electric hookup, I carry my 2000 Watt Predator Generator that I got at Harbor Freight. It's good for lights and fans, but not anything heated. It did a good job lighting the Christmas lights on my canopy.

This was the rider's meeting on Saturday.

Most anything here off road in Florida looks like this. You learn to ride in sand...or you ride with the Harley guys and Sport Bike Squids on the streets.

Okay, so I usually try and find good photo ops. Sometimes I do better jobs than others, so I stopped here with an eye toward getting some action in this dip on film. Everyone took the bypass. If I wasn't running in my little KLX I'd definitely have rolled through this.

This restaurant was in Crescent City, Florida. Wow! What an awesome place. I wish we had something like this around where I live.

Lastly, the Wild Bear was also a Toys for Tots Donation Site. I donated a couple nice starter fishing sets.

Enduro Engineering Roll Chart Holder Review

Enduro Engineering Roll Chart Holder Review
Side Loading Chart Holder

A couple weeks ago, I purchased an Enduro Engineering Roll Chart Holder; $26 from Amazon. I normally get the cheaper MSR or Moose chart holders with the snap-down lids, but I wanted those nifty aluminum knobs this time around.

Side Loading vs. Lid:

The Enduro Engineering Holder is side loaded and secured with a bolt and wing nut. The cheaper MSR and Moose Trophy roll charts have snap-on lids. My experience (and the reason I currently need a roll chart) is that the tabs on the lids snap. If you can catch that in time, you can wrap a rubber band around it. If not, as I've experienced before, the the lid goes flying. That, of course won't be a problem with the Enduro Engineering model.

Casing:

The casing of the Eduro Engineering is a very strong polycarbonate. It's solid. It's going to take some good whacks by tree branches/brush sailing down the trail.

The window is clear making the chart highly visible.

No Ram Solution:

Ram is the gold standard in all things that attach to a motorcycle handlebar. However, not dissimilar to the cheaper models, the Enduro Engineering did not provide for a Ram Mounting Solution. Rather, it has the typical rubber hose and hose clamp.

The reason a Ram Solution is important is it's a much more "flexible" solution. It also allows the chart holder to be raised up off the bar so as to NOT have to look down at the chart at speed on the trails.

To mount Ram Ball, I had to drill out the two rivets and drill new holes on either side of the rivet holes. While drilling is from the back,when drilling I placed a protective surface to prevent damage to the face of the chart holder when the drill bits pop through.

Of course, Ram Balls come in a number of shapes and sizes. I used this one.

Important note...mount the Ram Mount side to side or the bolt heads will interfere with the paper chart and exacerbate the issue discussed next.

Does not hold enough chart:

My first real issue with the Enduro Engineering Chart Holder occurred before I even got on the trail. It didn't hold the whole day's ride in Ocala National Forest for the Wild Bear Safari.

The day's chart was only 10-11 pages cut; that's not a lot of chart but it didn't hold it. Never had that problem with the MSR or Moose Trophy.

The Enduro Engineering Chart container doesn't seem any smaller than the Moose Trophy. After staring at it for a moment, I noticed that the problem is that the connecting rollers (to which the charts are taped) are not in the center of the container. Rather, from the face of the holder, the rollers are about two thirds down the side. Wow! that gives up a lot of layers of paper!

The only thing I could do was split the chart into two pieces (at the lunch point) and then change out the chart to finish the day. No, not a big problem, but I go to these events to socialize, have a nice lunch. I really don't want to be carrying tape and farting around with the roll chart.

Chart Advances on its Own!

Now, I've actually heard of this issue happening after a lot of use and wear that the rollers impart on the holes or, in some cases, the grommets that the rollers pass through. However, this one was new out of the blister pack...and, yeah!...it was a little loose.

The trick to fix a worn roll chart is to wrap a rubber band or large o-ring around the knobs. Well, as fortune would have it, I had a rubber band around the second half of the rally's chart so I put it on and...Viola!...my expensive new chart didn't advance on its own for the rest of the day.

Conclusion

On the construction, it would be good if Enduro Engineering would recognize that most of us like to use Ram Solutions and set the rivet holes consistent with where a Ram Ball would mount. That is, it would avoid the need to drill holes and risk damage to the holder.

Also, on the construction, the manufacturer needs to move the rollers to the middle of the chart box, not down near the bottom. As it is, the chart box does not hold enough chart.

Overall, the construction and appearance are very nice, but functionally, I'd rather have a chart holder that holds a full day of chart and will probably go back to one of those....even if the quality of the lid construction isn't as good.


LINK to Installation Instructions.


Update:

I noticed that Enduro Engineering also sells a Roll Chart Holder with a Lid for $22.95. They also sell replacement lids for $8.95. I don't think MSR or Moose sell a replacement lid. Definitely a good idea there EE.

Registered

First stop in 2019 will be the Polar Bear Adventure Ride up near Gainsville. However, the biggest event of the season for me is Devils Creek in Brooksville, Florida, which marks the fist leg of the AMA Dual Sport Series. It runs the first Friday-Sunday of March. I always worry that I'm going to miss the registration window that's usually open for around a day and a half before the 150 maximum slots are filled. I had it on my calendar...registration starts January 2, 2019.

Then out of the blue, yesterday at noon, the organizer of this event opened up registration to the first 25 riders or 10 PM, whichever came first. The 25 slots went in three hours...a weekday afternoon. Fortunately, I was just sitting here at my computer when it came across and I was the first to sign in. So I got that out of the way.

Good grief they increased the registration fee from $150 to $180.

UPDATE:

LOL!!

Wild Bear Safari (ONF)

I completed my second Wild Bear Safari Dual Sport Rally this past weekend, December 7-9. However, I ran it on my recently purchased 2019 Camo KLX 250, a motorcycle that I will probably use going forward in the Florida sand box.

The rally tracked some great forest roads and trails through Ocala National Forest on Saturday and New Smyrna Beach on Sunday (before we got rained out on Sunday).

My original plan was to use my KLR650 for the rally, but having picked up the KLX just a few days earlier I thought I'd give it a whorl...even though it only had 20 miles on it. Of course, I had to keep with the running in requirements, but that really wasn't too much of a problem. One of these dual sport rallies, with the constantly changing rpm levels, is probably a good way to do the running in.

Here are some photos of the rally:

So this is my routine setup at the rallies that I attend. I have a 5' x 8' enclosed utility trailer to transport the bike and that holds all my stuff. It then serves as my camper for evenings. If I don't have electric hookup, I carry my 2000 Watt Predator Generator that I got at Harbor Freight. It's good for lights and fans, but not anything heated. It did a good job lighting the Christmas lights on my canopy.

This was the rider's meeting on Saturday.

Most anything here off road in Florida looks like this. You learn to ride in sand...or you ride with the Harley guys and Sport Bike Squids on the streets.

Okay, so I usually try and find good photo ops. Sometimes I do better jobs than others, so I stopped here with an eye toward getting some action in this dip on film. Everyone took the bypass. If I wasn't running in my little KLX I'd definitely have rolled through this.

This restaurant was in Crescent City, Florida. Wow! What an awesome place. I wish we had something like this around where I live.

Lastly, the Wild Bear was also a Toys for Tots Donation Site. I donated a couple nice starter fishing sets.