Well, now that Honda has announced the CRF300L, it will be interesting to see what Kawi has in store for next week's unveiling of the "new" KLX. Ever since Kawi concocted this mysterious announcement, I've thought they would go with a KLX300 since they already have the engine for the KLX300R. Easy to do and a big splash, but now if they don't have a 300 planned, they are going to have major egg on their face and will appear as a weak alternative in the market. Bottom line prediction: new KLX300 coming soon. Fantasy prediction: they had info on Honda's 300, so they decided to whup their butts and go for the KLX350. I'm not enough of an engine guy to determine if they could mod the 300 to achieve a 350 displacement, or if they'd have to design a new engine, which would obviously be more expensive. Only a couple of days left to find out.
There's been an aftermarket 351 from Bill Blue for years. No reason why Kawasaki couldn't make a few changes such as reinforcing the bottom end and improving the coolant passages with a big factory and casting facility available. I suspect they will just stay with a 300 however.
I heard Yamaha was coming out with a 321 twin and a 450 (WR based) dualsport , Kawasaki will be the old 250 yet, and an all new 550 single dualsport. No, really.
I have wondered if they might use their small 300 twin, but a thumper seems more suited to a small DS machine.
I heard rumours it will be a 197cc branded as a 200,,, Ha... All we can do is wait and see,,, then wait some more while they try too fill the orders that dealeres are booking next week... 10:1 that very few units will make it the shop floors for the 2021 year... Hopefully im wrong as normal... Ha... Lets Ride... J.T
I've heard that there are actually only a small number of owners in Japan that directly or indirectly own pretty much everything. This could explain why amongst the big 4, there is such little difference between the models. Like there is a gentleman's agreement. Look how close their 250 and 450 motocross bikes are. No one ever comes out with anything radical one year and blows everyone else away. And if they do something different, next year the other 3 do it. What I'm getting at is if Honda is coming out with a CRF300L, my guess is that Kawasaki's will be a 300 also. Of course I could be wrong... actually, I hope I am and they surprise us with a KLX350.
I just bought a 2020 WR250r used with low miles. I may be in the market again next year when my son turns 17, and this is exciting news about the 300 dual sports.
A 350 could easily be the new thing, a redesigned cylinder that bolts on, providing more water jacket space and aluminum to have the nickasil plating. The only supposed weak spot on the BB 351 is that it reduces the water jacket size and thus the flow. Not really a problem for most from what I've read. I believe the bottom end and gear box can take the power, never heard of any issues regardless of the bore size. It would be a good thing for sure... Then BB could make a 400 or 425 kit...
I was poking around trying to find a service manual that I could use for valve check over the winter and all I could find was the carb’d version manual. thinking specs would be the same for our EFI bikes? or maybe someone has a newer service manual
There is a 2009 service manual on our own Mr. Dippins excellent site under Manuals etc.: KLX250S Home Page (dpippin.com) I can't confirm but I think it will work for most things on your bike except anything pertaining to fuel injection. You can order a manual for your bike from Kawasaki but it's $83.95 USD, (Owner Center (kawasaki.com)) Haven't seen any free downloadable manuals for '18+ but there must be one out there.
