New-to-me KLX 650 C in UK - Hello

[hirsty]

Hi there,

First post just to say hi & thank you for some of the great reading on here - I just bought an eBay '94 KLX650 this weekend & am collecting it Tuesday after it hopefully passes it's MOT inspection tomorrow.  Also got very lucky (seemingly) on eBay Germany finding a used 19L Acerbis fuel tank which the seller was happy to send to London for a good price - small tank range had been putting me off getting my first dualsport, though admittedly I've not tried out the stock saddle that far yet...   

Look forward to asking you some dumb questions shortly, and reciprocating in due course!  All the best, Dan









And one of the tank that clinched the deal!

[Hondo]

Cool- congrats on the new bike!

Post up some pics of the aftermarket tank installation please - 

[bradf_nc]

Welcome to the KLRWorld forums. That is a good looking KLX. It is interesting how the 94 KLX650C in Europe is Kaw Green with a Purple frame.Here in the USA the KLX650Rs were Kaw Green with a Purple frame and Purple seat.
 In addition to the KLRWorld forums I would suggest that you join the Yahoo KLX650 group.They are an outstanding group of KLX owners with some good information. I have some KLX650 pieces on my KLR and I have found the Yahoo KLX650 group to be a good source of KLX650 specific information. Incidentally there is a set of KLX650 radiators right now on ebay.No one has bid on them yet.
 http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/KLX650/

[jeff t.]

 , welcome!  send    i've seen some pretty tough rides over there, send more!

[Green Machine]

  hirsty !

Nice ride and you should be happy with extra litres in the tank.

Good luck with the seat 

[JV]

  hirsty!

[hirsty]

Thanks all!

I spoke with the Seller tonight & the bike passed it's MOT with flying colours (annual basic road worthiness inspection for those not familiar - lights, tyres, brakes etc).  The brakes were a little sticky so he asked his mechanic to clean-up, I'd expect that with a bike that's not been used all that much.

My only concern is that he's been starting it up weekly, but not riding it, letting the bike warm thru to normal temp & the engine oil hasn't been changed for a good while.  Whilst it's good that the carb won't be so gummed up, I thought this led to a build-up of corrosive nasties in the system?, I know cars that do very short journeys all the time rot thru their exhaust systems etc...  I'll go with an engine flush, new oil, brake fluid, coolant, fork oil change etc asap & take a shed load of pictures close-up once I get it home - the photos above are from the eBay ad, so not that great.

Appreciate your help with this - I have very little frame of reference with this type of bike, so I won't know "what's right" by comparison!  I'll be back with the dumb questions really soon!


Cheers.


PS:  When I try to join the Yahoo Group I enter my details & it takes me to a profile screen with no way to progress from there.  Any clues?

[bradf_nc]

I don't remember what happened when I joined. The group is still active though.Keep trying. They would be happy to have another KLX in the group.

[Green Machine]

Changing all the fluids and giving it good once over, making sure everything is tight is a great start. Then see how she runs.

Have fun and enjoy !

[klx650realdeal]

Nice to see another X on board!!  Yeah!

Tons of things to do to these bikes, and you're in a good spot to find bits for it.  I have had one for 5 years now and love it! 
I have a Saddleman gel seat on my; not sure if you can purchase from a dealer over there but you should be able to go direct and have them ship it over.  I paid $129 for it over here; took about 2 weeks to get as they are special order.

I also have the larger Acerbis tank but have not added it to the bike yet.  There are 2 versions, one for the dirt oriented R model and one for the street C model.  There is a difference with the seat mounting lug on the R version wherein you'd have to use the R seat and side panels to work - usually found on Ebay fairly regularly.

Have a great time with it!

KLX650REALDEAL

[hirsty]

Yesterday I got on what I've heard other people call "a train" to Buckinghamshire!  It was okay on balance, though I may have been the only bloke on the Bakerloo Line Tube who was wearing a back protector... For the record, a black leather two-piece, boots and a helmet bag in one hand & Kriega tailbag in t'other DOES guarantee you a seat - and a spare either side - on public transport. For £24 one-way I should bloody hope so too.

Very pleasant seller / house / family / chat / cuppa etc: he has thrown money at a full refurb in 2002 and then ridden it maybe 100-miles since - I'm guessing this was his born-again bike that never ended up happening. Mondays brand new MOT included a full caliper / fluid service & £50 worth of collection/delivery from his house - gentlemen, we have a winner...

Factory workshop manual, bag with spare fork seals, sprockets etc, loads of receipts, service book, old MOT certificates - the works. Bike has all-new plastics, decals, clocks, disks & pads, even a refinished swingarm with shiny(!) chain adjusters etc. Other than a little normal surface corrosion on engine block, frame paint chips, two small tank dents & a brown exhaust I'd have guessed it was 3-years old tops. Other than the shellsuit colour scheme & purple-anodised Renthals of course...

First mile:
Very grey misty damp cold day on s***-strewn roads, 5-layers on under my jacket, deep deep long gravel drive from farmhouse, must not stall, must not wheelie, must find pegs... Pegs, pegs! Oh, they're in-line vertically with my wrists then, ok. I can do this, just like my old Suzi 50 was, but that was 22-years ago & this is a 13-times bigger engine. Don't panic. Aren't road bikes supposed to have mirrors?, where the f*** are my mirrors? S'okay, don't panic. Where are the pegs again? Take it steady - it's a new type of bike, unknown history, unfamiliar roads, s*** conditions, dirt-bike tyres that'll never warm today, no Road Tax so dont' crash / speed / attract a Copper / be at all a t** in any way. Is the choke still on?

Next hour on A413:
WHHHEEEEEEEEEEEE! WA-HAAAAAY! WOO-HOO! It's frickkin' brilliant! What a great noise! WHOOOAHHHHH!!  Fork dive! Jebus, mind my teeth - I need a gumshield here, or a Telelever...



The A413 (near 'On Yer Bike' Ducati) is a great road with some open S-bends & inclines, then on thru Aylesbury to Amersham with a load of shell-grippy roundabouts and then some short M40/M25 motorway and into the urban melee to home. A bit of everything really, and it did nearly everything really well too - even though it was only 70-miles today I'm chuffed to the nuts with it. Only fault I've found (so far, touch wood) is that the front pads were binding a little, front disk was far too hot to touch when I stopped for fuel, but okay when I got home. Top speed indicated started at 75mph, then 80mph, but got up to 85mph later on, so it seems to be free-ing up now.

Observations:
- Road bikes need mirrors, no question, end of. 
- Taking a blind punt on an eBay bike is a huge risk, but sometimes you can be very surprised in a good way
- Sure it's kinda slow, but there's a shed-load of laughs to be had just either side of the speed limit with (a claimed) 45bhp, 153kg & 53 torques
- Everyone has a favourite kind of bike, but I can't see anyone not enjoying this for an hour given the right road. If you don't start out in the right mood, you very soon will be
- You can burn off anything with four wheels out of a roundabout with a little advance planning...
- First impression is of an Urban Assault Vehicle, but it'll open up a whole new world for me when I get it onto some looser surfaces with less traffic

[jeff t.]

Yesterday I got on what I've heard other people call "a train" to Buckinghamshire!  It was okay on balance, though I may have been the only bloke on the Bakerloo Line Tube who was wearing a back protector... For the record, a black leather two-piece, boots and a helmet bag in one hand & Kriega tailbag in t'other DOES guarantee you a seat - and a spare either side - on public transport. For £24 one-way I should bloody hope so too.

Very pleasant seller / house / family / chat / cuppa etc: he has thrown money at a full refurb in 2002 and then ridden it maybe 100-miles since - I'm guessing this was his born-again bike that never ended up happening. Mondays brand new MOT included a full caliper / fluid service & £50 worth of collection/delivery from his house - gentlemen, we have a winner...

Factory workshop manual, bag with spare fork seals, sprockets etc, loads of receipts, service book, old MOT certificates - the works. Bike has all-new plastics, decals, clocks, disks & pads, even a refinished swingarm with shiny(!) chain adjusters etc. Other than a little normal surface corrosion on engine block, frame paint chips, two small tank dents & a brown exhaust I'd have guessed it was 3-years old tops. Other than the shellsuit colour scheme & purple-anodised Renthals of course...

First mile:
Very grey misty damp cold day on s***-strewn roads, 5-layers on under my jacket, deep deep long gravel drive from farmhouse, must not stall, must not wheelie, must find pegs... Pegs, pegs! Oh, they're in-line vertically with my wrists then, ok. I can do this, just like my old Suzi 50 was, but that was 22-years ago & this is a 13-times bigger engine. Don't panic. Aren't road bikes supposed to have mirrors?, where the f*** are my mirrors? S'okay, don't panic. Where are the pegs again? Take it steady - it's a new type of bike, unknown history, unfamiliar roads, s*** conditions, dirt-bike tyres that'll never warm today, no Road Tax so dont' crash / speed / attract a Copper / be at all a t** in any way. Is the choke still on?

Next hour on A413:
WHHHEEEEEEEEEEEE! WA-HAAAAAY! WOO-HOO! It's frickkin' brilliant! What a great noise! WHOOOAHHHHH!!  Fork dive! Jebus, mind my teeth - I need a gumshield here, or a Telelever...



The A413 (near 'On Yer Bike' Ducati) is a great road with some open S-bends & inclines, then on thru Aylesbury to Amersham with a load of shell-grippy roundabouts and then some short M40/M25 motorway and into the urban melee to home. A bit of everything really, and it did nearly everything really well too - even though it was only 70-miles today I'm chuffed to the nuts with it. Only fault I've found (so far, touch wood) is that the front pads were binding a little, front disk was far too hot to touch when I stopped for fuel, but okay when I got home. Top speed indicated started at 75mph, then 80mph, but got up to 85mph later on, so it seems to be free-ing up now.

Observations:
- Road bikes need mirrors, no question, end of. 
- Taking a blind punt on an eBay bike is a huge risk, but sometimes you can be very surprised in a good way
- Sure it's kinda slow, but there's a shed-load of laughs to be had just either side of the speed limit with (a claimed) 45bhp, 153kg & 53 torques
- Everyone has a favourite kind of bike, but I can't see anyone not enjoying this for an hour given the right road. If you don't start out in the right mood, you very soon will be
- You can burn off anything with four wheels out of a roundabout with a little advance planning...
- First impression is of an Urban Assault Vehicle, but it'll open up a whole new world for me when I get it onto some looser surfaces with less traffic

  welcome to our world!

[cbleicester]

Well, Hirsty's KLX650C has passed into new hands once more, as he has got the bug to go scrambling on a KTM 250!
So, since last Sunday, the bike you see in the pictures above lives in Leicestershire. I haven't ridden it yet - I trailered it back owing to recovering from a December broken shoulder. I then compounded this situation by allowing the bike trailer to bite a chunk out of my calf as I stepped backwards off it! Looked nasty at first (and ruined a beautiful dragon tattoo on my leg into the bargain!), but it's healing nicely, so I hope to be on the bike before long.
Anyhow, everything Dan mentioned about his vendor goes for him, too! Another eBay seller who makes you feel good about the on-line marketplace. To use his own words, "very pleasant seller / house / family / chat / cuppa", plus great first aid!
The bike must be charmed!
More soon, I hope, including a planned trip to Morocco in September ... now, who's got an Acerbis tank for a 'C' - Dan's was for an 'R' and didn't fit!
Ride safe, Chris.

[DOCTOR KLR]

Welcome to the KLX world,i bought my 1st KLX in 94 and my 2nd KLX 2007-LOVE HER.i am still looking for a R Acerbis tank..... PLS PLS PLS HELP

[bradf_nc]

Well, Hirsty's KLX650C has passed into new hands once more, as he has got the bug to go scrambling on a KTM 250!
So, since last Sunday, the bike you see in the pictures above lives in Leicestershire. I haven't ridden it yet - I trailered it back owing to recovering from a December broken shoulder. I then compounded this situation by allowing the bike trailer to bite a chunk out of my calf as I stepped backwards off it! Looked nasty at first (and ruined a beautiful dragon tattoo on my leg into the bargain!), but it's healing nicely, so I hope to be on the bike before long.
Anyhow, everything Dan mentioned about his vendor goes for him, too! Another eBay seller who makes you feel good about the on-line marketplace. To use his own words, "very pleasant seller / house / family / chat / cuppa", plus great first aid!
The bike must be charmed!
More soon, I hope, including a planned trip to Morocco in September ... now, who's got an Acerbis tank for a 'C' - Dan's was for an 'R' and didn't fit!
Ride safe, Chris.

It is supposed to be possible to make a R tank fit a C
 join the KLX650 yahoo group and ask around.

[Green Machine]

Welcome to the KLX world,i bought my 1st KLX in 94 and my 2nd KLX 2007-LOVE HER.i am still looking for a R Acerbis tank..... PLS PLS PLS HELP

Check this post http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=365924
Will a KLR tank fit ? If so, you may have some options.

[cbleicester]

Well - I found an Acerbis tank for the KLX 650C on German eBay. They must be rare as rocking horse poo, because the seller was asking silly money for it. I must love cleaning up after rocking horses, because I bought it - for £150! Ah well, it's only money! I received it this week and I'll be checking it over tomorrow.

At first glance, the only downside is it is red plastic (as you can see above, the rest of the plastics on the bike are green). I've only seen green Acerbis tanks for the 650R. I've also recently fitted a makeshift topbox to the rack. It's actually an Imation data storage case for transporting backup tapes and is made from equally stong plastic as Givi/Krauser items. The next downside (to some) is that the box is made of bright yellow plastic ... I'll soon have the Colours Of Benetton inspired KLX! At least sleepy car drivers will see me coming. The red tank should probably only be on for my trip to Morocco in September, but knowing me, it'll stay on beacause I'll be too lazy to change it! Whatever - I'll post some more pictures when I've made the changes and you can throw rotten tomatoes at me!

Ride safe,
Chris