The WR250R's engine can produce 32 HP without much modification. . . . Holy crap, Batman. . . . just wait until some of these bike come on to the used market! Yeah, I cannot afford a new one! Anyway, I DO love my little XT! Hey LMJ123, in your signature line you state that you have a 117.5 main jet. Are you certain of that?

I ran a 117.5 for a long time (couple years) when I rode primarily in the Silverton and Ouray Colorado area. Most of that riding ranges from 8000' to nearly 14000' above sea level. Here in Albuquerque at 5000' I run a 122.5.

Colorado high country. . . . OK, I get it. I lived in Lander, WY for a few years and the backpacking trailheads started at between 7,500' and 9,000'. Great country. . . 49th LOWEST wages state in the country! Had to go. . .

I just got back from that area. Stock jets seamed to handle it fine.

Reviving an old thread. I'm new to the DS game (a couple years). We currently have a KLX250S and an XT225. I'm looking for an XT250 for the wifey, which means her XT225 and my KLX are duking it out to see who stays. We ride mostly dirt roads/double track nothing gnarly. A couple times out to Moab on easy trails. The more I read about the XT225 the more I think it's the little mountain goat that could. I'm about 150# with a 32in inseam, the KLX is just at the borderline tall for me to feel nervous in the technical stuff. But I like the extra power and more modern tech of it/ Any recommendations if I should keep the XT225 over the KLX?

A good friend has a KLX250S. My take is that it's much taller than the XT and much higher maintenance. It also makes more power and is more easily upgraded.

He's upgraded the forks and shock and the difference is stark. Where I have to slow down and use my knees and elbows to absorb the bumps, his bike just floats along.

Just depends on what you want, and what you're happy with. They're both good bikes.

I rode a KLR250 for some time, the older brother to the KLX. It was a bit taller than the XT225, and was kick start only -- which even though it started right up I got tired of after a while (not as young as I once was!). But for the riding I did with it, more like you, nothing really gnarly, I liked the Kawasaki.

Often thought that if it had electric start I'd have kept it. But finding what you're looking for in sparsely populated country like I live in is a crap shoot, and a newer KLX250 never showed up. So I sold the KLR250 and went back to an XT225 for some time -- a bike I've always enjoyed. Finally sold the XT and figured I'd step back from riding -- that is until a fellow 30 minutes away put a superb, rarely seen Honda CRF230L up for sale and that bike decided to come home with me.

Anyway, if I'd come across a Kawasaki KLX250 instead of the Honda, I'd be riding it now. It's superior in many ways to the XT, yet the XT remains a timeless machine in other ways. It's lighter, with a lower seat height making it easier to handle in slow single track stuff, something there's a lot of where I live and where I rode the XT. But for going places that don't require a XT225 'mountain goat' to get you there and back, a KLX250 would be my personal choice. You can lower the seat height if that helps, plus it's technically the better bike all around.

But, hey, ..like PJman says, it's your call. Do what's right for you..