A lot of fun for the $$

Mine is actually a 1985, but they barely changed anywhere in the 20 year production cycle.



Does better then you would expect on the street, and with good knobbies and a 13 tooth front sprocket, it'll go *anywhere* off road. Suspension is pretty basic, so you won't be landing doubles, but for &qu...ot;go there at your own pace" type adventures, it'll go there, wherever there happens to be.

Reliability isn't so hot, but a lot of these bikes lead an awfully hard life, particularly if they are going off road. I bought one barely running after it had a total bottom end rebuild, and lost the top end within 1000 miles and had to rebuild that as well. So by 10k miles, my bike has had both top and bottom end rebuilds. In its defense, it is now a 23 year old bike, and clearly saw a bunch of dirt duty.

Parts are pretty easy to find, as are parts bikes. There seem to be a lot of these things out there.

I can't think of a better sub $1000 used bike ever built, if you can find one.

Neither this bike or the KLR-650 make very good street bikes, they are buzzy, stressed, and bet blown around a lot.

The difference is that the 250 at under 300 pounds, does happen to be a pretty decent woods bike bike (again, provided you aren't jumping it). I don't think you will hear that said of the 650.

(Purchased Deals Gap photo credit Killboy)

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Although mine is a 2002, it is the most durable bike I've owned. If you keep performance in perspective to CC's, you can't get a better small dualsport. Upgrades to suspension are recommended for large riders. Wish it had an electric start.. Read Full Review

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I have had my KLR250 for five years now and have found it to be incredibly reliable. Good riding, and capable of long mountain or desert rides on single track with good handling. Most importantly it goes from Road to trail with ease. Range is limited with only 120 miles until I hit reserve in th...e mountains out west. Great adventure bike without the weight. Read Full Review

I traded my 2004 KLR 250 in on a new KTM

My KLR 250 handled like a heavy stone in the desert. The only thing it was good at was dirt roads. The 2004 has a lot less horsepower than earlier KLRs. Early ones had 28 vs 22 horsepower of the 2004. This is unacceptable progress. Not enough horsepower to have fun with, got to be the slowest 250 ev...er made. It was like riding a roach. My new KTM is like a dream come true. Read Full Review