2020 Kawasaki KLX300R Project Bike Riding Impression

Dirt Rider
Dirt Rider
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Jay Clark took a 2020 Kawasaki KLX300 and gave it the project bike treatment, and we rode it to see what the modified recreational trailbike was capable of.

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Transcript
00:00 What's up everyone? Andrew O'Leary with Dirt Rider here and I'm here with Jay Clark who
00:08 built this 2020 Kawasaki KLX300 project bike. Jay, this is something a little different,
00:13 a different type of bike that you normally work with. Tell us about it.
00:16 Yeah, so it's, this is a kind of low cost, entry level trail bike. And I'm used to building high
00:23 end motocross bikes and high end trail bikes as you know. You've ridden a lot of our builds,
00:26 even dual sport builds that are over the top. A good buddy of mine got a good deal on this bike
00:31 used from a guy that had crashed it quite a few times. So I think he was learning and kept
00:35 learning and kept learning. And then his wife finally said, okay, you're done, dude, you got
00:38 to sell it. So he got a good deal on it. And so he goes, hey, can you fix it up a little bit? And so
00:43 we're thinking, what can we do? I'd never messed with one. So I thought it'd be fun to at least
00:46 check it out. It was a little bit more limiting than I thought. We didn't want to go inside the
00:50 engine and really tear into there. I didn't think there was enough gains to be had. Takomoto,
00:54 co out of Las Vegas. He mainly does a lot of dual sports. He's hooked in tight with Dinojet,
00:59 who's out there in Las Vegas as well. And he went ahead and mapped it for the Dinojet with the FMF
01:04 slip on, which is still spark arrestor legal. So which is really nice for guys that are trail
01:08 riding. Most guys, especially out West here, have to be spark arrestor legal. So we have that on
01:13 here. So the performance mods are basically limited to just that. And then Racetech went through and
01:19 made the suspension a lot better for us. They also went through the shock and made it more adjustable
01:23 and a lot better spring rates for us. So those are the main performance differences. And then
01:29 everything else, you've got a few things to look cool with some custom graphics, seat cover,
01:33 but then the rest of it is protection. The works connection perch is really nice.
01:37 You do have to disconnect the wire safety feature, but that's simple to do. So we've got
01:43 the works connection perch on here, Enduro Engineering hand guards, and IMS foot pegs
01:48 give a bigger footprint, super sprocks chain of sprockets with our stealth sprocket and O-ring
01:53 chain for a long lasting course Dunlop AT81 tires. It does come with Dunlop tires, MX52.
01:59 These 81s are a little bit more of a all around good off-road tire for a lot more variety of
02:06 conditions, not just hard pack. So that's what's nice about those tires. So those are the main
02:14 upgrades on this bike. Got the ODI grips and ODI bars. We love that fit and finish in that
02:22 bar bend on here is really nice. We didn't want to go crazy and do a ton of stuff that we didn't
02:28 need to do. And the bike is somewhat limited as to where it can be and where it's intended for
02:33 as an entry level trail bike. Absolutely. Very cool. Well, definitely look forward to riding it.
02:39 And as we mentioned at the top there, something different. So I'm really curious having ridden
02:44 this bike last year at the intro to give it a shot, see how it performs with some modifications.
02:49 So looking forward to that. We're going to head on the trails and get back to you a little later.
03:03 So
03:16 so
03:38 so
03:52 we just finished up a ride on Jay Clark's Kalex 300 project bike, and it was definitely interesting.
03:58 The bike's a bit taller than I remember it being compared to the stock one we rode at the intro
04:02 last year with Kawasaki. But aside from that, the engine still retains its stock character.
04:07 It's got an impressive amount of low end torque for a trail bike of this displacement. I mean,
04:11 it's nothing crazy, but it's very usable. It's something that somebody could just hop on and
04:16 just really tractor through things and just pull up just regular trail obstacles. Again,
04:22 nothing crazy like Erzberg, but this again is a trail bike in stock form is green stickers.
04:26 So as far as the suspension, it definitely has more hold up than the stock bike. The stock bike
04:31 offered perhaps a little more comfort just over smaller, just kind of breaking bumps, very small
04:37 trail type breaking bumps that is. But this suspension set up like I was able to hit stuff
04:42 pretty hard, reasonably hard for again for trail riding and some fairly decent sized bumps. And
04:48 again, it had really good hold up. I was impressed. So as far as the other items, I mean,
04:52 hand guards, those are always welcomed. The handlebar ODI always does a great job with the
04:57 bends. It was nothing too crazy. And the addition of Dunlop's Geomax AT81 tires is definitely a
05:03 welcome change. The stock tires are the MX52s, which are kind of more of an older intermediate
05:09 terrain motocross tire. So with these, they're designed for off-road. It's a tire I'm familiar
05:14 with and it works excellently out here at Cahuilla and just really anywhere I've ridden off-road. So
05:19 overall, again, not too crazy of a build, definitely a unique build. I commend Jay for
05:25 stepping out of his comfort zone a little bit and doing something different on, again,
05:29 a bike that's a little bit more of a recreational trail bike. So definitely had an enjoyable time
05:34 riding it. Thank you as always for tuning in. If you're watching on the Dirt Rider YouTube channel,
05:38 be sure to like, comment, and subscribe, and we'll see you next time.
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