Toy costs are almost equal to car costs. What’s special about this `street rake`?
(Dan Tri) – The total value of `customized` spare parts on the Kawasaki KLX 250 in the article is more than 80 million VND, while the price of the original 2018 car is also about 90-100 million VND.
Thanks to the flourishing of the off-road motorbike racing movement, scooters are increasingly receiving the attention of Vietnamese customers, especially users who love adventure, exploration, and versatility across many types.
However, off-road is a subject that requires physical strength, skills and finances.
Original 2018 Kawasaki KLX 250 and after being `modified` in supermoto style for street use (Photo: Nguyen Lam).
From the original state using a 21-inch front and 18-inch rear wheel configuration with off-road tires, a motard will use 17-inch front/rear wheels with slick tires to only run onroad.
The original tail lights have been removed, replaced with `flying` tail lights to enhance the appearance, and the new license plate catch pad is attached to the rear light cluster with integrated turn signals (Photo: Nguyen Lam).
The car’s headlight was replaced with a model similar to the KLX 450R to increase aesthetics.
The highlight of this KLX 250 lies in the legs including Warp 9 wheels, Honda CRF250 hubs, front/rear Brembo brake shackles;
According to the car owner’s assessment, the stopping power of the front brake is too excessive compared to the weight and engine of the car, but is highly aesthetic (Photo: Nguyen Lam).
The `sound` system of this street rake is also fully equipped with FMF full-system including: exhaust, Megabomb and FMF Q4 exhaust.
With the full upgrade from the neck to the exhaust, the car’s capacity has improved slightly but `consumes` more gasoline, about 3.8 liters/100km according to the car owner (Photo: Nguyen Lam).
In addition to the above highlights, this KLX 250 also has a number of additional toys installed such as: radiator protection, K&N air filter, Neken handlebars, professional throttle shackles, CNC throttle pipes, RCB brake levers and hand guards.
The total value of toys on this KLX is up to more than 80 million VND.
Wide handlebars help the driver be more confident in controlling the vehicle, increasing stability and control (Photo: Nguyen Lam).
Actual operating experience shows that the KLX 250 motard has many differences with the original.
First, moving down to 17-inch wheels helps lower the vehicle’s center of gravity, giving a more compact feel when steering, and at the same time, the slippery tires when rubbing against the asphalt surface also do not cause the feeling of vibration like off-road tread tires.
Not as majestic as the front wheel, the rear wheel of the car only uses 1-piston Brembo brake shackles but still provides plenty of stopping power for a 250cc model (Photo: Nguyen Lam).
Next, the braking force from the Brembo duo is too great compared to the vehicle’s suspension system, but in return, the front and rear forks of the KLX 250 series can both adjust rebound (adjust the return of the fork rod after being sprung).
To limit large braking force, the car owner has adjusted the rebound almost to the hardest level.
However, this trade-off is reasonable because the car is used for the main purpose of going on the street or on road tours, not off-road.
The car is using Pirelli Rosso Sport 120/70R17 tires at the front and Pirelli Rosso 3 140/70R17 tires at the rear (Photo: Nguyen Lam).
After doing all the `modifications` from the air filter to the exhaust system, the output power of this Kawasaki KLX 250 is also slightly different from the original.
This setting helps the car have great traction in the early range.
The Kawasaki KLX 250 engine has 1 cylinder, 249cc capacity, electronic fuel injection, liquid cooling, combined with a 6-speed gearbox for a maximum capacity of 21.5 horsepower and extreme torque.
Changing a lot from the original requires users to spend more money.
For example, original brake shackles use brake pads that cost about 200,000-500,000 VND, but Brembo brake pads cost 1 million VND.
Next, the K&N `modified` air filter and full-system FMF exhaust system change quite a bit in terms of fuel and air, requiring users to clean the throttle body and injectors more often than the original.
Changing the configuration of wheels, sprockets and tires also causes errors in the vehicle’s speedometer reading, with the actual speed being much lower than the speed displayed on the instrument cluster (Photo: Nguyen Lam).
Kawasaki KLX 250 has now been discontinued in Vietnam, the company only brought back the KLX 230 line. In addition, new players have some other genuine options such as Yamaha WR155R (listed 79 million VND) or Aprilia RX
In addition to the names mentioned above, Honda CRF300L is also popular with players.