Since our last article on upgrading the suspension we have put quite a few hours on the KLX110 and made a few more upgrades. We focused the most recent upgrades on a couple key areas, improving comfort and increasing power. To aid in rider comfort taller seat foam and a gripper seat cover were installed along with wider footpegs and a new shift lever. In the performance arena we installed an aftermarket exhaust and changed the sprockets to gain more power.

The Project KLX110 after a muddy romp at Lake Elsinore. Unfortunately - the GUTS seat hadn't been installed yet...

Sidepanel, front numberplate graphics and numbers are available from DeCal Works

Half of the appeal of the KLX110 is that it is so small - but because of this the bike can be very uncomfortable for an adult after some time in the saddle. One of the issues while racing friends was that my legs would become sore from partially standing and weighting the pegs in the corners. To combat this annoying problem we installed taller seat-foam and a GUTS gripper seat cover from PPS. The foam and stretchy seat cover were easy to install and really make a big difference in the comfort factor of riding the bike. Not only does it reduce the soreness in your legs from a better seating position but it also allows smoother access to the shifter and brake lever.

GUTS Gripper Seat from PPS

Fast50s™Billet Speed Pegs

After installing the tall seat foam and the gripper seat cover next on our list was to upgrade the footpegs and the shift lever. The stock footpegs are skinny and lack the

IMS Shifter pictured with stiff spring (left) and stock spring (right)

We went with the Fast50 pegs because they are extremely light and they don't have super sharp teeth for those time when you are just pit-riding to get from one place to another and don't want to put boots on.

Along with the pegs another wise upgrade is to replace the stock shift-lever with one that has a folding tip. The folding tip helps to prevent the lever and shift-shaft from being bent when riding in rutted areas and in tight turns. The IMS shifter pictured here may not be available from all distributors - so you might have to check around.

These minor upgrades made a difference in comfort and reliability but what our 110 really longs for is more power. Our initial choices for power mods were fairly simple and consisted of a Bill's Pipes exhaust system, a smaller front sprocket and a larger rear sprocket.

Stock head pipe

Stock spark arrestor/silencer

The Bill's Pipes exhaust mounted up nicely without any hitches and comes with a removable spark arrestor and even an optional plate you can install to reduce the sound even further. While the pipe seemed to take away some of the low-end power over stock it allows the bike to rev much more freely than stock - which is really useful on the track.

Installing the head pipe

Apply gasket material and tighten head bolts

Apply gasket material to silencer and bolt in place, elongated bolt hole allows for a snug fit

Complete!

To go along with the exhaust, we accquired a one-tooth smaller countershaft sprocket and a 37 tooth rear sprocket from Racer's Edge. This resulted in more pull out of turns but with a cost of a lower top speed. For an adult riding mostly tracks the trade-off is worth it because this low-end pull is really needed on the 110 when coming out of turns or in sand. With the stock auto-clutch the bike takes way too long to get into the power range, often causing you to loose a spot or two to those bikes with clutches or big-bore kits. The combination of the sprockets and revving the bike before shifting helps to keep the speed up coming out of the turns and onto straights.

Countershaft (front) Sprocket

We used the 37 tooth rear sprocket for some additional torgue without losing too much top end speed (39 tooth sprocket pictured)

Our project KLX 110 is much more adult friendly with the modifications we have made to date. Don't worry though we aren't stopping there and in fact already have more parts on the shelf to make this bike even better. On the horizon we will be installing a big bore kit, a hydraulic clutch and a new shift-drum to access 4th gear. With the motor and clutch upgrades we will be looking for more low-end power, especially out of turns on the track. The 4th gear isn't so much needed for moto riding but is desired more for the desert explorations that always seem to take place after the big bike rides.