But what about that lack of
suspension travel and ground
clearance? This was the ques-
tion in my head when we first
swung legs over the little guy.
After all, it would be pretty easy to
blow through those few precious
inches, right? Turns out, not so
much. This is thanks to progres
-
sive spring rates, which is a pretty
notable investment in a bike of
this price point. A progressive
spring rate brings together the
best of both worlds—a soft, cushy
initial feel coupled with good hold-
up and bottoming resistance for
the bigger hits. And the KLX230 S
is a perfect example of how that
can work at its best.
Having spent some time
aboard the KLX230 standard
model, it makes me wish I could
put this suspension on that bike.
It has a nice positive feel, good
holdup, and while it's not quite
as squishy as the standard, it's
still very comfortable, and I must
confess, preferred over the stan
-
dard's boingers.
The overall intensity of riding
was light during our excursion.
We did some dirt roads and
covered quite a bit of ground, but
To my surprise, I didn't
manage to bottom out the
suspension at any point
during our ride. Kudos to the
progressive springs!
VOLUME ISSUE JANUARY , P87
