KX250 enduro, is it worth it?

[kawi600]

I picked up an 03 KX250 for a pretty good price. Figured Id try to turn it into a woods bike since Ive heard they do pretty good at that. Its got a flywheel weight and the suspension damping is turned down a bunch. I set the fluid at 5w, 140mm. It still hits obstacles without soaking anything up. knocks me around pretty bad. Mostly this is a problem with the forks.
I asked around and it seems like to do it the right way Ill need to invest a bunch in revalving and maybe springs. Is that even worthwhile? Or should I just get a KDX instead?
Seems like the KX has more power, but its twitchy in the woods and doesnt lug well like the KDX. Theres just not much use for that sort of power on rocky single track.

[hughes]

What size flywheel weight? What gearing are you running? What is the range for fork oil height for you bike? What is your weight? Do you know what size rider the bike may have been set up for? Is the jetting really clean at low/mid range? What pipe are you running? Sorry for all the questions but a motocross bike can be made into a great woods bike but takes more tuning to get it right. A 14oz flywheel weight would be a choice for me. A FMF gnarly pipe. I run 14/52 on my YZ250 stock was 14/50 and it was just to high for hills/tight single track. Moving the oil level up or down will effect the forks response to bumps. As far as springs I would just ensure you had the correct ones for your body weight.

[gwcrim]

I run an '02 KX250 in the woods and the forks seem pretty harsh to me.  I added a FWW but forget how many .oz.  It did make it less stallable for sure.  My other gripe is that it seems to have serious traction issues.  Might be the surface I'm riding on at times but I've never liked how it bit.  I'm not a racer, just a play rider, so YMMV.

[The Flyin Hawaiian]

My girlfriend and I both raced enduros on converted 03's. They made pretty good woods bikes after some mods. It will be well worth the money to have the suspension revalved. It makes a world of difference. Im not sure where you are located, but WER, or otherwise known as Works Enduro Rider, does a great job at revalving the suspension for eastern riding conditions, rocks, roots etc. They also sell the WER steering dampers, that will help with the twtchiness you are feeling, I run them on all of our bikes. Get the suspension sorted first before the damper. The 03 had an inherent lack of lowend that transitioned into a explosive midrange that made it harder to ride in rocky, technical terrain. I installed a Vforce 3, FMF Gnarly and geared it 13/52. This worked out well. Also had a 11 oz fww. I later switched to a 04 KX250 which had a much better, more user friendly powerband. More lowend and a smoother power delivery. I am in the process of installing a 04 top end onto my girlfriends old 03 KX. Most of the changes in the power, it seems, were in the differences in the 04 cylinder. Will let you know how it works out after this weekend, we are going to WV and doing some rocky, single track, to test it out.