I made a switch to the 890 after riding the 1090 for 10K and never 100% comfortable off road due to the mass of the bike
and not being able to touch flat footed with both feet. The 1090 is an absolute blast on the road which is where I ended up spending most my time on it and using the EXC for my off highway fun.
Fast forward a few years and my wife got a '19 790 Adventure to replace her F650GS after 36K. I found the 790 Adv is a lot of fun both on and off road without all of the mass up high like on the 1x90's. She only let me ride the 790 a few times before suggesting I get my own. So after dragging my feet for a year I got the 890 Adv R in April. I was pleasantly surprised how much more torque and low end pull the 890 has compared to the 790. I'd read KTM had made improvements to the 890 motor but I didn't think it could be much until I rode the two bikes back to back. Now the wife's figured it out and is bugging me to gear her 790 down a tooth so it doesn't lug at the lower RPM's. I figured a new front sprocket is less expensive than an 890 so I didn't argue too much...
Nice work on your rebuild, I think KX looks great! I would love to have a 250 two stroke. A buddy had a KX250 when I was younger which was a lot of fun to ride. I remember the KX would try to pull your arms out of the shoulders if you were brave enough to keep it pinned in the powerband.
Nice looking XR! It's tough to beat the Honda XR BRP once you figure out how to get them started. As long as you keep up on the basic maintenance they will run strong for a long time. I had a '00 XR 400 which drove me nuts until I figured out how the TDC starting procedure worked... I remember calling my brother to complain about not being able to get the 400 started after picking it up at the Dealer. I had kicked on it for what seemed like forever. First thing he asks is "have you checked the fuel?".