Kawasaki KLR650
Sometimes at the end of 2007, I walked into a dealership and bought a Kawasaki KLR 650 2008 The choice was based on the unmatched simplicity and a price tag lower than a Vespa All he had to do was take me to South America.
If it weren t for some of the new improvements like finally usable electrical energy, decent headlight and a front brake harder, I would not even have considered the KLR.
After traveling for 2 years and 42,000 miles, my impressions boil down to this.
- This is the most boring, yawner a motorcycle I ever mounted - While simplicity can keep forever, the build quality is surprisingly low.
Although I dread the thought of traveling in remote areas on a sophisticated, the infected machine electronics, I now find myself dreading the KLR more.
To read my detailed comments, please take a look at my long-term driving report on the KLR, and do not hesitate to ring with your own.
37 of 37 found this review helpful.
The KLR 650 is one of the most underrated of the market adventure bikes, I mean you can piss and moan on the flag to half a page, but im guessing if little things like that can push your buttons, then the ISN adventure riding probably not your thing, unless you think the Adventure riding is right up to the road for a few hundred kay s But I digress.
After looking around for the perfect adventure bike for a trip across Australia, I finally came back to the KLR650, the test that i s is mounted KTM, BMW s Transalps XR s and so on to get an idea of all these bikes attributes, but the KLR650 still stuck in the back of my mind there were 2 reasons 1 the price, very cheap compared to competitors 2 Highway manipulation it was a great bike with a 21lt tank on the front that still felt like a dirt bike that could be thrown around in the bush when the other bikes, especially BMW's average wholesale felt heavy awkward when it came to trails Look I'm not saying that the KTM and BMW s s aren t big bikes, they are, but for me, they are fallen didn t for my driving style.
Since then I have taken the KLR650 the most easterly point of Australia at the westernmost point right in the middle, resulting in the crossing 3 separate hot deserts and very remote to make it through the environment more severe Australia has to offer, I made this trip with a friend who has also mounted a KLR650, and we had no help apart from what we could carry on two bikes at the beginning of the desert Simpson, we met a guy who was a DZr400 with all its equipment on and he wants to join us in crossing the desert This was a last minute decision as he wasn t going to do the only crossing as we aproched the first sand dune about 40 feet high, we all decided that we had hit the bottom of the dune about 100 km h to come even close to reaching the top, I went first shot is about 110 and slid a slid up, Just Suzuki was next, a lighter bike, but less torque, and she made 2 3 height, after 3 attempts, and being exhausted to take his bike out of the sand and down, we all decided it would be better if he didn t try the crossing We had 600km of desert and over 2500 sand dunes to cross the Suzuki just didn t have the power to pull the driver and all necessary equipment for the crossing, dune the KLR650 in our minds was the right choice reliable, easy to install, strong and mostly took everything we could throw at it, and has taken in his stride.
I also took this bike on several excursions with companions and different groups of trail runners who all round high performance MX bikes Whenever I get the usual jokes and laughter that I ride the bike off, you be able to do if we lose, just come back to put the kettle you we are sure you will be able to climb that when we go but when we return and after not only keep, but stay ahead of the pack the boys are all very impressed that a bike of this size can actually be overworked in the country hard, I take this bike place, I know BMW would go for the Honda or Suzuki 450 DZ, I agree they are both great bike and great ride, and go wherever the KLR650 go and you could do it a little easier at times that is until you start putting extra weight su r biking Unfortunately thats what starts to let those little bikes down, you see that not everything Gracie to go faster and mono s tightening in his constituency e Adventur about Couple couple carry you and your camping equipment, water, food, tools vivid 40ft sand dune mounted lose steep hills, during river crossings execution as well as having the legs to sit at home on highway to 110 km h for hours that they know works and works well on the end with all this extra material regarding technology, again I agree with Gracie, it is not the new design of the block with the last pieces tweeked place Kawasaki blocked the reliable choice, and because it is not full of all the latest bells and whistles, it is much easier to work and keep on the side of the q track hen there is only you you return to the This road is a very important thing to consider when making long trips in remote areas, you should use what you have there and be able to clean blockages fuel and changing tires in the bush Sometimes more is not always better Thats why KLR650 is a real bike adventure for me is reliable, it is comfortable thy king all your equipment, sitting on the road for thousands Kilometer s can still get off the road and go almost anywhere you want to take that's now how you define Adventure.
Kawasaki KLR 650, Kawasaki, took this bike.