I HATE the Kawasaki KLR650… so I BOUGHT one

the

kawasaki

klr 650 is incredibly dated, beyond being slow and boring, coupled with the fact that there are a ton of better options to choose from and you can see why I

hate

them, except apparently not everyone feels the same way about it I like it the klr from john deere's sister company actually seems to have a bit of a cult following and i can't understand it so i

bought

one because what better way to find out why some people appreciate a bike than to own one yourself and experience the excitement of ownership or more likely disappointment, two things happened in 1998.

I was born and so was the yamaha r1 which I like to think was no coincidence but sadly 24 years later the r1 is not very cutting edge . Hence why Yamaha has changed about seven times since then and yet 11 years earlier, in '87, Kawasaki was already producing the klr 650 and didn't bother to change it much for a whopping 21 years, so just when the klr original was old enough to drink in the US, the second generation emerged in 2008 looking very different but not much better, often called the ugliest bike ever made with a face that only its mother would love a park bench for seating, unimaginative mirrors, and a thick rear end that was still stuck.

The 80's along with a matching dash but that's all subjective believe it or not but what isn't subjective is its engine the KLR 650 is the antithesis of performance. Smaller pistons can move up and down faster creating more power, which is why super sports cars extend their 600 cc with full pistons, but the KLR has all its cc in one large piston, which earned it the title of great bumper because that big, heavy piston casually moves more like a diesel tractor than a motorcycle and that's not just a crude joke, the US military actually. I used klr which were modified to run on diesel and other mil spec fuels which cemented their title as a tractor except even the tractors have electronic fuel injection unlike the klr and the tractors also make over 42 horsepower and They also sometimes weigh less so this is my klr and yes it's bigger than me, it's relatively new as a 2013 model which means it has a much better looking black framed swing arm and motor cases.

It's a spring chicken with only 20,000 miles on it and it's in perfect condition, I don't know. I think it's been run off the road once, but don't worry, I'll fix it. It has this unbranded muffler which I quite like because it looks much better than the original and is not too loud or annoying. a good soundtrack to be unleashed anyway, it has a db killer but I'm not really going to mess with that because then I'd probably have to tinker with the carburetor to get it to work as well as it currently does and I'm more of a guy of smart cars than a carburetor type from 1987 and believe it or not this is not only the first

kawasaki

i have ever owned but it is actually the first kawasaki i have ever driven i have no idea what.

It took me a long time but I can finally say I've owned a bike from each of the big four Japanese manufacturers and to be honest I'm glad it's green to make it more authentic so with a klr now in my workshop . I had no reason not to take it for a spin and find out what it is because believe it or not I didn't instantly click with it on the way home from the dealership, in fact I was afraid to use it again so it's So It's obvious why I don't like them. They're old and Kawasaki hasn't bothered to update them in about three decades.

They have a boring engine that makes no power and they look horrible, but what's not so obvious is why some people. Get to like them after scouring the KLR forums, of which there were quite a few, someone somewhere in the world had tried to use one for almost every task you can imagine, but some uses were consistent across the forums. Oh well, a dual sport. a jack of all trades, a master of none, this is my beloved yamaha mt09 and in my opinion it is one of the best bikes in the world for touring and I can't see how the klr could even come close but I'm still going to ride each of these bikes to my workshop to see which option makes the most sense for the job by design.

Commuting is quite boring. First I established a base time with the mt-09. I left the house and went down a road. I waited at a The red light sailed around, went over a bridge, then under a bridge I turned and climbed the hill to my shop, all while maintaining the speed limit and in a blistering time of 9 minutes and 11 seconds, the next day I left home again. On that same road I got lucky at that traffic light and even here the speed limits stopped me, so at least matching the time of the mt-09 seemed to be within my reach, except that speed limits only exist on paved roads and I knew a not so paved shortcut to the shop this is a route I learned spending hours playing here on a dirt bike the dirt section allowed me to go full speed but then there was a long paved stretch with an agonizingly slow power speed limit To avoid this, I took a shortcut through the trees and the abandoned parking lot to try to make up for the time I had lost and before I knew it I was heading up the hill towards my workshop feeling quietly confident, so which apparently my so-called shortcut was Actually, it's not shorter because in the end it took me two minutes longer to get to you on the klr than on the mt-09, but to be honest, I would happily sacrifice just two minutes each day if my trip could be so entertaining, of course. ignoring the fact that I generally don't have video evidence of my trip to the workshop on the mt09, so it may or may not be much faster than that and much more fun, but despite being slower, I have to give credit to the klr where The credits do it because it is a very good way to get to work in the morning and wake up before riding around Africa on this bike.

I want to make some quick changes to make it a little more comfortable and this way I can also embrace the DIY modification culture that KLR owners have in the process. The previous owner helped me get started on this very handcrafted windshield. He is literally bolted to the original windshield with some very weird bolts. Technically, any bike can be DIY modified. The only difference is. You would probably feel bad doing this to your new r1250 gs. There we are much better. I appreciate the extra wind protection of the screen, however I am absolutely shorter than the previous owner because this screen was exactly in my line. of sight, so I combined this screen with my tinted visor and practically squinted.

So if you plan on traveling you'll probably need some luggage, but a KLR rider doesn't shop at a bike shop, they shop at a hardware store. save it, so this is a Pelican knockoff case, they are waterproof, lockable, very sturdy and come in various sizes to be the perfect DIY top box. Quick release mounting brackets are expensive and unnecessary for me. Four bolts secure it to the shelf in minutes. a rack that emphasizes that it only weighs 10 kilograms, so we won't take advantage of it, but it will still take the weight off my camera backpack and, finally, we will need a phone holder so we can navigate Africa with a shock absorber Much needed vibration for obvious reasons and that's all the DIY mod I'm willing to do today.

Investigate long trips to secluded places and klrs will appear. I mean, I thought taking mine to my workshop was enough time to spend. Because? On Earth, would you like to travel the world in one? Apparently it all comes back to that boring engine once again, but this time excusing it because fewer cylinders equal fewer moving parts, which reduces potential problems, it's the same reason for the lack of electronics and fewer luxuries. To be wrong, a big piston is so lazy that it only accelerates to seven thousand five hundred, but that means it never works hard enough to have problems.

They are basically Toyota's flagship motorcycles, indestructible, but that in no way means that this. It's a flawless motorcycle, the big single vibrates quite a bit and Kawasaki couldn't update it during this period because then they couldn't pass emissions laws so it's not as fuel efficient as it could be and if I want luxuries like cruise control or grips heated ones, that's one of those modifications you'll have to do yourself, but on this trip I learned more about my own problems than the KLRs. My biggest problem is that I am always in a hurry and that clashes with the klr because it is physically incapable of running, even if you can make it run at full speed you will regret it because the frame starts moving and it scares you to death, to be honest it doesn't It was a bad place to hide behind. bumpy windshield in a very neutral driving position, even if the corners of that square seat dig in quite quickly, to my surprise I even had a bit of fun in the corners, which was the last thing I expected from the skyscraper with a front wheel 21 inches.

However, crashing into that unruly frame again if I'm going even a little fast, but accidentally discovered its true purpose in life, is the king of the speed bump. The observant among you will have noticed that we haven't exactly toured Africa today, but technically when you live there every day. traveling is touring Africa. I'll grudgingly admit that I can now see the appeal of a top box for the first time. I've never been able to ride for more than 40 minutes without my heavy backpack finding the perfect vertebrae to take hostage and somewhere along this trip, the klr tricked me into enjoying a very different ride than I would normally take, all without rushing .

Touring purists would say that a truly indestructible dual sport needs a driveshaft and not a chain and sprocket, so you don't have to adjust and lube the chain every night, but that would be like ditching the carburetor for kawasaki, expensive again. A specific generation will argue that a carburetor is essential so that when it stops working in the middle of Timbuktu, you can at least dismantle it and clean it. unlike an injector and I'm not going to argue I wouldn't know where to start with a bad injector but nowadays fuel injection is very reliable more reliable than carburetors this is the kind of road I linked the klr to . be able to handle smooth, predictable drilling and admittedly it has no problems with them, but upon closer look it actually has a few aspects that suggest it might be more competent than I first thought: It has a great wheel 21-inch front to help you overcome obstacles more easily, just like you would find on a dirt bike, an 8-inch window to find traction in the front before hitting bottom, and 18-inch rear wheels with spokes that can handle an impact without destroying and the best.

The part is there are no sit-ups, some things were better in 1987 and then this one also has crash bars because it knows I'm going to make an imminent mistake and it also has some hand guards so I hit the brake at the wrong time and don't. The bushes I go through in this environment I almost forget how boring the klr is, not because it finally comes to life but because here you have to pay attention to get the best out of it and that is quite entertaining, you don't feel it immediately. I'm native because it's the heaviest and least responsive bike I've ever ridden off-road, but that required my full attention, especially combined with my weaker grip on the ground and the knowledge that I wouldn't be able to lift it on my own if The biggest problem wasn't even Kawasaki's fault, it was whoever put these road tires on it, which left me stranded looking for traction a couple of times.

The same person also decided to bend the handlebars, which made things more interesting and annoyed me every time. I looked at them so while it wouldn't be my first choice for a day off road, it made me smile at least twice because the nice thing about off road riding is that you don't need 150 horsepower to have more fun. responsive engine maybe but no more power and when everyone else was loading up their bikes to head home I just rode mine the last piece of the puzzle klr is actually the first thing you'll discover if you ever think about buying one and that's the The reliability of the bike is even more important.

You don't need an exciting bike to get around. What you need is something cheap, comfortable and that will get you through traffic faster than a car for 2,800. You wouldn't expect to find a bike that can cover yourcontinent. and hitting the speed limit on the highway, that explains the DIY culture, it's the cheapest way and taking an angle grinder to a 2800 bike is not as scary as taking it to a 28000 bike and the fact that even can survive -The road for that price is incredible, what has held it back in everything I have done with it in my opinion is its boring engine, but they can't change it if they made it a parallel twin for example it would be more like the yamaha t7. and then you would need the suspension and technology to compete and then you would lose the only thing that makes it stand out to begin with, its price, so maybe i don't

hate

the klr anymore, in fact i respect it, even glad about it.

Kawasaki still makes it but I'm not going to keep mine either to be honest, I started to like them a little before all this started just from researching them and thought it might be exactly what I've been looking for for a while, on a budget. adventure bike, but this one just doesn't have the right character, it definitely has a kind of character that doesn't look like mine, it doesn't try to compete with any other bike in terms of performance because it already beats them where they can't compete and that's why What when Kawasaki finally did? update the KLR this year in 2022 after removing them completely in 2018, the biggest improvement was giving them electronic fuel injection the absolute minimum to make them legal while still keeping that price ridiculously low.