KLR 650 to buy or not to buy

[vinnyt]

This may help with your after market quests.

I recently rode 8000 miles on a KLR 650.The trip started in
San Diego,went the length of Baja around the tip at Cabo
then in to Lapaz.From La Paz I took the ferry to Mazatlan
and continued to the Gautemalan border. I then went to a few
places in the Yucatan and returned up the East coast to
Brownsville Tx. and back to San Diego. A total distance of
8000 miles!

I am writing today to talk about the KLR and after market
items I put on the bike. The good , The bad , and the
useless.

Let us begin with the KLR itself.On a positive note I have
to say upfront that the bike performed flawlessly from a
mechanical point of view.The only time it faltered was when
I got some bad gas, Certainly not the bikes fault.

Stock Items that performed poorly are the front and rear
shocks,the rear shock especially.Constantly bottomed out.The
front shock bottomed but not as much and is weak and mushy.

Brakes:My God how Kawasaki a manufacture of fine motorcycles
allows this bike to leave the factory with such poor
brakes is beyond me.The rear brake on this bike is virtually useless.The
front somewhat better as the trip progressed I found that I
relied more and more on the front brake and planned well
ahead for foreseen stops.During one panic stop the rear
brake was useless and was very much a factor in a contact
collision with a Taxi.It was during the collision that some
of my after market items came in to play and saved the bike.
Most significant was a a crash bar foot rest, this absorbed
80 percent of the the bike being dropped on the right side.
Bar ends! I was amazed at how much force the right bar end
absorbed,no damage to the handle bars. Finally an after
market top luggage rack took a bit of the impact as well as the passenger
foot pegs.There was a little little cosmetic damage and after lifting the bike and dusting myself of I was up and riding.

The Ride

The stock seat suited me well, however I shaved of an inch to
help lower my at rest ability to touch the tarmac!
I also
lowered the front forks a half inch and ran the rear shock
at the #2 setting.This really improved handling.

After market items I installed from top to bottom.

Mirror dampeners------GOOD

Bar end dampeners-----very good

Crash bar/foot pegs--very good

Fork brace-----------good

hardened sub frame bolts-very good-

How Kawasaki gets away without improving these is again beyond my comprehension.I ran into a KLR rider in lower Baja.We were chatting I mentioned the sub frame bolts,we checked his and sure enough the upper right had sheared of!!!

skid plate----------useless use the stock one!

after market knockoff exhaust--Poor quality,lots of
problems.Not sure if it increased HP or not.I have gone back to the stock exhaust.

(however the stock one is very heavy)Perhaps
a genuine super trap would be the way to go.I got what I
paid for,Beware the knock of super trap on Ebay it is a
piece of crap!!!

Side panel Luggage rack-good

Top luggage rack---very good

Wolf man luggage bag-The bag is good but puts the center of gravity to high on a bike with an already high center, saddle bags would
be better,they have a lower center of gravity.

This brings up an inherent problem with the KLR.The bike is
super heavy,has a high center of gravity and runs very hot,even being water cooled.I
also found that after 250 to 300 miles I was toast,because
of the vibration.If I ever make another trip thru mexico it
will be on a light multi cylinder bike,with modern brakes
and suspension.As I did very little dirt road riding the
heavy dual purpose single cylinder bike was not the way to
go for me( I never used any toll roads)

My recommendation is if you want to tour on a dual purpose
bike go with the lightest model you can ride.The guy that
rode with me was on a Suzuki DR350.He had no issues got 30%
better gas milage and had a really simple machine compared
to the water cooled KLR.His overall ride wasn’t much better
but his brakes and suspension were better and a simple light bike made for
an easier time in the towns and villiages.No problems with
power in the mountains(he had a real super trap and carb
kit).

As a result of this trip the KLR is up for sale.

I hope that this helps many of you in your decision making
process, I am happy to answer any questions I also realize I will
be bombarded with abuse from die hard KLR owners.All I can
say is each to his own the bike is not for me!Feel free to respond and ask questions.

VinnyT

[dougiequick]

I see I reply to an older post but for the sake of others if not you now I take exception to your recommendations! All the problems you listed for the beloved KLR are easily fixed! So why not do that instead of selling? Also you contradicted yourself I thought, At least as to what bike should replace the KLR. First you said you would buy a multi cylinder which obviously will be heavier or at least as heavy as the KLR (and more $) but then you recommended lighter bikes as the best solution which are NOT multi cylinder ?!?!

Also regarding the poor brakes on KLR ...no doubt who can argue! However I hear no one else complaining of the rear brakes ...reason is that rear brakes on a motorcycle are at best a stabilizing INFLUENCE in stopping rather than a device you actually typically want dominating your stopping effort!!! The bike's weight transfers forward RIGHT NOW every time you brake, the rear becomes very light and so any more rear braking than mere balancing friction is absolutely going to lock up the rear and give much less stoppage AND likely result in dangerous fish tale and finally crashing if you persist! ! unlesscompetent at braking stunts that is (which is the only valid reason for letting her skid like that!) ALL the rear brake induced crashes I experienced were in my "learning" infantile motorcyclist years ... when I finally wised up and actually began to listened to my elders I learned that WELL over 80% stopping is the FRONT Brake's job (not speaking of racing tactics here, things like engine braking and "scrubbing speed" with tire friction alone induced at extreme lean angles etc) come often into play ... In fact I have heard of several successful motorcycle racers that at least in certain times of the their career either practiced with NO REAR brake whatsoever and also some raced with NO rear brake whatsoever! Why? Because it caused them more grief than it was ever worth! I can also point to certain motorcycles where the manufacture tried to make various models safer by tying the front and rear brakes together as one like a car (pre anti-lock days, now it is fully possible to do safely with electronics) the result was ok so long as the riders never got off on a dirt shoulder of a turn or even turn out! A HUGE number of riders CRASHED with this system due to the rear brake. Rear brakes on motorcycles are to be mastered and NEVER taken for granted as something one can just tromp on in an emergency stop! I will venture to say that outside of panic stricken learning riders forgetting to roll the throttle CLOSED, locked rear brake fish tale dumps are the biggest cause of learning level crashes ... for us baby boomer's and a few generations afterwards our brains were ill programed with our single system coaster braked Schwinn or Huffy stingray style 20" bicycles ...they were so slow we rarely had a problem unless on a long steep hill or something. ... in fact we loved to "broady" skiding to a stop in a wide arc leaving a curved patch of black.

Anyway my advice is buy or keep that KLR-650! Take a motorcycle riding class ...play a lot on some dirt fire roads for a while and really LEARN the bike ...Upgrade the springs, front brakes, pegs, tires,etc ... lower the bike with linkage if you are short (the front raise the forks in the triple tree) maybe a fork brace and you will have arguably the best for the money adventure bike you can buy if you intend to ride on dirt any significant percentile of your adventures. The multis you speak of will be much nicer for street only but then I say it's a lie to call that "dual sport" and the light DR types will be much nicer for the dirt portion but you will PAY in the arse for distances in the street! Hence the KLR-650 ... it ain't been around all this time for nothin! Heck trade it for the new '08 KLR if you don't want to do the above mods ...better brakes, forks, LOWER and more while still being based on the same old hard to beat lovable frame/motor platform.

Best wishes in any event!

[mmaarten]

I could not agree more. After riding my AT around the world I got on a KLR and "heleluya" it is so nice to have a feather light bike in the dirt.
As for the brakes... Just look ahead and don't go to fast.
I love my AT, but I also love this KLR (mod. 06)

Maarten

[Bush Pilot]

Once you get the KLR sorted out it's pretty good.
I did the front and rear suspension upgrades and the difference is great.
I overheated mine once and had to upgrade to the 685 kit. Engine now runs a we bit smoother and stronger.

Brakes???Right it ain't got brakes, so you ride accordingly. You ride like like you don't have brakes. Natch!

I'll be upgrading the brakes next.

Things I really l like about the KLR
the tall riding position,
the way the engine runs great on crap fuel
great handling, it feels light to be, mind I also ride an R1100GS so saying the KLR handles "great" is saying something I think. Brakes notwithstanding.
Good fuel capacity and economy.
Easy on maintenance.
Comfortably carry a lot of stuff.

I admit a 500 mile day on the KLR feels like an 800 mile day on the R1100GS, but I doubt that surprises anyone!

I was just eyeballing the new Yamahappy 1200 Super Duper Ténéré. If money was no object that would be the bike alright!
Alas money being tight and seeing I already got the 06' KLR....