Hi All, I am just about to order a 2008 KLR 650. My dream bike would be one of the Dual Sport BMW's but it looks like allot of you actally perfer the KLR. My only hesitation with the KLR is that I hope it really handles well on the road. Looks like the 08 is going to be geared a little more towards the road then the past models. I am hopping this bike will be a good long distance tourer. I like the looks of sport bikes better But there is two factors why I think i'm going for the KLR. The main, price, of the bike and of insurance for a new rider. The second, the fact that it will work well on gravel roads or heading off the beaten path once and a while. My hesitations are that i'm hoping it will be a comfortable, good handling road bike, also don't like the looks as much as say the 599 naked honda sports bike.......but again, back to the price..........any thoughts? Is this bike going to handle on a winding mountain road?

Thanks,
Jason

My guess is the bike will meet your needs perfectly

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

Patrick, is there any chance that you could check for the part number of the 2008 KLR doohickey? Or is there word around if Kawasaki has a new doohickey? I am too curious if they have changed anything.
No 2008 KLR's down here before the end of the year :-( Also no parts catalog.

Sometimes it takes them a few months to get them on a new bike.

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

The full name of the malicious doohickey is: 13168 - 1436 Lever, idler shaft

Kawasaki never admitted any problems with the doohickey. I assume It will either be a quiet change to a different part or maybe if we are really lucky an upgraded part replacing the old one. (Like the upgraded DR 650 cylinder foot gasket in 2004)

If they did not do anything at all I will order a bucket full of Eagle Levers from Arrowhead :-)

Hi lecap,

well I've just logged onto Kawasaki's UK system and can advise that part number 13168-1436 has been superceeded to 13168-0046.

Hope this is of help to you.

Regards

Reggie AKA The Cameraman

Hi Reggie,

thanks for the info, I will order one tomorrow and see what I get.

I still have two 13168-1436 in stock.
Will get the new part and destroy one of each to be able to compare.
If the new part is backwards compatible (should?) it comes down to the price.

As someone who has ridden both sports bikes and the KLR on winding mountain roads -- yes, it will handle on a winding mountain road. But the riding position and height of the bike do make it handle differently than a sport bike. On a sport bike, you're crouched down so that you can easily hang off the bike with a simple shift to make it really go around curves. Hanging off a KLR doesn't really work unless you're as limber as a babboon, it's just too tall and the seating position too upright. The upside is that a KLR is so tall that it sorta hangs off all by itself without any involvement from you. But it is definitely a different feel, you're riding "with" the bike, rather than hanging off of it. Also you will not be going as fast around curves as a sportbike will, both because of the general geometry of how you're sitting on the bike and because the tires are so much narrower than a modern sportbike's tires. However, you will still be going around curves far faster than any four-wheeled vehicle short of perhaps a full-fledged sports car with extremely wide and sticky tires.

Note that tires make a big difference here too. Street-oriented tires make the KLR handle really well. In general, the closer you get to a true dirt bike knobby, the worse it will handle on the road. Right now I am riding Continental TKC-80's on the road and definitely do not push them as hard as I push Avon Gripsters on the road. On the other hand, I push them harder than I would push a Kenda 270 on the road (Kenda 270's are known for their slippery and squirmy on-road handling). Also, you set up the bike a little differently for the road. For best handling on-road you set it up with firmer suspension so that you don't get all that pitching motion. In the extreme you can even get "death wobble" from that pitching motion. For offroad use you want slightly soggier suspension (but not so soggy that you're always bottoming it!) in order to soak up the bumps better and thus keep your tires on the ground more. I usually run my suspension a bit on the firm side for better on-road handling, at the expense of a bit of ride quality on and offroad. Others choose differently. The KLR is pretty easy to set up however you want it, but everything requires compromises. The KLR itself is one giant compromise, a rather slow dirt bike on the street, and a rather heavy street bike on the dirt.

I don't know if this answers your question. The KLR does quite well on the street (well enough that I sold my Kawasaki Concours sport-tourer because, frankly, the KLR is just more comfortable as a tourer, albeit much slower), if that answers your question. I do know that I didn't notice much difference between my KLR and the F650GS that I test-rode, other than the fact that the F650GS has more power and a lower center of gravity. Handling seemed pretty much the same between the two.

-E

Hi owned few KLR and to my opinion for tavelling one up in SA america the bike bike is much more capable that the BMW 650 , I tried the 650 BMW on some long ride and if you stick to the HWY the bmw is the best , but as soon as you go off road the klr is really a SUV type bike able to cross river , take as much abuse as you can handle. I know that the klr need to be updated but for $2000 you can equipe it with luggage , protection bar ,better brake and more goodys,you will less stress when doing your maintenanceas the bike is pretty much bullet proof, the good news is with the new model of KLR coming for 08 the 06 / 05 should become dirt cheap.

Hendi

Hi chaps

I know you can lower a seat on GS650.
Can you do the same on a KLR, say down to 80 cm or even less?

Thanks

Paolo

Yes and no. While the KLR supposedly has a seat height of 35" (88cm), around 3" of that disappears immediately into sag the moment you tip the bike up onto its tires. I have a 32" (80cm) inseam and did not have any trouble getting my feet down with the stock seat because of a) the sag in the springs when you put weight on the bike, and b) the soft foam of the seat, which squished down another inch. Indeed, when I switched to a firmer wider seat for additional comfort, I had to add 1" lowering links to get me back down to where I was.

If you want a bike that is sized more towards smaller/shorter people, the GS is certainly an option, but the Suzuki DR650 is probably an even better one. It is as stone-axe simple as the Kawasaki (even simpler, actually), but side by side it is significantly shorter in both height and length. I am right at the boundary between DR-sized and KLR-sized (as I noted, I can put the soles of my boots on the ground with the stock KLR, but only barely), so I got a KLR because I found one cheap. But if I had run across a DR cheap, I would have bought the DR instead.

The DR650 is built so that it can be lowered by the dealer pre/post sale. The mounting points are built-in to the bike from the factory, a well thought-out design. I'm surprised we don't see this on more bikes.

The DR also 'feels' smaller and lighter than the KLR. This is noticed within 2.3 seconds after straddling the bike.

The F650GS Dakar. More accessories available. FI, ABS (when needed), HHG, and more. Not the perfect bike. But best in class.

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Allan - WorldRider
2005 - Adventure & Discovery - 2008 http://www.worldrider.com