New ride KLR 650

[Centerline]

Just bought a Kawi KLR 650 to compliment the FJR. With some street tires, the KLR should be serious FUN on twisty pavement (i.e. the Dragon), and I think with the stock tires it would be plenty fast capable on the dragon, not to mention great fun on jeep trails as well. Just have the hankerin' to get off the paved roads everynow and then. :yahoo:

 

[twowheelnut]

OK. You are OFFICIALLY designated to keep us up to speed on your new ride, farkling, ownership experience, etc. I know there are a few others besides me that are eyeballin' a KLR type of machine for multi-purpose touring...

Have fun and congrats!

 

[madmike2]

It seems that "just everyone" is buying a KLR. How common! Looks like I have to check out the DR650SE...or a Husky TE510???

 

[twowheelnut]

Mikey, notice I said KLR 'type'. I'm thinking Alaska. You in?

 

[Centerline]

OK. You are OFFICIALLY designated to keep us up to speed on your new ride, farkling, ownership experience, etc. I know there are a few others besides me that are eyeballin' a KLR type of machine for multi-purpose touring...
Have fun and congrats!

Roger that TWN. Will pick up the bike Tuesday. The deciding factor over the Suzi DR650 was the water cooling, 6.1 gal tank and small windshield. Plus the dealer in Altus OK sells the beasts for 4799.

 

[madmike2]

Roger that TWN. Will pick up the bike Tuesday. The deciding factor over the Suzi DR650 was the water cooling, 6.1 gal tank and small windshield. Plus the dealer in Altus OK sells the beasts for 4799.

Centerline, I hope you realize I'm doing some major leg pulling. I am considering a dual sport for the MM2 garage.

TWN, Alaska? Probably not as one would need more time off than I have vacation hours. But for light commute/errand duty, forays into the Sierra Nevada Mtns. and enjoying the vast number of fire roads/ Forestry roads we have around here........air-cooled, aftermarket tank, aluminum sidecases...yeah, that'd work just fine.

 

[FJRay]

I bought my klrto ride while i waited for the fjr and it was one of the best things i ever did. it has almost 15k trouble free miles now and the fun factor is great. it isn't perfect at any one thing but does most things well and it will give the sporty types a good run in the twistys. if you buy one you won't be sorry.

 

[Centerline]

It seems that "just everyone" is buying a KLR. How common! Looks like I have to check out the DR650SE...or a Husky TE510???

Madmike, I have thick skin, well I think so anyway. Had to re-read your post to try to find what the major leg-pulling was, guess it was the "so common". I laughed the first time I read it

 

[KSFJR]

I too have a KLR 650 which I bought new in 02. For day in day out its pretty tough to beat. I don't want my FJR sitting in a parking lot exposed to the weather and cretins. For city driving it is great with the upright riding position and lighter weight. I have had mine up to over a 100 mph but its getting pretty tapped out at that speed. It has no problems maintaining Interstate speeds however for as long as you want.

One of the guys I know put 75,000+ miles on his in just over 3 years and had one trip from southern FL to AK.

If you were limited to only one bike (God forbid), for everything, it or another brand of dual sport would be tough to beat. The following website has a lot of info. One thing you do want to get fixed is the "doohickey". There should be information on that in the website.

https://www.klr650.net/forums/

 

[evil_henchman]

I had a 02 KLR and had a real love/hate relationship with it.

Pros:

It was cheap, both to buy and maintain. It was totally reliable and easy to work on. There's more farkles available for that bike than any other I know of. In severe twisties only the rider decides who's out front when riding with a group of CBR's and R1's as long as you're willing to leeeean.

Cons:

It's under powered. It's not a dirt bike at all. Notice how short this list is?

All you need to make it a twistie monster are stiffer fork springs and a fork brace. By the way, I still have all the tools you need to change the "doohicky"...

 

[racer]

I bought an extra set of wheels for my KLR and laced an 18 inch wheel on the front. Now I have a set of dual sport tires on one set, and nice sticky tires on the other. The street tires and the 18 inch front wheel make for much bigger smiles on an already great bike. Can't beat the FJR for raw power and great manners on the road though.

 

[Ari Rankum]

OK. You are OFFICIALLY designated to keep us up to speed on your new ride, farkling, ownership experience, etc. I know there are a few others besides me that are eyeballin' a KLR type of machine for multi-purpose touring...

Yup. Count me in.

I want to buy one next summer for the specific purpose of touring some of South America. Anything you find out about after market fuel tanks, hard bags, bullet-proofing, tool kits, essential spare parts/chronic problems, performance upgrades would be very much of interest.

Enjoy that KLR!

 

[ghost]

I've just finished going thru the suspension on my 06 klr. Highway pegs, doohickey r&r and mermite bags. Am headed to the Bella Coola area in B.C. in early Aug.

Everytime I go from the fjr to the klr and back I'm surprised at, although very different rides, how much fun each is. It would be difficult to part with either.

Ghost

 

[evil_henchman]

OK. You are OFFICIALLY designated to keep us up to speed on your new ride, farkling, ownership experience, etc. I know there are a few others besides me that are eyeballin' a KLR type of machine for multi-purpose touring...

Yup. Count me in.

I want to buy one next summer for the specific purpose of touring some of South America. Anything you find out about after market fuel tanks, hard bags, bullet-proofing, tool kits, essential spare parts/chronic problems, performance upgrades would be very much of interest.

Enjoy that KLR!

Everything you ever wanted to know about KLR650's can be found here:

Door No. 1

And here:

Door No. 2

 

[Ari Rankum]

OK. You are OFFICIALLY designated to keep us up to speed on your new ride, farkling, ownership experience, etc. I know there are a few others besides me that are eyeballin' a KLR type of machine for multi-purpose touring...

Yup. Count me in.

I want to buy one next summer for the specific purpose of touring some of South America. Anything you find out about after market fuel tanks, hard bags, bullet-proofing, tool kits, essential spare parts/chronic problems, performance upgrades would be very much of interest.

Enjoy that KLR!

Everything you ever wanted to know about KLR650's can be found here:

Door No. 1

And here:

Door No. 2

Ka-plaw! Wow. Thanks for the links!

 

[TahoeBound]

I recently purchased a used CBR 1100 XX which is a sswwweeet bike and even sweeter engine. About 1500 miles later though & I'm not adapting well to the pissed-off-monkey-poser riding position. Plus, I have the FJR. 'Nuff said. I need a better complement to the FJR. The KLR has been around forever. I had one in mid-late 90's. Fun bike. I'm thinking about one now too and also considering the V-Strom 650 which I've taken a liking to lately. Even though neither would see much dirt, just the added capability of the KLR in this area might swing my favor.

Have fun.

 

[bmwhd]

The thing I loved about my KLR was the feeling that at any point in a ride, I could just unscrew the license plate and push it over a cliff and not feel a darn bit bad about it. Silly fun for $5K.

 

[evil_henchman]

The thing I loved about my KLR was the feeling that at any point in a ride, I could just unscrew the license plate and push it over a cliff and not feel a darn bit bad about it. Silly fun for $5K.

Ha! I had the same sentiment about mine :lol:

By the way, I was doing some searching for KLX300 mods on thumpertalk.com and I saw your great posts of a killer KLX. Small world!

 

[RonC]

Another site full of KLR info is https://www.klr650.net/forums/

I bought my 2001 KLR 650 last year. It was already equiped with most of the accessories and changes that are required.

Have you checked your doohickey? (a real change that should be made)

Here is a photo of my KLR in front of radman's house.

Ron