New ride KLR 650

[huchieglide]

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

I'll second that and sold my 01. Miss it though. Was told I would. I think it is the bike many wish they had hung on to. Bought a xr250l for the local woods which it is great but way underpowered out on the road. Oh and did I say kick start.. Ran into the gal that bought my klr for her husband a couple years ago at wallyworld recently and she said he rode it about 100 miles and it is in storage. Gave her my number but never heard back . I would like to get another or amybe a drz400s.

 

[Centerline]

My KLR is a real hoot. Havin such a good time on it. It may not be much capable for serious dirt riding, but neither am I. It has gone where I have wanted so far. Such a hoot sitting so dang high off the street, except it has me literally on toes when stopped. Maybe a flat Corbin seat for it, about a.5 inches lower. Don not want to lower the bike, cause I like the pegs way off the street as this bike can really lean far before the pegs touch down. Haven't touched em down yet, tho the pegs on the FJR are almost gone now.

Am learning that not much improvement in power is available for the trouble of doing it. 48hp at the crank and about 34 at the rear end in stock form. It is plenty peppy and doesn't seem to mind a stint of 70-75 mph. Haven't yet done a steady state cruise at 80 so do not know about that. Doesn't get any wobbles with soft sidebags on, but does get a little twitchy with a tailbag on it. Needs steel braided brake lines for sure on the front and have some progressive springs to install to help up front particularly to control braking dive.

Doohickey thang at some point in the next few months.

It is fun to switch from FJR to KLR, the Feejer now feels like a sport bike with thick grips

 

[madmike2]

Needs steel braided brake lines for sure on the front and have some progressive springs to install to help up front particularly to control braking dive.

And a fork brace. I've read a couple of reports on that bike that state how much a forkbrace helps the front stability.

 

[Kasey]

Congrats on a great choice Centreline - I bought my '06 KLR used last fall with only 1K km and took it to Yuma Dec/Jan. As a longtime street rider I'm still learning how to really give it a workout on the 'less-attractive' surfaces and I'll take credit for my enthusiasm vs. skill at this point.

The price is right and this bullet-proof little beast sure is a lot of fun - I'll never part with it. Mine currently lives on Vancouver Island, some distance from my home in another province, and I can fly out in the winter and ride to my heart's content on the logging roads networking the Island. I'm looking forward to doing Alaska on the KLR immediately after WFO.

Kasey