Well, I said it in the title... looking at dual-sport bikes. I used to ride MX looong time ago, miss it, but don't need the physical abuse, so I am thinking about at least riding trail. I run trails, I hike trails, and I love being away. Speed isn't so much the issue here, but power and stability and being able to get my sorry ass back from where I go, so... reliability. Getting there is no problem in Utah, it's everywhere! But I want to ride there, play there, come home. no trailers involved. I know the KLR has a big tank, maybe 200-240 miles-worth, That's more than enough for what and where I have in mind.
Anyone want to throw in some pros/cons/suggestions. Anyone selling an 05-08?
Thanks, all,
Chris
I just left the KLR world. I know tons of guys use them for off road adventures but I just didn't see it. I've owned and ridden a ton of off road bikes and the KLR is a pig on the dirt. It's so top heavy with the 6.1 gallon tank and the stock suspension is a joke. Unless you want to re-shock the rear and add progressive springs to the front then maybe you'll be happy....that's a big maybe. I had fun on mine in and around town as far as it being a hooligan mobile but a wheelie king or a HWY bike it is not with the stock gearing. If you add a 14 tooth sprocket on the front you might achieve wheelieness.
I installed a set of Kenda 761's which worked great on the street, did the KLX650 needle mod with a Uni filter and some air box mods and yet a friend of mine on a new stock '08 would outrun my '01.
On the HWY with stock gearing at 70-80mph the motor is turning well over 5k. My friend with the '08 installed a 16 tooth on the front since his is mainly a commuter. That made a world of difference on the HWY and dropped the HWY RPM's by 500rpms but killed the bottom end, especially with my 230# butt on it. No more 1st gear power wheelies, even with his 140# butt on there he has to clutch the crap out of it in 1st to come up.
If the KLR is what you are truly interested in I would settle for nothing less than an '08 but good luck finding a new one as they are pretty much sold out every where. There is a WORLD of difference in road manners between the '08 and the previous years. The '08 rules by all means.
In '08 Kawa lowered the travel which IMO sucks worse offroad. I would hate to drop an '08 with the newer huge ass fairing that's on it unless outfitted with full crash bars. They still have that one mechanical weak link in the engine that is better known in the KLR world as "The Doohickey" which is the balancer tension adjuster and if it fails it can cause catastrophic engine failure. I replaced mine on the '01 with a Eagle Mike DooHickey.
Another thing to be leary about is the '08's are known to be oil burners. If you were to buy a used one I would be nervous about how it was broken in but Shnitz racing offers a 685 and 705 kits that would eliminate that problem.
For the type of riding you are describing that you want to do I would suggest the Honda XLR650, no where near as comfortable as a KLR on long hauls but way out performs the KLR on the dirt. Maybe even look at the Suzuki DR's.
In the end the KLR wasn't what I was looking for in a dual sport. Not enough power, crappy suspension, 20+ year old technology on the engine, bar vibs like a mofo and a few other issues.
If I ventured into to Dual Sport world again it would nothing short of a BMW GS1100.
Just my $.02
