I had a 2008 KLR650 with 38,000 miles on it when it was sold. It was very reliable. I never replaced the Doohickey but I did do the required adjustment at the recommended service intervals. My biggest complaint would be oil consumption. On long highway trips I always made sure I had an extra quart of oil with me. I highly recommend “Happy Trails” panniers, center stand, and a side guard to protect the radiator. The panniers have lots of room and won’t break if you drop the bike. I had “warm gear“ electric jacket and gloves for the freezing temperatures and Aero Stich Darien Jacket to stay dry. Lots of good memories!

For reference, I am 5’ 8” tall with about a 30” inseam. I also weigh only 152lbs, but well over 160 with my helmet, jacket, pants, gloves and boots. I can not flat-foot when sitting and I have the lower “S” version. I feel very comfortable and confident in it, but I have been riding for many years, and on many bikes. I am so impressed with this machine, but to be honest I probably would not have liked it when I was younger. I was too interested in power and speed, I’m glad I’m over that part of my life! But the KLR is very torquey and moves down roads and highways just fine, it just doesn’t have afterburners!

lower center of gravity is everything! Get a gen 2 (2014 1/2 to 2018). Get some 2" lowering links. Only put 4 gallons of gas in your tank. Now it weighs no more than a gen 1. And it is 3 inches lower than a gen 1. Perfect klr!

Nice review and bikes, thanks. Question: For single cylinder engines like the KLR, what are the advantages or disadvantages if there are any compared to 2, 3 or 4 cylinder motorcycle engines? Is it made for more torque?

@PeterLoweOne

2 ай бұрын

Great question, and this won't be a complete answer, but I'll give a few reasons. First of all, these adventure bikes are made to go absolutely everywhere, and as you increase the complexity of the engines by introducing more and more components, you also increase the chances of failure. Put more simply an engine with 25 components has 25 potential failure points, where an engine with 10 components has 15 fewer potential failure points. So that's part of the reason for these single cylinder engines, you'll also find that this engine is not a highly stressed engine. It's not tuned to run at the limit of its capabilities. Whether you rev this engine out or not, it's not really working all that hard comparatively, and that has benefits too. More specifically to your question, a single cylinder engine like this is naturally more torquey down low. You may hear of adventure bike riders talk of "tractoring" out of a situation, and if you think about a precarious situation where you need good power from a stop. Perhaps in the event that you've tipped over on a slippery uphill section, and now you need to start to move again. Having good power, very low in the revs is important. It makes the drivetrain much more manageable in those situations. If that doesn't make sense, picture the opposite. Picture a super bike engine that has to rev to very high revs to make power, now imagine having to balance the clutch and high revs to get just the perfect amount of traction. That would be a much more difficult skill to master, where a bike like this, you can progressively dump the clutch lever, and this will push, controllably on through the terrain with less rider input and less rider skill. So that's a long, but partial answer, but I hope it helps.

@BlackArroToons

2 ай бұрын

@@PeterLoweOne Thanks for the very detailed and helpful answers, Peter! I understand what you're saying about traction too and how torque can help. Also a good point about less components to eventually wear out compared to less cylinders for less stressful riding conditions compared to higher speed engines. Thanks a lot!

Thanks for the shoutout man!!! You said it best "the key is the adventure itself". I am, and forever will be, a KLR fanboy, but it's such an easy bike to ride, to work on, to mod, and to fall in love with. You should pick one up man. We'll likely be up around Freddy with the bikes this summer with NBDRA.

@PeterLoweOne

2 ай бұрын

I'm absolutely considering an adventure bike for the future. Life stuff may prevent that from happening this year. Haven't decided which bike yet, but the KLR is on the list for sure! Also, I'm happy to give a shoutout to a maritime channel that's very deserving of a large following!

I have both an Adventure and an "S" model. Even tho I am 6'1" and 32" inseam, I prefer riding the S because of it's lower center of gravity. I bought Givi hard bags for the S but the plastic is too brittle. My bike fell over and cracked a bag, so I don't recommend Givi's. I did a 2 day, 925 mile ride recently on the S with lightly loaded bags. I weigh 245 and all was fun and fine. The 2nd day was 550 miles, so KLR's are very capable touring machines. Thank u.

I’m looking to replace my KLR 650 but holding out to see if Honda release the NX500 for the US/CAN market. What are your thoughts on that bike and do you think it would be a more road oriented and better daily commuter than the KLR?

@PeterLoweOne

Ай бұрын

I haven't had the chance to review that Honda yet. It is coming to Canada, but I tend to save my thoughts and recommendations until I'm able to review a bike.

@user-iz8mj3jt2n

Ай бұрын

@@PeterLoweOne Honda got back to me and said they are not releasing the NX500 in the US as it polled so low. Will still look forward to your review on it if you do one as I feel it’s one of the best value bikes out there. I am going to have to get a CB500X instead which is just fine.

I bought a 2023 KLR 650S. I was not drawn to the adventure model. The crash guards don't have enough protection, the bags are small and flimsy. I would like the electrics but I installed a USB power outlet for a fraction of what the dealer wanted. I bought the Kawasaki crash bars and I'm very pleased with them. They are very robust and they have good protection up and down. There is even a very nice protected spot for driving lights that would not be effected if the bike goes over. I installed the Tusk rack and aluminum pannier and I'm very pleased. They are very robust and there is lots of room.

base model klr is definitely on top of my list for my next bike.. im between klr650 the klx300 dual sport or drz400 dual sport model. id love a "better" bike but the price on stuff now days is crazy..

@PeterLoweOne

2 ай бұрын

I think a lot of people get caught up in "better" when what they really need is often quite affordable. Sometimes it's just better to ask, "am I buying smiles, or specs?" If you're buy spec sheet information, you can do a whole lot better than the KLR spec sheet. But if you're buying smiles, the smile per dollar ratio of a bike like the KLR is very high.

Here in Romania I have never seen a Kawasaki KLR, I didn't even know it existed!

@PeterLoweOne

2 ай бұрын

These are legendary in North America!

@CaptHollister

5 күн бұрын

Not sold in Europe

What in the world were the engineers thinking when they placed the switch for the fog lights on the right side of the faring. You have to reach all the way across a dark dash with your "left" hand at night and find the switch on the right side of the faring.

@PeterLoweOne

9 күн бұрын

While there are definitely more ergonomic places to put the switch, you're describing a scenario that makes this sound much worse than it actually is. If it's so dark that you can't see the switch when you're starting out, then you can easily find it before you get underway, and if it's getting dark, you'll easily have time to find it before it's pitch black. Again, the placement of the switch could be better, but an averagely skilled rider shouldn't have any trouble whatsoever finding and using the switch while underway.

will the seat off the lower one fit on the taller one

@PeterLoweOne

Ай бұрын

Yes. It should fit fine.

Hi Peter, nice to see you.

@PeterLoweOne

2 ай бұрын

Thanks! It's been pretty sporadic for sure! Hoping to get back to a more regular routine, but we'll see!

great video. l/100km, katalysator?

@PeterLoweOne

Ай бұрын

It's a fuel efficiency measurement used in Canada. We don't use MPG.

I wish the luggage locks were on the side.... they dont like the weather... hard opening at times

@PeterLoweOne

Ай бұрын

That's a fair point.

Não entendo a Kawasaki, não trazer ,esse KLR pro Brasil, iria vender muito!🇧🇷

@alang39564

2 ай бұрын

That's strange, in Argentina they're selling them and you can get 50% of the bike in 18 payments 0% (I mean the regular KLR, not sure if you're talking about the adv version)

Why don’t any of you guys ever tell us what the out the door price is??? Stop telling us the price that is not what we pay . Dealers are such bandits in the main and most of us hate bike and car shopping because we don’t trust dealers. Review itself is good. Just tell us the real price.

@PeterLoweOne

2 ай бұрын

Whoa... Dude... I'm not a dealer. I just film at one. And if you want to know what an out the door price is, Jim Gilbert's Powersports tells you. I almost never quote pricing in my videos because they can change. If you connect with Jim Gilbert's, they'll happily tell you all of the costs involved with buying this bike. When I do quote a price, I use the MSRP which is listed on just about every Manufacturer's website, and it's a fair comparison to compare the differences between the cost of certain bikes. But the price you want is easy to find, just reach out to them using the link in the description.

I think you use the word "Tour" very questionably here. It's a KLR , you're not going to "tour" on a KLR unless you just enjoy discomfort and poor performance. Now with that said, if you stick to roads with a speed limit of 45 or less , sure you technically can tour with a KLR. Otherwise no since they are garbage 50mph + , no 6th gear and the rpm is terrible at any speed above that. Once we get a KLR with a parallel twin, 6 speeds and no floppy front fender it will be technically speaking the best bike for the price.

@PeterLoweOne

2 ай бұрын

Wow. You should watch the video until the end, and then click on over to the KZread channel that I reference. I'll save you the time, the link is in the description of this video. Just because YOU wouldn't tour on the KLR doesn't mean that it's not fully capable. That's why I linked the other channel and mentioned it prominently in this video. People around the world use the KLR to tour on.

@josephgeorgeejr7039

Ай бұрын

people tour on 50cc honda ruckus from tip of south America to top of Alaska , this comment don't make sense! Now if you say luxury touring..well get a winnebago, down and dirty touring, you can literally use a moped lmao!! Guys doing scooter cannonball run on 100cc bikes hauling trailers behind their bikes with all provisions needed for weeks on road and literally 10s thousands of miles, I guess it's why they say beauty is in the eyes of the beholder!!

@josephgeorgeejr7039

11 күн бұрын

Sorry for the mix up

@chewybrianbengals

8 күн бұрын

@@josephgeorgeejr7039 I did a 1000k tour on a bicycle!

@CaptHollister

5 күн бұрын

You are very simply wrong. 650 thumpers have no problem keeping up with freeway traffic. GoldWings, Ultra Glides, and GSses are not the only way to cover distance. A sixth gear would be nice, but a twin cylinder KLR will never happen because a) it wouldn't be a KLR and b) the Versys 650 already exists.