Does anyone own a KLR650 enduro? I was thinking of getting one to ride to work to save on gas. Also, ride some on the weekends when not riding the ATV.

Any pro's or con's?

thanks,
dave

 

i have talked to some people that have them and they love them...they ride it to where they wanna go trail riding so they get double the seat time and they ride them to work...they use it like an all around vehicle...they had 2 of them so they must be good

 

thanks for the info, I haven't heard anything bad about them and Kawasaki has been producing them for somewhere around 17 years....

 

My cuz has one and he loves it! He drives it all the time, rain or shine. He saves a ton on gas and can take the gravel roads. Definately bullet proof. Haven't changed the design in yrs. If its a great design, don't touch it except change the color. Its definately a very big bike though. I'd put an exhaust system on it though or take out the baffle. They must be awesome bikes since the U.S. Marine Corps uses them for their recon missions. They had it on The History Channel on Mail Call (that show kicks ***!) They develeoped a diesel motor that burns a bunch of different fuels. Got like 80 mpg!! They paint them different and do some suspension up grades. Other than that its stock by the looks of it. If you don't want a bike as big as the KLR 650, look at the KLR 250. Tons smaller and just as good as its big bro! Good luck man!

 

Yeah I got a KLR650. I've had it 15 years. With stock tires on it, it is very scary off road, way too heavy feeling, and no traction. But with stock tires, it handle very well on the street. I've ridden it from California to Oregon a couple of times, to work and back a bunch, and a lot of puttin' around locally, and while out camping and riding in the dirt....

It's really a great bike, I put a FMF Q core pipe on it and rejetted it, and it has plenty of go! It pretty much can wheelie in any gear, at almost any speed. Electric start, water cooled, good rack, comfy seat,....if you look around, your really not going to find all these qualities on any other bike......The suzuki DR 650 might be about the closest thing to it....but the KTM, the BMW, the Aprilia, are all much different and way more money....The Husquavarna, might be interesting.....?

I'm pretty sure this KLR650 is going to run for ever, it doesn't burn any oil, always starts right up.

I put the Dunlop t606series of street legal Knobbies on it, and I swear it was like night and day for the bike.....It is SOOOO MUCH BETTER in the dirt than with stock rubber. and the street ride is not that bad for knobbies...Now, the thing is a machine in the dirt, except that I weigh like three hundred, so my issue has now become not enough suspension...which I'm working on....

For a dual purpose bike, it's almost perfect, for a street bike, it works just fine, for a dirt bike, it's heavy but works just fine as long as your not jumping doubles....

I guess the thing I like is it goes anywhere, street, freeway, dirt, sand, no problem. I have had a lot of other bikes concurrently with this bike, better street bikes, and better dirt bikes, but this KLR does both acceptably. I got rid of it all, but the KLR is still in the stable!

The KLR250, forget it, no power, I'd really like to see a Dual purpose KLR450 if it weighed less than about 300 lbs....The KLR must weigh closer to 500....They say it's like 337 but with a full tank of gas it feels more like 450+, add a cooler on the rack,.....But it does it.. no problem!

I'll tell you, me at over 300, a full tank of fuel, a saddle bag of stuff, and a hefty cooler with everybodies stuff in it, it will go anywhere, except the sand, that's just too heavy for the sand.

 

a buddy has an older one and loves it

I have looked them over more than a couple of times,,,,i could use one for sure

 

I've got an '02 and did a bunch of research before I decided on it. The bike has been around since 1987 and its predecessor, the KL 600 was around before that. I have around 2000-3000 miles on mine with no problems. There is a ton of aftermarket stuff available and the KLR list forum has excellent info.

The best thing about the bike is that it is so general. It doesn't exceed at doing anything but can do everything. The 650 motor is smooth and not as powerful as you might think but it does just fine. There is some concern about the counterbalancer chain tensioner failing but it is intermittant. A couple places offer update kits.

I ride mine to work and use it to explore on. I love the fact that I can cruise at highway sppeds and then check out dirt roads or mild trails. It is too heavy to ride like a real dirt bike. If you go slow and have knobbys than you can ride tougher trails but still, its a heavy bike with taller gearing and your not going to be able to ride as tight of trails as you would on a KDX 200 or probably even your quad.

The KLR is considered the poor man's GS (made by BMW) because it has the big tank and can cruise on the highway with more comfort than the Honda XL or Suzuki DS 650. I see a lot of them come up here to Alaska from the lower 48. We have more dirt roads than paved so the bike works great for that.

I love my KLR and am glad I didn't buy the BMW GS 650. That bike is $2500 more expensive, still uses a chain and is so fancy that you wouldn't want to take it off-road and risk dumping it.

 

I also have an '02 KLR 650... works great, I live on about a mile of gravel, & ride it back & forth to work ( about 9 miles one way ), pretty much daily... I did put the ceramic coated Big Gun full system on... ( momma said it putted around like a mo ped... not with the Big Gun though )... I was amaized at how heavy the stock exhaust was, & how light the Big Gun was by comparision... I'll bet I cut 25 lbs from the weight of the bike... I dumped it hard a year & half ago, & if I didn't need to ride a wheel chair for 2 months, I could have picked it up & rode it home... there was litterally no damage, other than a few scratches...

I'm due for tires this year... what are all your recommendations ???

I took it up northern Minnsota last summer, & had I known the area was SO sandy, I'd have taken the quad up, but we were casually hunting wild mushrooms, & we took up mommas quad, & the KLR... it worked suprisingly well in the loose sand, & the extra ride height, had me spotting all the shrooms for the group... I'm sure a better tire would have improved the loose sand manners substancially...

my only complaint is the plastic is fading ( front & rear fenders, & air deflectors around the radiator... If I get the time before serious riding season, I may paint the green plastic gloss black ( probably with that Krylon Fusion paint )... does anyone have the touring windshield... I like it, but I find that it gets challenging on the freeway, if it's windy, or I'm behind a semi, as it seems to catch too much wind... so I ride with the shorter windshield most of the time... in fact, I'd consider selling the touring windshield if anyone was interested ( it's only been on the bike 2-3 times ( rides ), & was not on when I dumped it...

 

On read a 650 enduro shootout on this and the KLR won. I wanted to get one a while ago but forgot about it. anyway if you get oen i heard the tires to get are the dunlop 606s. i hear they make them very sharp turners and are rated to 130mph highway use.

The only other bike i can think of that might be better than the klr is the ktm525 or ktm625 (if it is like the 525 just bigger). those things are supposed to be mad powerful.

 

Wow guys, thanks for all the great information....