I think I'm gonna get one.
I like the idea of a road ready bike that I can take into the dirt if I so desire.

Anyone else have one? Thoughts?

Always liked them but too short to ride them. Can't even one foot them properly.

quote:

Originally posted by Xer0:
Always liked them but too short to ride them. Can't even one foot them properly.

Yeah I went and looked at one today and was surprised on how tall it was.
I'm 5'10" and it was on the upper limits of what I think is manageable.

A crash on a KLR650 shaved a few months off my life a few years ago.
Its a great bike. Very reliable. But heavy for a dirt bike.

They're needlessly tall. I rode a KLR250 a couple of times. I didn't much like kickstarting it from the pegs while it was on the stand and since it was carburated, it took more kicking than I liked. This was probably 10 years ago, though, so maybe they have changed something.

creslin, is this a first bike? Will it be for commuting or fun and what kinds of roads will you be riding on? Use our knowledge here

I am not into bikes, but the KLR-650 is about the only one I like due to its looks, record, and for all the travelers using them for trips.

It is a tall bike, I am also 5'10" and stretches me to just sit on it, just as creslin stated. You don't see many at dealerships.

I see a lot of them passing through a major highway near me.

I've not owned one, but I want one. Being 6'5", the height is a good thing for me.

I owned one of the first models back in the late 80's. I loved that bike. It does have some downsides. The stock sadle will make your butt numb after about 2 hours if you don't replace it with a good aftermarket model. On the early models, it topped out at about 90mph but would pick up a nasty front end vibration due to the front "dirt bike" fender flexing. They may have resolved this by now and truthfully, it really isn't the kind of bike that you want to ride at 90 mph. The big single 650cc piston can only be counterbalanced to a point and there will always be a little vibration throuh the handlebars, get jel padded riding gloves. The watercooled single cyclinder could get hot if you sat in traffic too long, though mine never overheated. It was electric start, but (for that year's model) you could also add on a kickstarter if you wanted it for emergency reasons.

I'm 6'1" with a 36" inseam and the bike fit me like a glove. The balance point of the bike with me on it and a full tank of gas was about perfect. It could wheelie off the line with just a little goosing of the throttle.

I road mine on Florida roads and it probably saved me from injury once when I had to avoid a car making a sudden stop by driving onto the soft (sand) shoulder. When I hit the sand, I actually gave it gas, threw a nice rooster tail of sand and powered through the emergency. A street bike would have just plowed in and probably flipped.

I'd get one now, but I don't know if I have the reflexes for it anymore and the streets of St. Louis aren't really enduro territory.

Ken

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
A crash on a KLR650 shaved a few months off my life a few years ago.
Its a great bike. Very reliable. But heavy for a dirt bike.

30 years ago I had a KX 250 and my moto was if you're not bleeding...

Now I hurt when I get out of bed every morning!
Young and dumb.

There was one or two years that were prone to ring issues and oil consumption. 2008 was the year with the piston ring issue IIRC. Overall they seem to be great bikes except for that issue. Someone at my gym rides a highly modified KLR650 and LOVES it.

This would be my 3rd bike.
My first was a buell blast - rode that thing from orlando, fl to akron ohio and back.. twice.

After that hellish trip I decided I needed something larger and got a Harley Sportster 883.

I rode that one exclusively (no car) for about 4-5 years.
Finally traded it in and bought a jeep a little over a year ago - but now I have the itch again...

Uses would be mostly commuting to/from work (3 miles away).
But maybe Id do a little off roading just for grins...

The KLR is a great bike but I'd look at KTM and make sure they don't fit your needs better before trading any money.

The KLR650 would not be classified as a hard core dirt bike, it is just too heavy. For trail or adventure riding it is perfect, just don't expect to be doing whoop-dee-doos with it. Getting 50mpg's and having a 6gal tank can get you pretty far from civilization if you are inclined to seek solitude.

Ken

Pretty nice package if a little crude mechanically. They are pretty tall and top heavy but nicely set up from the factory with large tank, rear rack, and decent (not great) stock seat.

You might also look at a Suzuki DR650. Made in Japan with better build quality, no oil consumption issue, a proper gear driven counterbalancer, lower seat height plus a factory option to lower it even further, and noticibly lighter.
3.5 gallon tank is ok unless you're riding a lot in the west. But no rear rack standard. Seat is worse than KLR and would need replaced. (See Seat Concepts). Also need mirror extenders.

Both are good bikes, I've owned two of each and personally prefer the DR650 with the mods mentioned.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ridewv,

The KLR is the Jeep CJ of the motorcycle world. Can do a lot of things passably, has huge aftermarket support, and mechanically simple enough to get parts fabbed by some dude in a yurt in Nepal.

Okay, that last bit may be an exaggeration.

I loved mine. Only thing bad about it was it vibrated like an out-of-balance clothes washer stuck on the spin cycle at highway speeds. 60 and below it was fine and got great mileage to boot.

I like mine and it is my first bike. I'm also 5'10 with stock seat height, no lowering links and I can flat-foot it (barely).

It doesn't do anything well...but you can cruise for hours at 75, then hit a single track trail at the end.

I had a 2005 (i think) for about 4 years!
Loved it!
Perfect for dirt roads and wide open spaces, like Utah, Idaho. Maybe a little to heavy for very narrow twisty forest TRAILS, but great for anything that can be called a jeep trail, etc.

Sold it only because I started bicycling a lot again and rarely used it,
I still think about buying another.

At only 5'8" I used the 1" lowering links, lowered the forks in the fork tree buy 1" and had the foam of the seat shaved down by a local upholstery guy by about another 1. Ride perfectly fine that way.

Great looking bike Strambo. Is that color stock or did you do it?

An XR650L would also be a great bike. I say go for it.

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
Great looking bike Strambo. Is that color stock or did you do it?

An XR650L would also be a great bike. I say go for it.

Spray paint! At some point it may peel enough that I'll start over and see if I can get it to stick better.

There is a black/gray digicam version out now that is pretty cool looking.