A New Toy (KLR650)

[george formby]

The more I look the more I like. DR 6fiddly never quite floated me boat for big trips.
You already answered me thoughts on comfort & performance but I have more. Sorry, the nearest new KlR is far, far away.

Is it a proper bash plate?
That vulnerable looking swing arm / dog bone pivot thing, robust?
Gross tonnage of muffler?
Radiator cowlings solidly braced?
Hero knobs......... Why?

Soz to be a pain the arse but like I said in my earlier post my riding is going back to the beginning. Just more scenery to hit & slower reflexes.

If your ever in me hood I will feed you BBQ & beer.

[10bikekid]

The more I look the more I like. DR 6fiddly never quite floated me boat for big trips.
You already answered me thoughts on comfort & performance but I have more. Sorry, the nearest new KlR is far, far away.

Is it a proper bash plate?
That vulnerable looking swing arm / dog bone pivot thing, robust?
Gross tonnage of muffler?
Radiator cowlings solidly braced?
Hero knobs......... Why?

Soz to be a pain the arse but like I said in my earlier post my riding is going back to the beginning. Just more scenery to hit & slower reflexes.

If your ever in me hood I will feed you BBQ & beer.

Will try to answer in a non biased manner (yer right)

I'm the same with the DR naked, its just not me, am so used to knees out of the wind and front protection that I just cant bare to be naked. (for long)

I'm not planning to change the bash plate as I doubt I'll do any trials riding on it

Haven't seen any negative comments on the Forums regards the other things you mentioned either.

Coming off the KTM this thing is light, heavy muffler and all (by about 35kg) I was struggling offroad with that extra weight at times and I'm not getting any younger or stronger (may keep the KTM as a road and gravel bike only)

Radiator cowling brackets are repairable if you choose not to add bars (I don't plan to as don't want any extra weight) Only dropped my KTM 3x times and it was always very slow or just because the stand dug into the ground and over she went

Hero knobs, you need them to warn you not to run off the tires (Have hit them twice and when way over in slow corners which is fun)

For me its a bit of a full circle thing as well, some of my mates wanted me to cash up and buy a 1190, but what the heck, a 150hp wheelie monster is not my idea of growing old gracefully, I knew that I'd just take it on the beach stick it in sports mode, traction controls off and go for it, No thanks

Now I'm not saying you might not sometimes want more power on the road (keep a good road bike for that) but everything for the most seems to happen at the right pace for the brain and it can still row along if you want it too and passes car quite easily at or near the speed limit (will build to 130-140ks readily while passing)

To be honest I probably wouldn't have bought, except I had to test one for a learner friend of mine and was very impressed with its roadability, general smoothness, and usable power.

So ended up trying a Demo New Edition with a back to back comparison with a Husky Terra on a local loop I do and liked the KLR better, who would have thought

BBQ sounds good and will keep that in mind

The KLR reminds me of the original XL500 except in truth its actually a far better overall bike than that, and why it wins virtually every ADV bike comparo its ever in, game over, money out, sold,

[george formby]

Most excellent reply. Cheers.
I wuz a bit tongue in cheek on a couple of my questions. The muffler looks like a gun from Starship Troopers & if your hitting the blobs anywhere outside a car park may the force be with you.
Seeing as I enjoy the road less traveled more, as in my yoof, you have put the cat amongst the pigeons.

[pete376403]

The more I look the more I like. DR 6fiddly never quite floated me boat for big trips.
You already answered me thoughts on comfort & performance but I have more. Sorry, the nearest new KlR is far, far away.

Is it a proper bash plate?
That vulnerable looking swing arm / dog bone pivot thing, robust?
Gross tonnage of muffler?
Radiator cowlings solidly braced?
Hero knobs......... Why?

Soz to be a pain the arse but like I said in my earlier post my riding is going back to the beginning. Just more scenery to hit & slower reflexes.

If your ever in me hood I will feed you BBQ & beer.

Its a proper plastic bash plate. The one on my 08 took some pretty good hits before it broke.
The suspension pivot is very robust. The engine oil drain plug is far more vulnerable and should be replaced with a low profile item.
Muffler weight 4.9 kgs - exactly the same as the standard battery.
Radiator cowlings break.
Hero knobs are quite easy to touch down, these things handle way better than many would credit.

[10bikekid]

Its a proper plastic bash plate. The one on my 08 took some pretty good hits before it broke.
The suspension pivot is very robust. The engine oil drain plug is far more vulnerable and should be replaced with a low profile item.
Muffler weight 4.9 kgs - exactly the same as the standard battery.
Radiator cowlings break.
Hero knobs are quite easy to touch down, these things handle way better than many would credit.

The Voice of experience. Muffler and battery would be were I'd look to remove aprox 6kg, but as its border line light for the 80% road work now, unsure if that's needed (I'm sure it will get done eventually though)

Hero Knobs, have removed them now as have hit them to many times already (when oversteering in tight corners), which brings me to road handling.
In some ways I'm a bit disappointed as it handles a little to well (super motard like) so you have to go faster to get a thrill, something I was trying to avoid (O well thems the breaks)

[Logmaker]

Its a proper plastic bash plate. The one on my 08 took some pretty good hits before it broke.
The suspension pivot is very robust. The engine oil drain plug is far more vulnerable and should be replaced with a low profile item.
Muffler weight 4.9 kgs - exactly the same as the standard battery.
Radiator cowlings break.
Hero knobs are quite easy to touch down, these things handle way better than many would credit.

Hi Pete ,Am going to be U Hutt tomoro for 2 days ,I would like to have a quick yarn with you as i am going to buy a new/ maybe 2nd hand KLR, is that at all possible. Cheers.

[pete376403]

Hi Pete ,Am going to be U Hutt tomoro for 2 days ,I would like to have a quick yarn with you as i am going to buy a new/ maybe 2nd hand KLR, is that at all possible. Cheers.

Yeah no worries.
0275 424 693

[10bikekid]

Hi Pete ,Am going to be U Hutt tomoro for 2 days ,I would like to have a quick yarn with you as i am going to buy a new/ maybe 2nd hand KLR, is that at all possible. Cheers.

Good move then you can join the FB group https://www.facebook.com/groups/671760996255954/

Eventually if we get enough we can have a Nation Rally, had our first Auckland Regional on Tuesday (2x KLR's )

[george formby]

Good move then you can join the FB group https://www.facebook.com/groups/671760996255954/

Eventually if we get enough we can have a Nation Rally, had our first Auckland Regional on Tuesday (2x KLR's )

Crikey. Before you know it they will be as popular as TDM's. We had two of them together once but that was years ago.

The KLR is now officially on my real next bike list as opposed to the lotto win bike list.

[10bikekid]

Crikey. Before you know it they will be as popular as TDM's. We had two of them together once but that was years ago.

The KLR is now officially on my real next bike list as opposed to the lotto win bike list.

I like to think big and am aiming for 3 at the next Ride (will let other bikes join in but they have to go at the back and at a distance) BTW IMHO TDM is a great bike just never got around to buying one

As I mentioned before, KTM 1190 was my please all your friends lotto bike, but am glad I have seen sense

[george formby]

I love the TDM to bits. Very hard bike for me to replace. It happily & easily does things that would give the designers a heart attack but I'm beginning to hanker after something which will go over hills rather than flatten them. Hence my interest.

[10bikekid]

Believe me, I know what you mean,

Wonder what commission I'm going to get for selling all these KLR's

[george formby]

Don't spend it until you have it.
I'm on a tight budget & still want a trials bike. Better crash protection than engine bars.
And I've still got a CRM to get off the wharf & on to the road. Not looking forward to the rigmarole.

[R650R]

Wonder what commission I'm going to get for selling all these KLR's

Sounds like your happy with it. Does it have 6 gears or just 5? As that's the only thing about the DR that I'd like for longer trips is tall top gear for cruising at slightly faster than 99kph.
Would be interesting to have a play on the Marine corps version that runs on diesel although I suspect the conversion is about it being able to run on it and not any performance gain that could be had.
Only another 6hp to be had from the extra weight and crash damage risk of watercooling too.
That's the DRs trump card, reliable (touchwood), can throw it down the road and still ride home with nothing broken, well on the bike anyway.

[pete376403]

According to the owners manual there are 6 gears but I've never been able to find more than five. (maybe they counted neutral)

Standard gearing is good for a relaxed 110-115km/h cruising speed, thats around 5000 rpm. Any more than that and it starts burning too much oil - but thats because of the piston ring problem mine has. I've kept up with the other guys in my regular riding group (KTM 950, BMW 800, etc) at much faster speeds but it's not what the bike was made for.

A 17 tooth front sprocket will (apparently) fit which will drop the revs a bit.

Lots of people would like to try the HD (Hayes Diversified) diesel conversion but there's only one dealership - the US Army.
I believe that Hayes have been sold to some Indian manufacturer so maybe they will become a bit more available. about all you'd be getting would be a much greater fuel range, but at a cost of even more weight and less power.