Kawasaki Super Sherpa test ride
For quite a while now, I've been thinking of one day getting a dual purpose bike. Unfortunately my short little legs limit my options a bit, but I have been doing my homework, and have come up with two likely suspects: The Kawasaki KL250 (Super Sherpa) and the Yamaha XT250 (previously known as the XT225 Serow). So, to begin my new bike finding mission, I booked myself in to test ride a KL at Underwood and Wilkins in Whakatane on Saturday morning.
The ride report:
It was a bit nippy first thing, but had warmed up by the time we got to Whakatane to pick up the bike. While I was getting myself sorted out with the bike, Clint discovered the teknic jacket he's been thinking of buying (on special too). I dragged him away from the jacket, and we headed off over the hill to Ohope. Slow speed manoeuvring on the bike was pretty shaky, a combination of the wider bars and the discovery of power (and engine braking) at low revs.
The power at low revs meant that gear selection wasn't as important as on the KR. I could twist the throttle at whatever gear I was in, and invariably, something would happen. Not so on a little two stroke. Past Ohope we skirted around Ohiwa harbour, and turned back towards Taneatua. Clint wanted to have a quick zoom around, so I waited on the side of the road and enjoyed the sun. He thought it was "not a bad little bike" and we took a closer look at it and discussed some things. We took a brief detour onto some gravel, going a couple of k's up a side road, to see how it would handle. It was pretty good on the gravel, I felt like I could have gone faster than I was, but since it's not my bike, I wasn't pushing it. Riding through Taneatua I practised standing up, but found the bars were a little too low, so I had to stoop slightly.
Back in Whakatane, Clint investigated all the ins and outs of the teknic jacket before deciding he would buy it. We managed to dismantle his old jacket and stow it in my panniers and in the little backpack that came with his new jacket, and we headed to the Whakatane wharf for lunch (a spot suggested by John, the very helpful salesguy at Underwood and Wilkins).
After lounging in the Whakatane sun for a while, we headed along the coast to Tauranga and back to Rotorua.
The bike report:
I'd had a brief look at a KL at my local Kawasaki dealer in April last year. Since then I'd only really looked at pictures on the internet. So my first impression when we got to the shop was that it looked a bit smaller than I expected. And looked kind of daggy. I quite like the look of adventure bikes, but the sherpa had more of a farmbike look about it.
I hopped on, and we headed off. The riding position is very different from the KR. The wide bars made the steering feel a bit twitchy at first, and the throttle was a LOT more responsive at low revs than the KR, so after a bit of a wobble and some learner-rider-style bunny hops, we were on the road to Ohope. Going up the Ohope hill, I was most impressed with the more even power delivery than the KR, I could twist the throttle, and there would be some more power, without changing gears, glancing at the tacho, and making sure I stayed in the powerband. This made the bike feel relaxed to ride, it's a lot quieter than my bike too, which probably helped with the relaxed feeling.
There wasn't much vibration through the (daggy-looking chromed) bars, which meant that the mirrors worked like a dream - showing clearly what was going on behind me, rather than giving a blurry, vibrating reflection of my elbows.
The bike felt good through the corners. Quite a different feeling to a sportsbike, but would be a lot of fun, once I became more comfortable on the bike.
Cruising at 100, the wind wasn't too noticeable, but I imagine it would become more obvious on a longer ride.
Clint's comment was that the gearing could be a little higher, but otherwise it was a really nice bike.
My major niggle with the bike was the seat. The foam was too soft where the rider sits, but seemed to be a lot firmer in other places, so when I shifted my weight around, I'd find myself sitting on the transition between the two kinds of foam.
Riding on gravel it was pretty nice. The bars weren't quite high enough for me to stand up comfortably, but they could be easily adjusted.
Since it's such a different bike to the one I own, and I haven't ridden too many different bikes, it would take a while to become totally comfortable with it. I was expecting on road performance to be compromised, but, once I got used to it, it might even be nicer than the KR to ride on road.
Positive:
Nice even power delivery
Plenty of off-road potential
Quiet
Relaxing to ride, cruises easily at 100
No expensive fairings to damage
Useful mirrors
Less vibration through the bars
Accurate speedo
Negative:
Daggy looking chromed bars and round indicators
Uncomfortable seat
Would need to fit a windscreen
Need to raise bars so I can stand
Perhaps geared too low
Costs around $4000 more than value of current bike.
In summary:
It's a nice bike to ride and, with minor modifications, would work well for the sort of riding I'm doing now, with the potential to start venturing off the seal.
I don't think I'd be disappointed if I bought it, I'm just not sure if I'm sufficiently enraptured to justify buying a brand new bike.
The next step is to test ride a second hand XT and see how it compares to the KL.
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Originally Posted by Rosie
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