About to buy a KLR650...

[alanmcorcoran]

Thoughts? The salesman is writing me up.

[BusyWeb]

I think that KLR650 is very nice choice for you.
Before I buy a yamaha tw200 (dual sport type), I considered this one too.
Just little bit bulkier for my purpose, but if there were cheaper ones I might get one.
Low maintenance cost, very good reputation, and lots of internet support groups.

[alanmcorcoran]

Thx busy. Waiting for the battery to chg. 6k otd.

[blaine]

Thx busy. Waiting for the battery to chg. 6k otd.

Congrats on your new ride Alan.This will open up a whole new riding world to you.

:2tup: :rawk:

[dentheman]

I'm sure you will enjoy it. I looked at it on-line and thought about it, but it is a little above the weight and budget I have set for myself. Also more power than I would be comfortable with for my first bike, I think.

[alanmcorcoran]

There are apparently a bunch of unsold '09's that you can get discounts on. The power isn't much different than the GZ. But it will go 70 with much less effort! Now I just need a Gold Wing to complete the set. Also, it only weighs about 100 pounds more than the GZ. But it's harder to climb aboard and climb off.

[alanmcorcoran]

Latest addition to the stable ...
http://tapa.tk/mu/a6cd886c-f4a5-3a55.jpg

[Water Warrior 2]

Good looking bike Alan. Start lurking on a couple KLR forums to learn more about the KAW. The 650 is coming from a looooong line of proven parts and has a solid reputation. Lots of after market support too.
Looking forward to your first ride impressions and of course your first off road adventure.

[mole2]

Congratulations on the new ride Alan!!! Ride it safe.


:)

[alanmcorcoran]

Good looking bike Alan. Looking forward to your first ride impressions and of course your first off road adventure.

Rode it home from the dealer in the dark and in the rain. Found out after I got home they never put any air in the tires - so I was riding 70 mph on wet roads with 5psi :(. But it still handled pretty good. I had dropped the Strat off for it's 12K service and I wanted to go out to a coffeehouse/music night, so, I put on my rain gear, bought some gas, filled up the tires and headed out on the KLR. I hadn't used my rain jacket until today (it's been riding around in the saddlebag on the Strat unused for about a year and a half.) It was raining moderately on and off all day and continued into the evening. Still, within minutes of mounting up, I felt pretty confortable. The controls (and lack thereof) and mechanics are similar to the Geezer (no gas gauge, has a carb/choke, chain, etc.) but the 650 is way quicker and has a much higher top end. It is very fun to ride. It has a little dinky windshield built-in - you can get a bigger one - but, with a full face helmet, the wind didn't bother me at all. In fact, I think I had less buffeting than I do on the Strat (which has a ginormous windshield.) Even though I haven't ridden much in the rain, and I have slighty knobby tires, I felt pretty comfortable at highway speeds on wet pavement. Didn't ride long enough to judge the seat or riding position (got about 80 miles or so in altogether.) The biggest adjustment is getting on and off the damn thing. (Any suggestions here appreciated!) Also, got to stretch the legs a bit more at lights.

Bike seems very solid (very GZ like!) but it's not exactly high tech. Has coolant - so I guess it's water cooled and has to be topped off etc., has a carb, chain of course, a choke, side stand only. The only farkle on the thing is a helmet lock.

On the positive side - it's pretty inexpensive and has a 6.1 gallon tank (!) I think. Not knowing how much "adventure" riding I will actually end up doing, I felt that this was a good choice. The KTM is a lot more bike, but also a lot more money. If I scratch up the KLR on some rocks/trees/etc. I'll get over it quicker. I'd be sick if I dumped the KTM - but if I get to like the off roading (unlikely at my age) I can trade up. Thanks to all you guys, especially dhgeyer, that gave me advice - it really helped me feel better about making the leap to this particular bike.

I ordered the KAWA soft trunk and semi hard sidebags. They don't look very impressive or large in the photos, but they aren't super expensive either. Going to try and reduce my adventure outfitting to fit the three bags with maybe my tent bungeed to the rear rack.

[bonehead]

When you get the Wing you can tow the Kawi on a trailer to the mountains and go dirt riding. Need any more urging, let me know. I can help anyone spend money. :lol:

[Easy Rider]

The power isn't much different than the GZ.

That's somewhat of an illusion.

The "power" is more than twice the GZ but because of the off-road half of it's "dual purpose" it's geared really low in the lower gears.

It will pull stumps......and when broken in a little it will also throw you off the back and land on top of you REALLY quick .......if you get your weight back a bit and crank it on too hard. :cry:

[alanmcorcoran]

The power isn't much different than the GZ.
That's somewhat of an illusion.


Agreed - I wasn't speaking from a technical perspective, but more addressing den's possible first time buyer's jitters. I suppose it's possible to do what you say, but the overall feel of the KLR power is that it is very mellow and is unlikely to be a source of anxiety for a newb. (The height of the bike would be a greater source of anxiety, I think.) In general, if the throttle is not abused, the big drawback to a powerful engine is the weight, not the ability to accelerate. The Strat has an enormously powerful engine, but, I couldn't do a wheelie on it in a million years. It will pull two people and all of their crap without complaint, at 80 if you like, but it never feels "too powerful." It is, however, difficult to back up, and, for me anyway, impossible to pick up. Which I think are more significant aspects to consider for potential buyers.

For all of you do it yourself service fans - I think the KLR uses mostly old school bike architecture and is probably one of the better bikes to service if you are a garage mechanic. Except, no center stand. Maybe you can get one as an add-on though.

[dhgeyer]

Congratulations on the new wheels. In response to previous comments:

1. The short windshield and lack of buffeting are not a coincidence. Big windshields like on the Strat create a lot of turbulence. Controlling it so that it doesn't shake your head around at highway speeds frequently takes some tweaking. Lowers help sometimes on cruisers, as do various configurations of vents in the shield to let some air up behind it. There are some other tricks that can be played if it's a problem. On my R1200R, when I installed the big C-Bailey windshield, I had to make some air blockers from an old inner tube. The buffeting on my head was terrible at highway speeds. The blockers solved the problem.

A pretty modest windshield will keep the pressure off your chest without causing the buffeting. Whatever minor buffeting there is will be lower, like on your chest or shoulders where you don't notice it so much. The trade off is that your helmet and upper body are full in the wind. You will have to wear earplugs at highway speeds if you value your hearing. And you do get more of the weather, so you need better gear. In the Summer heat, I prefer less windshield. I have two windshields for the R1200R, which fit on the same mount, so it's four screws to swap them - about 3 minutes. The little one is only about 10" tall, starting at the headlight. The big one is better if it's cool or wet, or if I want to wear a 3/4 helmet, as there is little air movement behind it, and it's quiet. But the little one is way better in the Summer.

2. Depending on your body, and what specific parts limit your endurance, you may be surprised to find that you can actually ride the KLR longer than the Strat. In my case I can't ride any cruiser for long distances comfortably. I need my feet under me, and a little weight on the handlebars. Other people don't have this experience. I have found that the correct basic riding position is a lot more important than a good seat. A sore butt I can stand, and it doesn't build up. After a night's rest, it's reset, and I start the day fresh. If the riding position is wrong I get muscle aches that do accumulate day after day.

3. A single cylinder bike simplifies doing your own maintenance enormously. Less valves, less valve covers (unless the multi is an inline), and no carb/throttle body sync.

4. Getting on and off the high seat, you just have to get used to. Tendons will stretch, muscles will adapt, you will learn technique. It will become a not-problem very quickly. Resist the temptation to mount standing on the peg, as this will likely kill a sidestand fairly quickly. On the Beemer, I've found that it helps to turn the handlebars to the right so that I can position my body farther forward before mounting.

5. Some people camp/tour on motorcycles with almost no luggage. They just pile everything on the seat or luggage rack, and tie or bungee it all down. Not saying I recommend this, but people do it. I like all the lockable luggage on the Beemers, as I can walk away from the bike and not worry about losing my stuff.

6. If that dealer let the bike on the road with 5 pounds of air in the tires, I would avoid ever letting them do service on the bike. That's flat out negligence, and you are lucky it didn't cause serious problems. If you have a way to air your tires back up, letting some pressure out before riding off road is common practice. Not sure about the exact pressures, but you can ask people who ride off road a lot.

Since the KLR is one bike I've never ridden, I'd be quite interested in your impressions after you do a trip or two.

[alanmcorcoran]

Dh - wouldn't qualify it as a trip per se but I did do a 70 miler with some dirt today. No luggage yet so I carried my water and survival gear in a small backpack. I'll post some notes and pictures in the next few replies...http://tapa.tk/mu/a6cd8b5d-0f46-4183.jpg

[Water Warrior 2]

Alan, once you get the bags etc you will have someplace to carry a small air pump. Air down for gravel and dirt, air up for asphalt. A small electric air pump and a waterproof plugin is all you need. And of course a reliable pressure gauge that you can trust with your life.

[alanmcorcoran]

One thing that occurred to me as I headed out today... I don't know shit about riding in dirt. Just kind of improvised today using what I could remember from mountain bikes, street techniques and common sense. It's been raining out here for three days so conditions were a little muddy which added to the degree of difficulty. Probably gonna have to read up on dirt ridin'. On the dirt (fire road with gravel, washouts, humps and sand) I kept it in first or second, between 5 and 15 mph. Slid around a bit but kept the wheels on the dirt and my ass on the seat - so I'll call that a win. Have to research best braking technique to keep the brakes and/or engine from overheating on the way down. Settled for a controlled slide today. Not sure I'd want to tackle twenty miles of bad dirt - it's taxing on an old man...
http://tapa.tk/mu/a6cd89db-132d-2aef.jpg

[burkbuilds]

Hey Alan, nice bike and it looks like you aren't wasting any time getting out and trying out the off road abilities of the new bike. Congratulations, hope you continue to enjoy it.

[Water Warrior 2]

Alan, when you get off-road next time and the going gets rough try standing on the pegs and gripping the tank with your legs. Practice on a smooth surface first. It's fun, it's better for control and a smoother ride overall. You will get the hang of it soon enough.

[alanmcorcoran]

EAlan, when you get off-road next time and the going gets rough try standing on the pegs

This is something I borrowed from my bicycle days. Also the 2"x4" exercise in the MSF course (not sure if this is universal but we road over obstacles in ours while on the pegs...) I didn't have front or rear shocks on my early edition (Gary Fisher) "mountain bike" so my knees were my shocks. (One reason I haven't mountain biked in years.)

I found that picking the "line" on the dirt is requires much greater attention and is not unlike skiing moguls/trees. You have to learn to read the little mini-road topography to make sure that your physics forces conspire to keep the bike upright. I have a certain amount of intuition for this, having ridden mountain bikes on dirt for a brief period but, no formal training. I found the mogul technique (skirting the humps, avoiding the troughs) to be somewhat applicable. Also, don't have the bike leaned over in soft stuff - look for hard pack if you need to lean it over, go straight and plow through soft stuff - keep up a steady but manageable speed - be careful about overheating the discs (there's only one disc on the front - but the back also is a disc and it grabs a lot better than the Geezer drum.) It is generally easier to go up than come down. I guess I'll just have to practice more - but it's almost more work than I'm interested in. I am hoping when I go out camping, etc. the roads are less challenging, but, this one really didn't look that bad even though each mile was a trial.

If anybody knows a good book on dirt riding techniques for dual sport riders, please share.http://tapa.tk/mu/a6cd8a29-5b5d-051a.jpg

[dhgeyer]

I'm no expert on dirt riding, but have done some - just not on dirt bikes. When I was young I took my bikes into the woods and fields all the time, even though they weren't made for it. I think you're doing pretty much what you have to do - just get out there and find out what works for you. Don't worry about overheating the engine on the downhills: it's liquid cooled. One difference between on road and off road is the use of brakes: off road you use more rear brake, and of course somewhat more gradual application. Another difference is that if you go into a skid, it's not the end of the world. Experienced riders slide the back end around all the time. As you said, it has much in common with downhill skiing. There's a learning curve. Take it at a pace that's comfortable for you. If you're not going for speed - just want to get there and back, just keep doing what you're doing: keep the speed reasonable for conditions and keep it under control.

The Speed Channel on TV shows motocross and dirt racing sometimes. You'll learn a lot from watching what those guys do.

[bonehead]

I agree with Dave. NO front brake at speed.!!! It is the quickest way to cause yourself to go down.

[dentheman]

It certainly is a nice looking bike, and some of the roads around here look like those in the photos. In fact, a LOT of the roads around here look like those. Sometimes my right hip gets a little painful, but I had no problem swinging my leg over a GZ, I don't know about this one. Would it be suitable for a trip of a couple hours down the hiway, or even as much 300 miles one way?

I MIGHT add this to my short list, which is getting longer every day. I am being convinced that more cc would not be a problem.

[Water Warrior 2]

I agree with Dave. NO front brake at speed.!!! It is the quickest way to cause yourself to go down.
From me experience the front brake is still more than useable but you must get used to it's application in difference instances. Practice and more practice. Use everything the bike has to offer.

[dhgeyer]

Let's compromise. I wouldn't eliminate the front brake entirely in off road use, but you do use a lot more rear. On pavement all sources agree (within 10%) that about 80% of your stopping power is in the front brake. That's why the front brake has more power on all modern road bikes. Off road the situation changes. If you slide the rear end on dirt or mud there is much less chance of a high side than on pavement. Experienced riders routinely slide the rear end around as part of steering the bike. If you skid the front end off road, as Bonehead says, you're likely to go down. So you use a lot more back brake - in some cases only the back brake. But, just going down the trail, if you need to stop in a hurry, use both brakes - just be careful with the front and use progressive braking so you don't slide the front out.

This topic has come up many times in forums dedicated to bikes that had some of the early linked brake systems. There was no way to use the back brake only, and it was causing some get offs in the dirt. The newer systems have addressed this. On my R1200R, squeezing the front brake lever activates both brakes - the computer and anti lock brake system decide how much rear brake to apply for optimum stopping power. But pressing the rear brake pedal activates the rear brake only. There are times when that is the best thing to do.

[alanmcorcoran]

It certainly is a nice looking bike, and some of the roads around here look like those in the photos. In fact, a LOT of the roads around here look like those. Sometimes my right hip gets a little painful, but I had no problem swinging my leg over a GZ, I don't know about this one. Would it be suitable for a trip of a couple hours down the hiway, or even as much 300 miles one way?

IMHO I would say yes, but a 300 mile day is not something I'd encourage anyone to do regularly on any bike. That's a lot of time in the saddle and, to me anyway, just a tad past the point of fun. If you start early, and take a break every 60 miles or so, it can be done without killing yourself, but it's one I do at the start or the end. 120-170 is plenty in between.

Re climbing on, you don't really swing your leg over - I "push" my knee over and then swing my leg down after my ankle clears the seat. As dh said, I'm gettin' used to it.

Also, I saw a 500cc ninja parked at the dealer today when I picked up my Strat.

[Moedad]

I was out of town all last week so I'm just catching up here. NICE bike! That's going to be a lot of fun for you!

[alanmcorcoran]

Moedad,

I need a dual sport riding buddy. Are you still thinking about one? I did Cleveland from Silverado Canyon to BlueJay on Saturday.

-Alan.

[dannylightning]

verry cool, i should have got something that i can take off road, i am getting sick of driving on the street with all the bad drivers on cell phones...

[Moedad]

Moedad,

I need a dual sport riding buddy. Are you still thinking about one? I did Cleveland from Silverado Canyon to BlueJay on Saturday.

I'm sort of watching Craigslist for good deal on a VStrom 650. Does that qualify as thinking?

I've seen some good deals come and go--not sure what I'm waiting for.

[alanmcorcoran]

They have a couple more '09's at Mission Motorsports they'll be happy to make you a deal on. Just sayin'

[Water Warrior 2]

The Vstrom is more street oriented than the KLR. The KLR is more dirt oriented than the Vstrom. Each bike has it's strengths and weak points to consider. My Vstrom is a road bike only for me and after riding a KLR through the Dragons Tail 3 years ago I really wouldn't want one for street or dirt use. Not saying it is a bad bike in the least, just not my cup of tea. If the KLR was a bad bike then there are 10's of 1000's of fools out there all on a bad bike. My idea of an off-road bike is 250 maximum and a weight of 300 lbs maximum.
A street legal dirt bike here is an ideal mount. I can be on a dirt trail in less time than it takes me to get geared up for the ride. A lot of the younger riders here put a lighting kit on a real off-road bike just to get across town and really have a ball doing all sorts of fun stuff. These bikes are lighter, faster, more nimble, simpler and have super suspension that doesn't beat up the rider. I really need to win a lottery. First purchase......a really large garage with attached house.

[burkbuilds]

I really need to win a lottery. First purchase......a really large garage with attached house.

I like that WW. I think I have about reached that stage of life as well. Years ago I wanted, and had, a pretty big house. Since I returned to college and live out of a rented room most of the week, I find that I don't really need much of a house, I do pretty well on one room, a bathroom and use of the kitchen. However, when I get home on the weekends, I really like having my workshop to do stuff in. Since my workshop has a garage door in it, I guess it qualifies as a garage, but I've never used it to house a car. Once the last of my kids are grown and moved out, I think the wife and I will probably downsize to something with two bedrooms, but it better have several thousand square feet of workshop! I don't really care if it is actually attached or not as long as it's pretty close by.

[Water Warrior 2]

Bigger is not always better unless it is a garage. A few years ago I lived in a one room apartment that was fully self contained with all the nice things in life. Pure Heaven from my point of view. If that one room attached to a very large garage would have been here in Squamish I could tinker and create till the day I expire.

[Revs]

I know this thread is a bit old, but I just joined. Had to get my wife a new password and back on the forums.

I own a KLR650 and love it. There are forums dedicated to it and all the farkles that go along with it. My favorite one is klrworld.com. Hope its okay to post links to other forums. Haven't read all the rules yet. Been trying to get the wife's GZ running.

There are a lot of fellow KLR riders (KLRistas to the members) in the area. Check it out. Tell them Revs sent you.

[alanmcorcoran]

I think I was on there reading about wind screens...

[Revs]

Windscreens are nice if you plan on riding a lot on asphalt and are short enough that they stop the wind. I am too tall for any of the KLR windscreens to be of help so I typically remove mine completely during summer.

[alanmcorcoran]

I'm toying with the idea of a longer trip once I have time and the temperature rises a bit. Maybe Mojave. Perhaps to the Lost Coast. Maybe to Salton Sea. More than likely I'll have to ride 70% freeway or more to get to the dirt. As it sits right now, I get a lot of chest/helmet wind on the highway.

[k1w1t1m]

You might also take a peek at advrider.com. Plenty of KLR stuff there.

[alantf]

Alan's post is nearly a year old. He's probably got it sorted by now. :)

[alanmcorcoran]

I've actually been on (and posted on) advrider. Still have the short wndshield. Left the effing headlights on a week or so ago so yesterday I learned how to remove the side panels and seat and the location of the positive and negative battery terminals. Charged it up overnight and it fired up earlier this evening. Spent most of last year practicing the piano for a show instead of engaging in pointless riding (mixed up my pointless pursuits!) so I still have less than 1000 miles on the KLR. But it's a fun bike for medium distances! Thinking about selling the GZ and just keeping the KLR and the Strat. But I've been thinking about selling the GZ for a LONG time.