The "why not a KLR650?" thread.

[Aspear]

Come ride southtex or my xr650l.

Klr is more highway oriented, and will not handle ASWELL off road. It carries it's weight differently which can be felt when things get slick or muddy.
The xr is much more of a dirtbike. It will do 75 on the highway, and if your used to riding naked triumphs the wind wont bother you.

If you only plan to ride gravel roads on it go klr. If you want to try some single track trails down the line the xr is the better choice.

I own an xr and put close to 200 miles on gravel/mud on southtex's klr

 

[ntklr650]

A few questions come to mind; how much highway riding are you wanting to do and are you talking highway or interstate? I have ridden a Gen 1 KLR across Texas a few times and the interstate is a nightmare? The State highway that runs 45-70 is a blast and general a lot prettier. It also has more trees generally which can help with crosswinds.
The other thing is what kind of dirt do you want to do? If you want to explore dirt roads and moderate single track the KLR is a fine bike. It is a work out as the top weight can put you down if things get technical. It's a lot of weight to keep up with your own strength. I have ridden plenty of dirt roads in Colorado, Texas and New Mexico and it did fine. Sandy single track is a big negative. A smaller bike is world's better when you get into that stuff.

So in the end; where do you want to go? How do you want to get there? And what do you want to do once you're there?

 

[Aspear]

There is a pretty blue klr for sale on here for $3k(I think)

Mitch do you still have the 97 xrl for sale?

 

[Mudslick]

Next question what’s the best dualsport tire ?


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[Aspear]

Next question what’s the best dualsport tire ?


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Dont start that lol

 

[ntklr650]

Haha dual sport tires and KLR debate.

We have entered the rabbit hole.

 

[Aspear]

Dont forget oil

 

[Windmill]

The weight verses horsepower and torque chart in post #20 says a lot. As for wearing out the KLR, that may never happen There is an inmate on TWT that is fixing to turn 100, 000 miles on his and it still runs great. pop pop , pop pop pop pop

 

[Tourmeister]

There is a pretty blue klr for sale on here for $3k(I think)

I was thinking of that very same bike. I love the blue color scheme.

There really is no perfect bike. KLRs are good entry bikes, not the perfect end bike (although it is for some folks).

Cheap to buy. Cheap to maintain. Easy to maintain. Dunlop D606s are great. Pirelli MT 21s are great. Run whatever 10-30/40 oil floats your boat and it will last forever. Check the torque on the steering head bearings, they sometimes come loose from the factory! Do the doohicky and the two cent carb mod. Ride, ride, ride... When you think you need something else, unless you trash it, you can usually sell it for pretty close to what you paid for it.

The DR650 and XR650L are close to the middle as well and you'd not be going wrong with either of them. A DRZ 400 would work as well. I've seen big guys doing rides like the TAT and CDR on them. Maybe not the "perfect" bike, but they will get the job done. You might have noticed on Jarrett's chart that these four bikes are the only ones left that have carbs. That is good and bad. FI bikes are more expensive and can't be bumped start if the battery is totally dead. They need at least a bit of juice to get the pumps working. FI bikes are more expensive. FI bikes generally make more power than a similar size non FI bike. You don't have to worry about jetting issues if you ride in varying altitudes with an FI bike. Although, I rode my KLR on the passes around Ouray with stock jetting and got it done. My KTM properly jetted had wayyyy more power on those same passes.

Really, don't get too hung up on your first bike. In all likelihood, it will be a temporary bike. The point the first bike is to give you a taste of things, help you develop the basic skills, and to give you a better idea of what kind of riding you will really be doing. After that, go back to Jarrett's chart above (which is great btw ), maybe add in the big Adv bikes if you think you want to drift that direction. IF you do decide you want a big bike and you still want to do dirt on it, I HIGHLY recommend doing a training class or two. While the skills may be mostly the same compared to a smaller bike, they ARE different beasts just because of the weight issues of the big bike. I have heard great things about Bill Dragoo's class.

 

[ntklr650]

It is a long read but worth if @Triumphter
Read @Jarrett dual sport experiment.

.

.

www.twtex.com

That or just buy a KLR and learn along they way.

 

[Jarrett]

It's an interesting thread for sure.

Not sure there are any definitive answers in there or not.

 

[ntklr650]

It's an interesting thread for sure.

Not sure there are any definitive answers in there or not.

It looks under every rock for sure.
It is super thorough in my opinion.

 

[Jarrett]

Here are (some) of the big uns for comparison:

I guess I should mention the Honda weights on here are DCT. The manual models are ~30 lbs less. So the VFR is right around 600 and the Africa Twin manual is like 505.

I had to ballpark some of the weights to wet weights as some manufacturers don't publish them.

 

[mitchntx]

There is a pretty blue klr for sale on here for $3k(I think)

Mitch do you still have the 97 xrl for sale?

XR sold last month.

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[Tourmeister]

That 1090 Super Adventure R is calling my name...

 

[South Tex]

Jarrett, in your #20 post you gave me false hope that my husky 701 has tubeless tires. I think that must be the super moto because I ran out to the garage like a kid on Christmas morning only to see mine still has tubes.

 

[Jarrett]

lol, I'll update the spreadsheet

 

[Jarrett]

I look at that chart and wonder why Honda's are so heavy, then I remember Boris' advice:

 

[Aspear]

Jarrett, in your #20 post you gave me false hope that my husky 701 has tubeless tires. I think that must be the super moto because I ran out to the garage like a kid on Christmas morning only to see mine still has tubes.

Sumo has tubeless

 

[Jarrett]

That 1090 Super Adventure R is calling my name...

That does look like a fun bike

 

[Tourmeister]

Jarrett, in your #20 post you gave me false hope that my husky 701 has tubeless tires. I think that must be the super moto because I ran out to the garage like a kid on Christmas morning only to see mine still has tubes.

Nothing wrong with tubes when you are out in the boonies

 

[maximus_flavius]

It is a long read but worth if @Triumphter
Read @Jarrett dual sport experiment.

.

.

www.twtex.com

I laughed. I cried. It was better than Cats.

 

[Mextrekadv]

I am a believer in the MSF course. (we fight like we train, training matters) For me, I have had a dozen bikes and probably 200,000 miles or more. A little track time even. What I lack is much offroad experience. My first bike was an older style enduro but I pretty much only rode it on the street. All of my other bikes have been street bikes.

I have the bug and I am trying to figure out how I am going to go about it.

Get a beater KLR650 and some $75 soft bags. It will do everything OK, nothing well, and when you figure out what you don't like and do like about it you can move to another bike that fits your personal needs with zero depreciation to worry about. The KLR is like a well loved stock 4x4 suburban. It can do everything except put a performance smile on your face.

 

[ntklr650]

Get a beater KLR650 and some $75 soft bags. It will do everything OK, nothing well, and when you figure out what you don't like and do like about it you can move to another bike that fits your personal needs with zero depreciation to worry about. The KLR is like a well loved stock 4x4 suburban. It can do everything except put a performance smile on your face.

Trust me, ride a stock KLR between Fort Davis tx and McDonald Observatory a few times and even it will put a smile on your face.