In 2007 I bought a new V-Strom 650 and not long after a mate bought a new KLE500 which I always thought to be a good little bike. He has travelled many 1000's of KMS, north past Cains and south to South Aust. all loaded up with camping gear and he never travels lite.
I have just a week or so ago bought a 2007 model that is in good condition with only 26000kms on the clock. I have added new Dunlop 605's front and rear, changed the oil and will soon change the air filter, brake fluid and engine coolant.
Thats all for the moment, I'll wait till I have more miles with it and then decide. I may add a beak just for the look and perhaps at a later date, a re-spray. I'm not fond of the gold frame and the blue tank and panels could do with a change too.
For now I like this bike, I think the usually poor write ups were more of an indication of the bike journalist's preduce than an objective valuation. I think the bike fits the design brief rather well.

Southern Cross

Hope you will like it as much as the rest of us do and to the club

__________________
->Honda XL125V Varadero '08 sold
->Kawasaki KLE 500 '05 riding it, like I stole it

I've got a photo of SC's new KLE, taken on the day of the test ride.

You can't see much of it though because it is squeezed in between my KLE and his Strom in a single parking space.

It is a nice bike to ride and runs well.

I'm a bit ticked off with SC though he bought his for about $200 more than I paid for my old '94 and his has only half the mileage that mine does


Like SC, I had to replace tyres and pay 12 months rego.

SC, that's a buy, well done.

When I get a free day/weekend we will do a day/overnight run somewhere, preferably with a nice mix of winding tar and easy dirt.

Maybe a re-run of the Crookwell ride you planned for the group and then weren't well enough to come along with us all.


Ock.

As with all my bikes, it's not long before I undress it ad see what it's made of. I don''t want to be first looking at the outside mechanicals by the side of the road if that should ever happen. (it hasn't yet in over 45 years of riding)
With the tank off, my first job I notice will be to lengthen both the fuel lines by just 30mm, so as in future the replacing of the tank will be just a few minutes job.
I removed the filter which is the original OEM type and found it to be only mildly dirty so after a good wash in petrol I dried it thoroughly and gave the outside of it a light spray of sticky chain oil to help aid the cleaning of air.
This air box has the smaller snorkel so I thought I should experiment by removing it and fashioned an ' awning' over the top edge in thin sheet metal, to help prevent water from entering. I thought this mod may not be helpful in breathing at higher revs, but as it was out of the bike and in my hands, I thought 'well give it a go' it's easy to reverse if needed. Well it was needed, the bike was sick and didn't want to pull at all. So back to standard again.
When next I'm at the electrical shop I'll buy a can of special electrical spray and give all the multipin plugs a healthy spray as they don't look to be long term reliable. They all show the begining of corrosion and I don't need electrical problems. Speaking of the bike's electrics, the battery died on the second day I owned it and lucky for me it was in the garage at the time and I had a spare battery in hand that fitted. Luck
The only other two things I want to alter,are the screen which is rubbish, and the seat which places me too far forward, up against the tank. This makes the sitting position too cramped. I think I will buy a seat from the French company "top Sellerie" who make a wonderful line of seats to fit dozens of models from all manufactures. Oh I do like the standing position. I have some 25mm (1 inch) bar risers which should make it all just about perfect.
All for now.
Cheers
Southern Cross

A little more progress in the last few days. I rode down to the large hardware store and bought a small sheet of galvanised sheet 600X500mm X .8 thick. This is to make up a template for my new screen, the OEM is plain silly of Kawasaki.
With the OEM screen now in the rubbish bin and the little bracket put aside in case I may use it or part of it I marked out the position of the two threaded bolts and drilled out two 5/16" holes and started a third hole above the headlights in the center. Getting a washer and nut over and started on the third bolt took a lot of time and some blue words. Finally as the space for my hand was very tight I resorted to a trick I'd used years before and I stuck the washer and nut to my longest finger with double sided tape. I now held the sheet in the correct position with the three bolts and nuts. Now I sketched out the screen with a texta- colour pen, swinging the bars both left and right. The screen outline looked a lot like the classical female hourglass figure, hmmm, nice. Although the screen is quite high, I'll have to also fit an aerofoil piece across the top 3" to shoot the air higher to clear my helmet.
The top edge looks very dangerous ATM but I'll pick up the lexan tomorrow and will install it asap.
The seat now wears the lambswool cover from my V-Strom and surprisingly doesn't need any trimming. I have stuffed some scrap foam rubber between the seat and the lambswool and this will be permanent when I do some shaping on a new piece of foamrubber.
Now I'll look for an improved exhaust system and that will be all in the short term. The seat is greatly improved by this simple and cheap alteration and for the next few months I just want to ride over this magical country I call home.

In two days time I'm planning a 860 km round trip through central NSW staying 2 nights at Temora. The weather does not look too good, cloudy, some showers with temps ranging from -2 to 14 degrees centigrade. It's a few months now since I've been on a long ride so I'm almost desperate to get away.
I have not as yet made up the Polycarbonate screen as the sheets at the local hardwood store are only Acrylic and is not suitable. I have altered the sheet metal template, adding a turned up lip at the top which I hope will direct the airflow above my helmet. This hopefully will be a lot quieter than with an air blast on the helmet.
I have this week installed heated grip pads ( $57 from Ballards ) and will tomorrow finish the electrical connection to the battery via a high/low temp.switch and an external keyed switch. This way does not connect to the ignition wiring as the bike loom I believe is minimal in wire size and I don't want any possible meltdown issues when switched to high. The external keyed switch is to remind me to switch the grips off. The ignition switch and the keyed switch have keys on the same lanyard to remind me to switch off.
I'm looking forward to a long ride but not so keen on the expected weather.

Southern Cross

Sorry I can't tag along for this one SC.

Pity you couldn't have hooked up with Chops and the others for the ride they are doing [started today, I was working so couldn't even ride just for today with them].

There are a couple of perspex places close to where I work, if you know exactly what it is you want and the size let me know and I will pick up a piece for you.

PM me over on ST though as I check in there more often than here.

Thanks for picking up the Perspex Ock, I,ll work out how to heat and bend to shape.
I cancelled my trip with the others going to Temora. Long time health issues makes it too painful ATM.
I'll spend the time finishing the heated grips and install the Stebel Nautalis air horn that never made it on the V Strom.

S.C.

You are welcome re the perspex SC.

B' is in hospital tonight, she had a bit of a turn on her way to work this morning.
They thought might be a mild heart attack but tests show it wasn't.
Yet another of the ongoing mysteries with her health at the moment.

She should be home tomorrow.

Ock.

Best wishes to Lady B, she is going thru a difficult time. I'm a little annoyed with myself for missing the Temora ride but with these low temperatures I'd end up in strife. For that reason I'm pleased to be home and warm.

S.C.