Luuk, are you going via South Africa?

If you have not already had a look, the ADV rider web forum thingo has a lot of KLE500 riders, less RTW, however lots of info etc.. also I was told on Wednesday this week the KLE500 in Australia is no longer being brought in / made (not sure if one or both) and the new 650cc road beast is the change over model.. however I dont think that it would be an issue on parts etc for they are still ebing sold new here until stock runs out.. best of luck and happy travels Al

Dam, I am glad I bought my KLE in January. I think that this bike is very under rated and I am more than pleased with it. Planning a 4-5 day camping trip around Tasmania next year on it

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I have only one eye. Do you want me to look at the road or at the speedometer. Moshe Dayan

maybee. we either end our trip in south africak or namibia (i'f got relatives there) depends a bit on what is the easiest country to schip the bikes home from, and of course time and money

Hi Ozhanu,
I have a 1996 KLE, and although I love it, I'd go for another one if I would be preparing a RTW trip now. As said before, the tank is only 15 l, and you would have to carry big jerrycans to avoid this problem. The bigger tank you can get on the bike, the best. Any can you have to carry will take valuable space you may need to carry other things.
Other problem: No fuel or temperature indicator. I am going to install on mine a temp indicator which is made for computer motherboards. It has a pair of thermocouples and is quite accurate, with a range from 0-120ºC will do the job well. Anyway, I would like to have a fuel indicator, as I have to calculate the remaining from the odometer (200 km up to the reserve, 50 km more to empty the tank)
Other problem: the light is not very powerful. You would have to add supplementary lights (well you should do it with any bike, but it would be desireable to have a good standard light)
Other problem: It does not have centre stand unless you install it from aftermarket. SW-Motech has a good one wich costs 120 euros here in Spain. You will need it to make on road repairs and tire changes.
To sum up, I think the KLE is perfectly capable of that RTW trip, but you would have to add a lot of extras to complete it, and if you are going to buy a bike, go for the one that is better prepared from the start and you will save money. Good options are the TA or the Africa Twin (why Honda stopped manufacturing it???) and if you think the AT is high, remember Jordi Arcarons, 2nd in the Paris-Dakar four times, 3d two times, winner of the Atlas Rally 2 times....with those huge rally bikes...and being 1.62 cm tall...imagine him trying to jump up to a giant Cagiva Elephant in the middle of the dunes... Remember Yoda teachings "Size matters not", hehehe
I am preparing a trip to Cape North from Spain and I am waiting for the upcoming BMW F800GS, New 2008 Transalp and the new Yamaha Ténéré to choose one before the trip. .

Good luck with your trip, and overall, have fun on the bike.

Best regards

Jules

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Jules
Now Kawa KLE500 dirty-knobby tires, noisy Thunder exhaust.
Waiting for the new 2008 Yamaha XTZ660 Ténéré

It's not so hard to rebuilt original tank. Look at this link and see how I did it for my trip to Siberia. Nikola Mrakovcic - personal motorcycle travel site

Hello Everyone,

Thanks a lot for the info and advices. I think I am gonna buy a KLE for a RTW. In overall it is better than TA or AT.

JULESKLE500, thanks for the tricks...

Luuk, I am in Antalya for a conference now and I'll be back on 23rd. Hope to meet you.

[update] away again 2nd week of October for 10 day

Have a save journey

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ozhan u.
website under construction

coıncedence. we,ll ben ın ankara at the 23. travel ıs goıng wel were just ın west turkey. i,ll pm you my mobıle phone number.

greetıng

yes, little change in plans. were going to southafrika

I'm in Cape Town, so you're welcome to pop in if you're in the area.

i will, thanks

Hello Luuk.

You must deffinately keep us up to date on the trip and pop in in Cape Town.

Replace the 2 main bolts in the carrier with a thicker allen cap bolt and nut. You will have to drill the original threads out. My bolts sheared of after about 300km of bad road with a load on the carrier.

Regards

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Pleco

If its stupid, but it works, it aint stupid.

you mean the plastic back carrier? the one yoy can mount a case one?

Hello Luuk.

Yes. Just where the seat ends, you have 2 bolts going through the carrier and back mud guard into the frame from the top. You need to upgrade those by an extra 2mm. Use an hex head bolt, as you cannot get a spanner into the recess when the bolt is bigger. Also drill out the threads the old bolts turn into, and use Nylok nuts at the bottom. A high tensile or stainless bolt will be good.

There are also the 2 silvery side bolts of the carrier just under the back end of the seat. Make sure to put some Lok Tite on there, as they shake loose and it then creates more stress on the top bolts.

I can post some pics if it may help.

Regards

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Pleco

If its stupid, but it works, it aint stupid.