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Old 14 Sep 2007
JULESKLE500's Avatar
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Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Madrid
Posts: 31
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
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