My opinion of a KLR after 8000K

[vinnyt]

This is my honest opinion.After 8000 miles the bike is up for sale.It isn't a bad bike although Kawasaki could easily make it a superb bike.My reasons follow.Good luck,ride safe.

I recently rode 8000 miles on a KLR 650.The trip started in
San Diego,went the length of Baja around the tip at Cabo
then in to Lapaz.From La Paz I took the ferry to Mazatlan
and continued to the Gautemalan border. I then went to a few
places in the Yucatan and returned up the East coast to
Brownsville Tx. and back to San Diego. A total distance of
8000 miles!

I am writing today to talk about the KLR and after market
items I put on the bike. The good , The bad , and the
useless.

Let us begin with the KLR itself.On a positive note I have
to say upfront that the bike performed flawlessly from a
mechanical point of view.The only time it faltered was when
I got some bad gas, Certainly not the bikes fault.

Stock Items that performed poorly are the front and rear
shocks,the rear shock especially.Constantly bottomed out.The
front shock bottomed but not as much and is weak and mushy.

Brakes:My God how Kawasaki a manufacture of fine motorcycles
allows this bike to leave the factory with such poor
brakes is beyond me.The rear brake on this bike is virtually useless.The
front somewhat better as the trip progressed I found that I
relied more and more on the front brake and planned well
ahead for foreseen stops.During one panic stop the rear
brake was useless and was very much a factor in a contact
collision with a Taxi.It was during the collision that some
of my after market items came in to play and saved the bike.
Most significant was a a crash bar foot rest, this absorbed
80 percent of the the bike being dropped on the right side.
Bar ends! I was amazed at how much force the right bar end
absorbed,no damage to the handle bars. Finally an after
market top luggage rack took a bit of the impact as well as the passenger
foot pegs.There was a little little cosmetic damage and after lifting the bike and dusting myself of I was up and riding.

The Ride

The stock seat suited me well, however I shaved of an inch to
help lower my at rest ability to touch the tarmac!
I also
lowered the front forks a half inch and ran the rear shock
at the #2 setting.This really improved handling.

After market items I installed from top to bottom.

Mirror dampeners------GOOD

Bar end dampeners-----very good

Crash bar/foot pegs--very good

Fork brace-----------good

hardened sub frame bolts-very good-

How Kawasaki gets away without improving these is again beyond my comprehension.I ran into a KLR rider in lower Baja.We were chatting I mentioned the sub frame bolts,we checked his and sure enough the upper right had sheared of!!!

skid plate----------useless use the stock one!

after market knockoff exhaust--Poor quality,lots of
problems.Not sure if it increased HP or not.I have gone back to the stock exhaust.

(however the stock one is very heavy)Perhaps
a genuine super trap would be the way to go.I got what I
paid for,Beware the knock of super trap on Ebay it is a
piece of crap!!!

Side panel Luggage rack-good

Top luggage rack---very good

Wolf man luggage bag-The bag is good but puts the center of gravity to high on a bike with an already high center, saddle bags would
be better,they have a lower center of gravity.

This brings up an inherent problem with the KLR.The bike is
super heavy,has a high center of gravity and runs very hot,even being water cooled.I
also found that after 250 to 300 miles I was toast,because
of the vibration.If I ever make another trip thru mexico it
will be on a light multi cylinder bike,with modern brakes
and suspension.As I did very little dirt road riding the
heavy dual purpose single cylinder bike was not the way to
go for me( I never used any toll roads)

My recommendation is if you want to tour on a dual purpose
bike go with the lightest model you can ride.The guy that
rode with me was on a Suzuki DR350.He had no issues got 30%
better gas milage and had a really simple machine compared
to the water cooled KLR.His overall ride wasn’t much better
but his brakes and suspension were better and a simple light bike made for
an easier time in the towns and villiages.No problems with
power in the mountains(he had a real super trap and carb
kit).

As a result of this trip the KLR is up for sale.

I hope that this helps many of you in your decision making
process, I am happy to answer any questions I also realize I will
be bombarded with abuse from die hard KLR owners.All I can
say is each to his own the bike is not for me!Feel free to respond and ask questions.

VinnyT