Check out Australian reviews of the post 2018 SWM Superdual X
A modern day DR 650 perhaps?

See Australian Motorcycle Review.

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Grant Johnson
Seek, and ye shall find.
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Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997!
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

DR 650 is still in production.
But not compliant to Euro norms.
So it is not imported to Europe

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As of 2020, after 24 years, the model is still in production and is the best selling over 500cc bike in New Zealand. The bike is often in the top five sellers of any capacity bikes in New Zealand. The DR650 is also a big seller in both Canada and Australia. It has long been unavailable in Europe due to stringent emission regulations which make it virtually impossible for a non-fuel-injected machine to pass.
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And with Euro 5 around the corner. It wan't get any better.

But will the new EFI KLR be available in Europe now then? And if not - why did they make it EFI then? Are there any other countries that have tightened their emission laws lately?

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In the end everything will be fine. If its not fine its not the end....

I think the EFI is just an upgrade to help with fuel economy and altitude, possibly a reaction to requests from its biggest market - the US.
Apparently it won’t be coming to Europe.

Thanks for that Grant.
The more I read and see this bike, the more tempted I am to test ride - trouble is it’s a long way to Cornwall

Could be that the EFI is because the carburetors are just not available from suppliers reliably enough any more. So they took an off-the-shelf EFI instead.

a very interesting marketing decision by Kawasaki? It may work out okay. They are definitely marketing it as an ADV bike now. No pretences of it being a dualsport. That class is now reserved for bikes like the Honda 450CRF-L, KTM 500, Husky 501,...! BLOM-Bing Lots Of Money!

The 'mid' sized ADV bikes are where it's slotted in, whether by design or not. So it's competing against the Vstrom 650, BMW 750gs, T-7, KTM 890,...? If price point is an issue, the $7600, base model, $7900 abs makes it a great buy for true ADV. $2600 (for the abs model) under the cost of the Vstrom 650 XT. So one can wisely shop and add that amount of good farkles-foot pegs, side cases, lighting,...!

The $10k 'fully loaded', will be okay for the wanna-be ADV types, who just want to walk into the dealer and ride out feeling like they can go anywhere, and look like it. Some people don't like to farkle! In my thinking, that's about 2 or 3 out of 10 buyers?

Lack of power? A contentious issue for some but that's the intrinsic beauty of the KLR, tractable power delivery, ie try riding a GS or Tiger 800 in loose slow speed terrain! Trench diggers! It can be called a 'boring tractor' but if you're doing what I call, 'real world' adv touring, where you want all day, all week comfort at a slightly relaxed pace but still have enough capability to do reasonably tough terrain, they just work. The 1200 GS is an awesome bike but I would pick my KLR's any day for one-up, adv with serious off road jaunts. Especially if it were to fall over! A side bar, on a week plus tour to California with my son where I was on my 800 gs and he was on my 2009 KLR, we both agreed the KLR was much more relaxing and comfortable with the long hauls, typically 600+ kms. After trading back and forth a couple of times I couldn't pry him off the KLR, while I wanted relief from a buzzy, droning, improperly geared, GS.

Fuel economy should be improved with the efi. I regularly get 60 mpg (Imperial) in town, 65 at legal highway speeds, and have with all my KLRs. the exception being my 2010 with much larger jetting. I think 65mpg on regular gas is more to my liking than 50-55 on premium, like my GS1200. My 800 GS got up to 70+ but on premium. Tigers get about 50 mpg, depending on what year as they did improve with the 2015 or 2017 model year.

Finally, will I buy a new KLR? Not until I put another 60-80k kms on my current one. With all the farkles and when loaded, it's relegated to being a mid sized adv bike now. A new KLX 300 or nicely used small DS bike may happen later in the year for me. My 'big' decision for replacing my GS 1200 will be interesting. If I do replace it, I'm looking at a Versys 650, Vstrom 650, Tiger 800,..?!

Winter thoughts! Al

Never owned or ridden a KLR - but except from the weight which is waaay too much, this new KLR does seem to give good value for money. And from my understanding its almost the same price for this new improved model as it was for the last carby edition in 2018. And thats not bad at all!

It would have been good with a sixth gear and a tachometer of course.

Now if only Suzuki could make their DRs with EFI and legal in Europe....

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In the end everything will be fine. If its not fine its not the end....

Never get this fixation with 6 gears as if more must be better, like 5-bladed razors.
On a peaky or performance machine – road or dirt – it might make sense.
On a torquey, low-revving 'Himalayan-like' plonker, not needed.

I've owned or ridden 6-speed bikes and can't ever recall thinking: 'gee, these 6 gears are just great' or 'darn, I wish I had another gear'.

I admit an extra gear ought to mean 1st could be lower for easier control and less clutch slipping on a rocky climb – a common failing on all travel bikes which tick-over at 6-8mph in 1st.
Can't say I noticed on my 6-speeders but anyway, how much of that can you sustain on a 200+ kilo machine?
If you have days of such terrain ahead, fit a smaller front sprocket.

Plus I've been told 5 gears are marginally wider and therefore more durable than six. Sounds plausible.

It may look little changed, but whether they meant to or not, I agree Kawa did the right thing.
Few of us have become better off over the last year.
In North America, the KLR will carry on where it left off.
As said, let's see the DR-Z, DR-S and XR-L follow suit (and bring them all over here).

My KLR PoV:
https://adventure-motorcycling.com/2...e-2021-klr650/

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Morocco Overland 4 (2025) • Trans Morocco Trail

I must say I prefer the 5 speed box on a GS1100 to any of the 6 speed 1150s I tried

I do some work for a Kawasaki dealer quite often.

I was there yesterday as they had all their new prices and stock lists for this year from Kawasaki.

No KLR650 is mentioned or listed. So anyone in the U.K. shouldn't get their hopes up for Kawasaki's brand new 2005 KLR

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Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

Great that the KLR is available again. Surely a candidate for the greatest travel bike ever due to its longevity if not its many other attributes?

Shame they're unlikely to be available round these parts.

sent an email to kawasaki asking if this new model would be available in Europe. the answer was " NO " for the same reason as the previous version.

Rumours abound of a new Transalp, much more interesting (to me) than a new KLR.
Just saying