Nice troll job Sabre, wtf? KLR cat fight? Mine is better than yours? Has anybody ridden or even seen first hand an '08?? Nobody told me it wasn't safe for highway tavel And here I am riding all over the damn place on an unsafe bike. Dude do you even have a KLR? Buy what you want to. Give us a report when you get you '08. Where is the fookin' dead horse?
Yupper, lots of people make that choice. This topic is also much discussed, and just plain cussed........ as in: "I know a guy that has a 2006 he wants to sell, only 500 miles. He wants $4000 for it, and it has some goodies on it. Should I buy it, or buy a new one for $4899 OTD?" That's a little different, IMHO, than the original post. No one really knows what the new bike will be like, weight, etc. At this point where is the pic with the caption "oh no, not this shit again......"? all the best, Mike
Just dropping into this thread, but I've got comment... First, I just shake my head at the constant "front brakes suck and the stator doesn't put out enough juice" arguments on the "old" KLR. I just rode 5,000 miles to Newfoundland and back on my '06. The bike ran my Gerbing gloves and my GPS just finewhat the hell else do people need? As for those "lame" front brakes, in 7,000 miles of riding the stock rotor and brake lines, I've never had a problem stopping (even with 100lbs of gear loaded on the bike). Again, what do people want? (And is everyone trying to stop from 80mph in 10 feet? WTF???) BTW, this isn't an "anti '08" post...just saying the "improvements" in the '08 model probably deserve the quotation marks, at least from my perspective. From all I've seen and read, I'd call it a "different" KLR...not a "better" one! Finally, I love the looks of the "classic." The fact that it's un-screwed-with for so many years is one of the many things that appeals to me about the pre-08 models. Scott
See me post a few above yours. I've seen it first hand along with several other people. There's nothing spectacular that would make the bike worth waiting for over the current model and at the BLOW out prices, you can fix all the short commings on the bike and still be ahead if you'd waited for the new one. As far as the Dead horse find the 08 KLR thread on here it's like 100 pages long.
Enough that I bought a '02 BMW F650 for much more a '07 KLR is worth. So have many others, and that's the tune that Kawasaki (and every other maker) dances to. The KLR is (or will) lose market share no matter how you feel about it without updating. As a matter of fact the '08 may not go far enough. It COULD have inverted front forks with dual disks, a 500 watt stator, FI, another 5 HP and a ralley style fairing. I'd boot my BMW out the door in a second for that bike. The argument that the brakes are not THAT bad, and the stator output is not THAT bad, etc is complete shit, and people let Kawasaki get away with it. They are easy and cheap items to fix with nearly no weight additions. Don't worry though there will be many MORE used KLR's on the market for you to buy. And yes I have seen, and sat on the new '08.
I see your point Dwayne. And I'd readily admit the brakes, etc. on a KLR are outclassed by other bikes. I guess for me it's all about...what get's the job done? For me the KLR is fine. (But I'm not riding Dakar or poppin' wheelies or racing guys on ZX-14s in the twisties, etc.) Scott
Sorry do dissagree but the KLR front brake isn't just bad, it's a disaster. Yes it'll stop you, but at a far slower rate than any other motorcycle I'm aware of. Even Kawasaki's smaller bikes have better brakes. Just because you tell yourself the KLR's brakes are good doesn't make them so. They're probably the worst brakes on any Japanese motorcycle currently manufactured.
Dirty, What exactly is a troll job? Doesn't really matter I guess. If you read my initial post you can see that I wasn't trying to start a KLR "Cat Fight." I was just making an observation that if you are buying the old KLR with intentions of upgrading all the shortcomings on it you might be better off waiting for the new model. And if you do a little research on this site you will see than many owners do in fact upgrade many of the parts that I have talked about. The brakes, suspension, and motor were not cutting edge when the bike came out over 20 years ago, and bike parts are not like fine wine, they don't get better with age. The majority of the areas that KLR riders have been upgrading/ complaining about have been addressed and most likely improved upon on the 08 model. To answer your question, no I do not have a KLR. Have been on one, used to own a XR650L. Right now I am looking at getting the most bang for my buck with my next purchase.
That is what I want to see too. I thought it was 2008 already? I saw somewhere on hear a guy was getting his delivered Late March early April.
I went through this debate myself and had the money set aside for the new model. However, I was able to pick up a 2003 F650GS with all the bells, some farkles and 4k miles for 5200 bucks. I proceeded to sell the extra parts for about 350 bucks and picked up some additional goodies (mefo tires, different windscreen, etc). I wasn't willing to wait for the great unknown.
And I thought that that the '08's great failing was going to be its increased similarity to the F650. Go figure.
Here it is boy's. The video that reveals the new beast. http://www.kawasaki.com/IncludesMain/VideoViewer.aspx?movie=KLR650Kawasaki.flv&title=Action Footage I think I could land a Helo on that back rack plate. The video looks like me on my 2006... Love the KLR, Keith
My dealer says early May on delivery, a opposed to April originally. She says the west coast gets 'em first and they trickle thissa way. Mike
Called 5 dealers within 30 miles of Orlando Florida, and all of them have different dates. All say they will not take deposits yet, as the final product is not even in their 07 pricing systems yet. 2 of them laughed at me and said: early release means 2000 bikes nationwide. You won't get one until September or November." Maybe they are buddies or something.
By the way, if this bike does not sell well, I think it will be the beginning of the end for Dual Sports as we know them. "Light and flickable DR, XRL, KLR, TE, bikes will be replaced by more bikes like the Dl650, the European Kawasaki Versys, Triumph Tiger, Guzzi Selvio, Benelli Tri K and so on.... bigger and certainly not a single...