Kawasaki KLE 500 - Unknown, unloved?

I've been searching around these forums but haven't been able to find a thread devoted to the allmighty Kawasaki KLE 500 :huh

In the Netherlands there is a small community on our country's biggest motorcycle related forum.. so I wonder if there are more KLE riders elsewhere in the world

For those who aren't familiair with this little allroad bike:

Mk1 (1991 - 2004)


Mk2 (2005-2007) new headlight + front fairings.


Specs:
Liquid cooled 498cc twin cylinder engine
Carburators
Around 45-50 bhp (mk1 slightly more power because of less restrictions)
Wet weight 192 kg (423 lbs)
17" rear and 21" front wheels

Not much power, but not much weight either. The engine is very smooth and super reliable (same as in EX500, ER-5, GPZ500). The bike in its entirety is very cheap to run (and buy!). Perfect "first adventure bike". If you can find one A very capable adventure/offroader in the right hands.

Kicking it off myself:

Here's mine, 2006 model. 33000 km on the odometer. Have had it for about 6 months but thoroughly enjoying it! Recently did a 3000 km solo trip and I've come to love this bike



Got it bone stock. Did some mods to it.

• Heidenau K60 Scout tires (I LOVE these)
• Peaklife GPS module, mounted right behind the windscreen
• Custom (firmer and higher) seat as the stock one s*cks
• HGS muffler (for 250f bikes) fitted. Stock one was crusty rusty
• Givi Monokey rack with E22 panniers

Wishlist:
High front fender (waiting to be installed)
Shorter dogbones for a 35mm tail rise
Taller windscreen (probably Puig)
Aluminium reinforced barkbusters
Less ugly mirrors
Wider foot pegs

Many of us would love to have an affordable, non-monstrous, multicylinder with a 21" front here in the US. The KLE650 Versys could have been that bike. The DL650 could have been that bike. The CB500X or NC700X could have been that bike.

They aren't.

The mfrs are clueless about selling adv bikes here to people like me. We have to either choose to travel on a tall thumper with a seat that sucks for 2up, or learn to handle a (usually expensive) 500lb+ pig with expensive crap-ass 17"-19" tires in the dirt.

I think the reason that it flunked is exactly that. Instead of the average reviwer coming up with a review that said something like, "A refined KLR" slightly heavier but definately and improvement and a setp forward.

Nope, where I lived it was winge bitch moan about the fact that it didn't handle like it was on rails, and suffered in TOP END power, was not a FAST as XYZ etc.

Like TOP END, FAST and NERVOUS fast handling were appropriate for this kind of bike.

The excat same thing is heppening in the big bore segment now. Soon you will need 170HP and 100 octane AVGAS for an "Adventure BIKE"

Hammer, nail.

These bikes were never appreciated for what they are: A do-it-all bike for pocketmoney. A fantastic commuter bike. Pretty good looks. A very reliable engine. Reasonable on fuel. Very suited for long distance travelling. Holds up under 2-up riding pretty well. Great learner bike as well.

What's not to like? This bike doesn't need extra power, or better handling. It is predictable in every situation and never surprises you. Sometimes, some people really like that in a bike Plus it's pretty fun having the bike be the limit, instead of the rider

Pretty sure we didn't get those here. Too bad too, Kommando is absolutely right!
We'd love a smaller multi ADV bike, but they're not selling them here. Still holding hope for the new Yamaha 700 adv bike, but not holding my breath.


I'm a big fan of that 500 twin from the Ninja. A close friend has one...60 horsepower from a 500 is great! It revs well and good on fuel, but no longer available because it don't pass smog requirements.

Although the weight is a bit high, the concept is perfect to me. I would prostitute myself for a modern version of this.

I have been begging for a Tiger 530 or a KLX500 twin forever. Maybe Yamaha will pull it off first since their 700 engine appears to be one of the lightests twins on the market.

I know it's been a while, but what I remember from riding these is that they were a lot heavier than a KLR (or equivalent single), where more pleasant on the road due to being a twin (but were not significantly more powerful) and they still handled like a KLR (not good). An Adventure Tourer is an exercise in compromise. It just seemed like it was a compromise not a lot of people were willing to make.


Gustavo

Just keep in mind that it's over 20 years old. No one has really worried about building light weight 500cc I2 engines until recently. The new KTM 500cc twin, the Aprilia 450/550 twins, Yamaha 700cc twin, etc.

As I recall, the ultralight KTM 350 engine weighs 77lbs, and the 950 V2 engine weighs about 127 lbs. So, about 1.7x the weight for about 2.7x the engine. So, you take a 250lb bike and scale that out to 50% bigger and you can have an amazingly light super bike if you want, especially if you scale it back to a 500-600cc twin. I would be surprised if the new Yamaha 700 engine weighs more than 100lbs. Well, maybe a bit more, the 3-cylinder 850 is 132lbs. The Aprilia 550 engine weighs between 72 and 82 lbs depending on who's doing the weighing. Imagine that bike with the motor detuned to be reliable and torquey.

This makes the viability of a middle weight DP twin much more viable than it used to be, especially with liquid cooling.

Known and loved..


http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=463467

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=945175

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=475598

http://www.adventurebikerider.com/section-blog/42-adventure/73-kawasaki-kle-500.html

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=407042

http://500kle.aventure.free.fr/500_KLE_e.html

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=242798

And that's just some of the [primarily ADVrider] links on the KLE's

Great bike, love mine, not much needed to make them an excellent ADV bike.

The only two things that will be seriously looked in to will be a slightly more comfortable seat and a long range or auxiliary fuel tank.

Definitely a hidden secret in the ADV world.

Interestingly, the 500 twin appears to be a pretty light engine at 115lbs which, I believe, is 5lbs less than the KLR650 engine. Maybe i should say "less heavy"....

^^^^^

I wish there were a "thumbs up" or "like" for comments.

I am riding an 06 KLE500 for daily commuting and occasional touring.

This bike is indeed a reliable workhorse and cheap on gas 59-62mpg for city and 40mpg if wot on the highway. I did a 1000 miles 2-up tour with mixed highway and light trail. It did not break down on me.

I agree that this bike has the right adv foundation, but it is dated by today's standing. If the Versys 650 carried the KLE500's DNA, this would been a great compact adv bike. I wished it would been a shrink down F800GS or KTM990 parallel twin at 350 pounds dry weight with an indestructible bodywork.

went a little wild with some stickers today and installed eBay hand guards (Zeta XC clones for 30 bucks)



also Plastidipped the sides of the tank and fairings. Just wondering if the Plastidip will hold up there..
if it doesn't, I might go for real paint because I think it looks pretty cool.

Gonna install a black super motard front fender tomorrow for that more offroady look.

and this is what we look like together.. riding through our local very neatly organised 'forest'.

My 1991 Kle.

Joined in 2013 and its your first post

The yellow is a nice touch

Ok, I had a 1987 Kawasaki GPZ500S (EX500), it has the same basic engine and 60hp, as fast as a Yamaha RD350 YPVS (RZ350), so not slow even not super fast. I wonder what's different in the engines? Cams, carburetor, cdi settings? I really like the look of the 05-07 KLE500, could be fun whit 60hp instead of 50hp!

I would love to own one but never sold in NA! Sweet bikes!

I said to myself: I am not going to reply in a three year old topic....