FWIW - there IS another thread already beating this horse to death in the parking lot. http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=168718&page=7 That being said, I would seriously consider creating a whole new section/forum dedicated specifically to the KLRs. There's a lot of threads on just the KLR650 in particular here regardless of year/color. One minute I'm in love with the new KLR, the next I'm glad I have mine and I'm waiting to get the 08 upgrades on mine. Decisions decisions decisions.... Oldrice- www.oldrice.com/KLR650.htm
I've taken my ST1100 up roads rougher than most of the GS bikes ever see. I don't take too seriously the comments in the other threads about the shorter suspension, the lack of a twin cyl motor, blah, blah, blah. Kawasaki has the best globe trotter made and this is just an improved version. Before we get a chance to check for more robust subframe bolts and doohickeys (who the hell named this?) it looks like Kawasaki has been seriously listening to the faithful. As for the street/trail percentage I think it is still going to be as good if not better off road. Stronger spokes, better suspension and brakes. As for ground clearance, I've never been in a situation where I needed 10 inches or even eight. There are some obstacles ment to be bypassed. A lot of big egos out there and this new KLR or any other KLR or DR Suzuki is not "poser" friendly. I've owned 3 GS bikes and I like the KTMs but I would never take either on a round the world trip. Guaranteed breaks and expensive repairs. I've learned the same lesson too many times. This new KLR will be my next adventure bike.
Am I reading this right? They upgraded the front rotor to 280mm (still smaller than an aftermarket oversize rotor) and then left the crappy old caliper on there.... doesn't make sense to me. If they're gearing this towards the street/touring side of adventure seems a real brake caliper would be a no brainer. About the only thing here I'm interested in is the new head. I'll have to wait for some real world reports on REAL HP/torque figures and riding impression. Power has been the biggest downside of the KLR for me that I haven't been able to address in an acceptable upgrade. I wonder if the redesigned head was really to help it meet new emmission standards and allow it to accept air injectors, and it's being hyped as a performance upgrade. If the new head really does wake up the motor, I might be interested in a bolt-on for my '01. I'll need to try the new suspension to decide on that as well. Other than I don't see anything I like better for the '08. New bodywork looks fragile...well see on that to. Seems most of the upgrades could be done to a current KLR with aftermarket stuff. Put me down with the crowd that thinks they went the wrong direction. The ONLY reason I love my KLR is because I spend so much time in the dirt with it, if I'm not riding dirt I'll ride another bike. I do understand Kawas marketing though. It does have a sexy look, an I like it, just doesn't look tough. After reading all the specs an sifting through the PR propaganda it looks more like a KLR IMAGE re-design than real usability. Whether a rider wants it for dirt or street it still lookls like it'll need to be customized the same way to a riders needs.
I have been contemplating a KLR for road riding and a go anywhere bike along with a real off road machine in the garage as well. This bike looks like it solves the problems that most bothered me about the KLR. I don't care about the loss of fork travel by about an inch since the previous bike was so bad anyway. The larger diameter forks more than make up for an inch of travel on a fork that couldn't handle the steering chores without bending. The larger brakes addresses the limitation of putting your feet out when needing to stop on last years model. The power increase and hopefully upgradability in power is a wonderful asset as well. I have been sorely dissapointed in hte power band of the KLR compared to the DR650 or other dualsport bikes. I know it was just as fast but it was just not there in the right place. It looks slightly less functional for off roadability, but the KLR has always been a poor choice for a dualsport. In my opinion this bike does not look to be less capable off road than the previous one. I have spent many hours trying to make an '04 capable of doing what a stock DR650 can do off road to no avail. The changes look to me like the bike can now be upgraded into a reasonable dualsport bike with the same roadability the older KLR was so good at.
Seriously? You've never needed more ground clearance? I bash my aftermarket bashplate all the time. sometimes there are no bypasses. Where are you riding? I just think loosing ground clearance is a big mistake. It's not an ego thing. Maybe I just need a real dirtbike.
I'm all over it next year if it is in the same price range as the Wee-Strom. I'll keep my New/used 88 KLR to mod out or upgrade and pass on to my stepson.
Was the old KLR prone to over heating? Curious for the reasoning behind the new radiators and fan unit. Is the frame the same? Swingarm is clearly different as are the forks. They did quite a bit of work on this thing, one interesting thing to note is the gauges are no longer mounted to the handle bar for lighter steering and that only can benefit tight off road riding as well. The switch gear and gauges need to be revealed, that's the one major turn off for the old KLR IMO where the DR650 was much further ahead. Look how much beefier the forks are where the front axle runs through compared to the old one. Looks touher to me!
Ironic I feel the same way. I just purchased a KTM 950 Adventure that I absolutely love. On my next adventure trip just like my last, my KLR and my future KLR's will be the bike I take every time. Can't explain why I love the bike so much but I just do. Reliable, a blast to ride, bulletproof (after a few mods) and overall in my opinion one of the best adventure bikes made. Nobody can argue no matter what they say about the reliability of this motorcycle. I hope the 08 and beyond live up to the prior models great reliability.
Sure does Reading the specs it notes the larger rotor and new rear caliper, I suppose I should have just looked at the picture. seems someone at Kawa is listening......or just using some common sense That, by far, is the best upgrade they made.
+1 The seat height, loaded, is said to be the same as the old one and with a redesigned (hopefully better) seat. And look closely: those are three faring panels, not one and with the way every one ranted and raved about the one-piece that that one fellow made at home, you all should be LOVING that three piece! I don't think that they are in any more danger of getting smashed up than the old bits were. Past complaints have included power (upgraded) and electrical output (also upgraded). The new instuments (mentioned in one of the articles) should weigh less and cancle out any weight gaie by the cool, new fairings. I thought that this was funny: "The engines broad torque curve only requires five speeds for off-road and relaxed highway cruising". Bullshit, but this isn't a redesigned bike, it's a refined one and it looks to have most of the refinements that most people have wanted. I doubt that it will weigh significantly more than the old modle and in it's class five or ten pounds would be meaningless. One of the things that many, many folks ahve dinged the F650 for was dificulty of fiddling with FI in the boonies so NOT having FI on the neew KLR seems like an OK thing to me. I think that they did a great job on this bike and made it better. I actually belive the hype that it'll be a better streat bike with out loosing any of it's dirt capabillity. I think that the KLR will still slot in nicely at the same place it is now in the 650 Dual Sport pantheon: second best street bike and second worst dirt bike. Price will be THE deciding factor. Any more than $6k and the DL-650 will destroy it's market. I don't think that they will ahve to raise the pricce much any way as most of the changes seem to be of the parts-bin veriety any way.
KLR was already road biased enough. Progressive springs on old klr are around $75 , so yes it did lose 1" of travel, and you will pay more than $75 for it. I definitely agree, they went the wrong way....more room for <layer id="google-toolbar-hilite-0" style="background-color: Yellow; color: black;">ktm</layer> to fill the void .
it's interesting reading all the comments "for" and "against." i wonder how opinions will change when the bike become available. the most divisive issue is the loss of suspension travel. is it possible it performs as well as the old setup? from what i gather, that's not asking a lot. and it still offers at least an additional inch on both ends compared to the wee-strom, no? seems like this new bike fits in right between the little strom and the DR650: lighter and more off-road capable than the former, more comfortable on the tarmac than the latter. and cheaper / less complex than an f650gs. sounds like a sweet spot to me... (with regard to the front caliper, the press release specifically mentions the new rear one. it's a strange omission if they upgraded the front and forgot to mention it.)
Pretty. Now back to farklin' plans. Speaking of which, where does one acquire the military suspension?