2008 Kawasaki KLR650

We all are looking for the perfect motorcycle? , Comfortable, easy to ride, winding roads, fun and affordable to buy and maintain. For the past two years, savvy enthusiasts Kawasaki KLR650 dual-sport motorcycle, I have enjoyed the versatility and simplicity of grated cheese. Work for've never been to that place by a few miles or a few thousand miles on a bike are happy.

On the map it looks like one more intriguing twisty bit running through the Santa Lucia Range between California's arid midsection and the Pacific Ocean. The actual 16 miles of pavement you traverse to get from one to the other are a different story. For 99 percent of the motoring public, the 16-mile narrow-gauge confusion of potholes, kinks, coils and blind switchbacks is an exercise in abject terror. Gold Wing? Forget it. Ducati 1098? Notify your next of kin. But on Kawasaki's latest KLR650, it's paradise.

Sitting 35 inches above said surface behind dirtbike bars takes some getting used to. Acceleration is, shall we say, underwhelming. But somewhere between breakfast and lunch this big, gawky apparition doesn't feel big or gawky. Bumps, roots, holes, stray patches of dirt and Ducati bodywork are minor annoyances. And though the apoplectic unfortunate who tried this so-called road on a 1098 will never admit as much in public, the KLR is impossibly quick up here. "Mustabeen Mike Metzger...yeah, that's the ticket...on a...KLX450 supermoto weapon...or Scott Russell...or Bigfoot." Nothing like a little delusion to dull the pain. Perhaps a little crow for dessert?

The truth is either more painful or gratifying, depending on your point of view. Coined shortly after the discovery of internal combustion, the KLR650 earned legions of loyal followers over two decades of production. Like Coca-Cola, Vise-Grips and Peter O'Toole, the best-selling dual-sport in the business didn't change much because it didn't need to. At least not until Kawasaki market prophets saw sales jump 31 percent in '04 and 68 percent in '05. Add an escalating interest in travel and touring among free-spending baby-boom types and pretty soon there's a spike in e-mail traffic between product planning and engineering. Time to give the olde axe a bit of a grind, eh? 

Compression ratio: 9.8:1

Cooling: Liquid

Carburetion: Keihin CVK40

Ignition: Fully transistorized

Transmission: Five-speed

Final driv:e Chain

Frame: Semi-double cradle, high-tensile steel

Rake / trail: 28 degrees / 4.4 in.

Front suspension / wheel travel: 41mm telescopic fork / 7.9 in.

Rear suspension / wheel travel: UNI-TRAKr single-shock system with 5-way preload and stepless rebound damping / 7.3 in.

Front tire :90/90x21

Rear tire: 130/80x17

Front brake / rear brake: Single 280mm petal-type disc, two-piston caliper / single 240mm disc, single-piston caliper

Overall length: 90.3 in.

Overall width: 37.8 in.

Overall height: 53.1 in.

Ground clearance: 8.3 in.

Seat height: 35.0 in.

Dry weight: 386 lbs.

Fuel capacity: 6.1 gal.

Wheelbase: 58.3 in.

Color choices: Candy Lime Green, Sunbeam Red or Blue 21

MSRP: $5349 

Better At:

• Street riding
• Storage/Utility
• Visibility

Worse At:

• Hooliganism
• Weight
• Versatile suspension

Loose Change:

• Kickstand is terrible
• Oil sight window for quick inspection
• Engine guard