Any Former KLR650 Owners?

DesertRatliff wrote:

I can't add too much to what's already been said about the KLR, but just another KLR and WR owner.

Since I got my WR 2 years ago, the KLR has received less and less attention. However, if anything, the WR has made life a little more confusing. Should I keep the WR and get a better street bike/commuter? Sell the WR and get a dedicated woods bike? Or keep both, slap street tires on the KLR and call it good.

Both bikes are good at their intention and sometimes they're even great, but both have me wanting more (with the KLR its "less" weight and more low end grunt would be great in the WR).

It's been said before, but a WR450R would solve everything for me. Then I could just own one bike.

As a former KLR & WRR owner I needed more kick on the street end of things.

Couldn't go exotic (BMW/Ducati) mostly for lack of dealer support in my area. That with cost nixed those two.

Needed something with decent suspension, and more power than the KLR for the street stuff.

Sold the 09 KLR in favor of a great deal on a new 2012 Versys.

More power for sure, and it's a cornering demon.

Also has the travel to get me out of my long, rutted gates of hell, whooped out driveway, to the street.

Great bike, great value, like it Alot.

That said...I really do miss that torque of a 1000+cc inline four. :)

I have one.



Many mods, this one has (in my best Yoda voice).

IMHO, the KLR isn't a good off-road bike. In fact, it isn't very good at anything, but if I had to thin my stable down to just one bike, I'd keep the KLR. When I purchased a new touring bike a year ago, I had two bikes I could trade: The KLR and a very nice BMW F800GS. There was never a second though about which one it would be. A year later, the KLR is still in my stable.

I can, and have, ridden this bike on several long trips. When I see a dirt road, I can take it. If I break down in the middle of nowhere (hasn't happened yet), I can fix it with bailing wire and duct tape.

The KLR doesn't excel at anything, but it can do practically everything.

I don't think there's much to compare between the WR and the KLR. They are so different. That's why I have both.

Krabill wrote:

The only place the KLR is better is long distance highway cruising. Every place else, the WRR beats it hands down. Backroads, around town, and of course once the pavement goes away, it isn't even a contest any more.

And the only reason the KLR is better on the highway is because it has more power in reserve at 70 mph than the WRR does. The KLR would buffet my helmet something fierce at highway speeds, but the WRR is butter smooth and doesn't knock me around at all. It just runs out of oomph up above 70 or so.

I couldn't be happier.

I feel the same as this. I will add one thing though. My KLR vibrated so much that my hands would be completely numb after 30 minutes. I did all the mods to reduce the vibration, but then I could only go an hour to and hour and a half. I hated the vibration. The WR is butter smooth and I get almost no numbness in my hands when riding.

I also never really enjoyed the KLR off road or on dirt roads. The WR is a totally different story.