Kawasaki KLX 650? - anyone ever had one?

A friend of mine has(had?) one - used in it for Baja. He was a died in the wool Kawi guy - wouldn't buy a Honda if his life depended on it. He beat the crap out of the bike and it has held up reasonably well. HE was able to go fast on the bike but I couldn't to save my life. There is no way in hell that bike weighs 255lb - I'd say more like 300lb. His bike with the 5gal tank made my WR400 feel svelte. For Baja/fire roads it's an ok bike for tight single track you're asking for trouble.

Brian

IIRC that bike weighed 297lbs dry..
I remember wanting one really badly at one time. I think it would make a great dual-sport conversion.

295 gassed up
And a do it all bike like the XR 650
I think it feels lighter then the specs say but thats just my opinion
The the1996s were the year to get, and nothey are not still in production:)
Chris
Ive always wanted one after i rode my friends for a week:(

I have a road going version with electric boot, steel tank etc. which is probably more like the KLR than the one you are looking at, but I do have the workshop manual that covers both models so if you list the info that you would like from the manual I will dig it out and post for you. If the engine is like mine it is built to last, regular oil changes and it will thank you. No good for tight woods but good on fire roads or anywhere you can use the speed, I have even had my lump offroad, just don't drop it too often !

Didn't Larry Rosseler win some offroad races (pro class) on this bike?

Come to think of it, I still want one.. Kinda.

I have had some friends with these bikes.

Some were good and some not so good.
I am not sure that a rod sticking out of the cases is a design flaw though.
I have also seen a few blown up ones for give away cheap.
I also have seen wr400's for under 3k and thats amore'.

Woodsy, What year is your friends KLR? Would he want to sell or trade it? If so, please let me know. E-mail- osufan77@hotmail.com. About the weight issue, I am guessing that any 600-650 must weight a minimum of about 290.

you can tell by looking at the carb if it's a CV or not. Pumper carbs have a lot of linkages that CV's don't.

Both KLX 650 models (A and C) that is the stripped down enduro version and the more road biased - electric start version have a Keihin CVK40 Constant velocity carb and both are 5 speed.

Woodsy,

I own a '96, the final year of production. I weighed it recently, it is 297 pounds WITHOUT gas. It is a five speed with a CV carb. Forks are 43mm KYB's. I have Race Tech Gold Valves on both ends of the bike. The first year 1993 bikes don't have an electric fan to keep the bike cool, they do overheat on the trail or MX track. My '96 also has a 3.2 gal tank, the other years have a 2.6gal. I change oil about every 8-10 hours of use per Larry Roesler's advice. No engine problems since I bought it.
I use mine for dual sporting and commuting to work. Works fine. Best to leave the engine stock, unlike the 300 they are hard to hop up without losing reliability. Power is really torquey, surprisingly fast, but not earth shattering, a KTM 400EXC is quicker and has more top speed. Nothing wrong with the handling except the bike is really heavy. Kawasaki should have made a six speed and they would have sold more, you either gear it for the road and open trails or for the single track, it can't do both really well without a gearing change.

I also had a 1996 KLX650C, the dual sport version with a steel tank, passenger pegs, electric start, turn signals, shorter suspension and 17" rear wheel. It made a better road bike, but was probably around 320 pounds dry!

If you can get one cheap, the off road KLX650R versions aren't a bad bike for the open stuff, IMHO. Not a bad dual sport either.