klr650 vs xr650l revisited(not entirely klr)

[Weaver, Mark]

some of you may remember a couple months ago after riding with an xr650l equipped friend, i was trying to figure out why he had so much better luck on the sketchy uphills. i got some responses that blamed it on the suspension, and on the xr just being more of a dirt bike. well, i rode with the same guy yesterday (i was on my shiny new klx300), and we switched bikes for a few miles. wow! i know the claimed dry weight of the xr is only a few lbs less than the klr, but someone is lying. the xr feels drastically lighter, despite the huge ground clearance. it really works pretty darn well in the dirt. no wonder he was dogging me up. i think he set some kind of record yesterday. his rear tire was literally bald. about a 1 inch strip in the center was totally slick, and the leftover knobs on the side were pretty skimpy. nonetheless, we set out to do loop #6 in forest hill (sierra foothills), which is the most difficult (and funnest) trail there, with two deep canyon descents and rocky climbs back out. i found it challenging on a klx 300, but brian managed the whole thing on a heavy-ass dual-sport bike with a completely bald tire. kinda makes me wonder why they put those knobs on in the first place. I only had to help him get going on one real rocky climb directly after a switchback. i don't think i would ever have considered trying that trail on my klr. our only mishap (which i didn't get to see) was when brian went too wide in a switchback, and went straight up the hillside and looped the bike, which apparently fell pretty much on top of him. luckily no injury, only lots of laughter. of course i don't think i'd really want to ride an xr to utah and back either. -mark weaver