I have just recently purchased a 06 KLR650, I have owned two XR650L's in the past kinda like the Suzuki in the fact that they are more dirt worthy air cooled,etc.... I also was always a devoted Honda guy as well. So now I have the KLR and I am very pleased for the most part. Fit and finish is much better on the Honda's compared to the KLR but the overall quality is there! KLR is the cheapest of the DP bikes but you will quickly spend that savings on some needed fixes/upgrades if you read through this board, you will know what I mean. Overall I am very happy with the KLR. It has a longer travel range, more comfy, better in city traffic, huge aftermarket support, can be molded to do whatever you need it to. If your going to spend more than 50% of your time off-road then go for the Suzuki or even the Honda but otherwise you can't go wrong with a KLR.
Erik
Eric Lee Green wrote: pumpersink wrote:
>I have always had Honda & yamaha off road air cooled dirtbikes and now
>want to purchase a 400 to 650 dual purpose.
>Is there any more simplicity and reliability to the suzuki 650 dual
>purpose air cooled unit vs the kawaski klr with water cooling pumps
>etc??
>
>
Both appear to be quite reliable. The Suzy will get quite hot (as in,
scorch your legs hot) in stop-and-go traffic, but that isn't a problem
if you're wearing leathers. If you're wearing perforated gear (because
you're someplace that summer weather is *hot*), then your legs will get
pretty crispy.
>The klr seat sure is more comfortable than the suzuki seat. but are
>there any other benefits to the klr that anyone can share with me
>before I make this expensive purchase ?? thanks for any info.
>
>
Fuel tank size, and weather protection. The KLR has a nice big fuel tank
that'll take you well over 200 miles. The Suzy comes with a teensy
little fuel tank that needs to be filled up every 100 miles. Even the
biggest aftermarket fuel tank will go to reserve at 175 miles or so on
the Suzy. The Suzy also lacks a fairing to provide weather protection,
though you can add an aftermarket handlebar-mounted windshield like the
Slipstreamer CF-30 that will work quite well.
Personally, I like the design of the Suzy better than I like the design
of the KLR, but the lack of an adequately-sized fuel tank pretty much
rules it out for me. A pity. Suzuki wanted to make the DR650 more
offroad-capable when they eliminated the fairing and downsized the fuel
tank. The fairing, well, I can live without that. The 200+ miles
range... Sorry. No can do. Not for the places I ride, where the
trailhead is 50 miles from the nearest gas station.
-E
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