nklr speed and power shootout

[Claudie et Jean]

Hello all. I have been on the list for some time and it is incredible the quantity of (high quality) information that is transmitted. There are so many posts that I don t have time to read all of them! Some of you seem to be bottomless wells of knowledge (hope it sounds right, supposed to be a compliment). Thanks for sharing with us noobs. Couple words on myself: I am 35 and I live in the region of Montr al (Qu bec). Got my first bike in 1996 and it was a blue KLR. I sold it in 1997 because I move to Brittany / France. There I could not resist long without a steel mount and got a Yamaha TDR 125 (mono 2 cycles) 1998. It was fun but not powerful enough. So I changed it to a 1999 Honda VFR 800. To have the right to ride it, I had to pass the driver s licence again since my Quebec licence didn t allow me to ride bikes with more than 125 cc. It was worth it as I toured France (all of Brittany, Limoges, Bordeau ) and Switzerland in the saddle of the VFR. You can t imagine the fun it is to ride in the Swiss Alps. And you can t imagine how crazy some riders are. They would zap past me at incredible speed, with a 1000 foot-drop mere feet away. But the landscape, boy that was fantastic. I eventually came back to North America in 2000. I had to sell the bike in France as the wonderful Canadian government won t homologate vehicles not specifically originally homologated for the country, even if they are identical (which was the case for the VFR). Darn I hate bureaucrats. I went without a bike for 4 years (larger family, new house, etc.). But last spring I saw an ad in a local newspaper for a used 2003 KLR. Price was good (4 600 CAD), condition to my untrained eye seemed OK too so I bought it (against my wife s opinion she got over the shock, eventually). So now, here I am, waiting for winter to end to ride again my first love. The bike is stock except for new tires the previous owner put on it: Dunlop Trailmax with a 140 instead of 130 on the rear. To me these tires appear to be 80/20 on/off road. I can t say they are good and can t say they are bad either since I didn t push them. Anybody knows about them? I still have the original rubbers too. The bike now has 10 000 km on it. That was a long introduction for some quick questions (I never can seem to be concise): My wife likes riding but not on the KLR (she loved the VFR which I know, please don t yell at me is a littler bit different from a ds). She is not comfortable because she tends to slip toward me and she finds the bike too high (I m 5 6 ). Any way I can improve her situation? But I don t want to lower the bike I always like sitting high and having all those inches of travel to eat all the bumps Montr al streets throw at it I have limited off road experience. With my first KLR I had found an abandoned dirt race track. The first times it would take me several attempts to complete one lap without putting foot to the ground. But these were my funniest moments on a bike (the Alps and European freeways were good too though). Are there any riders in the Montr al area who would like to share good off road spots as well as some of their experience? Riding is fun. I guess riding with a buddy (or more) must multiply (not add to) the fun. Does anybody have any experience on the Suzuki V-Strom (650 or 1000)? I though it could be a good compromise between stance, height, capability to fly over bumps (and fire roads?) and comfort. I have been thinking of maybe changing the KLR for it, so my beloved wife would more willingly come for rides. But please, don t throw stones at me, I haven t made the move yet, love for a KLR is something tough to break (I am not sure I want to). Well, was fun talking to you, you ve been very quiet and polite hearing me out. Let s see what you have to say now Regards from sunny +3 C Montreal winter hasn t said its last word, man we are going to pay for these warm days big time Jean The Running Turtle , A17 (I think) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Mark]

Hi Jean, I also had a VFR 800 (98) before getting my KLR last year (an A15). I kept the VFR and have found that this is the perfect combination of bikes for me. If you like the VFR and the KLR, why not add a used VFR to your garage instead of tossing out more bucks for a new V-Strom? You get the best of both worlds, sacrifice nothing, and end up with two bikes that you already know that you love (and one that your wife loves as well)! Just my 2 cents. Mark Victoria, BC -----Original Message----- From: Claudie et Jean [mailto:claudie.et.jean@...] Sent: Sunday, February 06, 2005 1:20 PM To: DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com Subject: [DSN_KLR650] First post with many questions Hello all. I have been on the list for some time and it is incredible the quantity of (high quality) information that is transmitted. There are so many posts that I don t have time to read all of them! Some of you seem to be bottomless wells of knowledge (hope it sounds right, supposed to be a compliment). Thanks for sharing with us noobs. Couple words on myself: I am 35 and I live in the region of Montr al (Qu bec). Got my first bike in 1996 and it was a blue KLR. I sold it in 1997 because I move to Brittany / France. There I could not resist long without a steel mount and got a Yamaha TDR 125 (mono 2 cycles) 1998. It was fun but not powerful enough. So I changed it to a 1999 Honda VFR 800. To have the right to ride it, I had to pass the driver s licence again since my Quebec licence didn t allow me to ride bikes with more than 125 cc. It was worth it as I toured France (all of Brittany, Limoges, Bordeau ) and Switzerland in the saddle of the VFR. You can t imagine the fun it is to ride in the Swiss Alps. And you can t imagine how crazy some riders are. They would zap past me at incredible speed, with a 1000 foot-drop mere feet away. But the landscape, boy that was fantastic. I eventually came back to North America in 2000. I had to sell the bike in France as the wonderful Canadian government won t homologate vehicles not specifically originally homologated for the country, even if they are identical (which was the case for the VFR). Darn I hate bureaucrats. I went without a bike for 4 years (larger family, new house, etc.). But last spring I saw an ad in a local newspaper for a used 2003 KLR. Price was good (4 600 CAD), condition to my untrained eye seemed OK too so I bought it (against my wife s opinion she got over the shock, eventually). So now, here I am, waiting for winter to end to ride again my first love. The bike is stock except for new tires the previous owner put on it: Dunlop Trailmax with a 140 instead of 130 on the rear. To me these tires appear to be 80/20 on/off road. I can t say they are good and can t say they are bad either since I didn t push them. Anybody knows about them? I still have the original rubbers too. The bike now has 10 000 km on it. That was a long introduction for some quick questions (I never can seem to be concise): My wife likes riding but not on the KLR (she loved the VFR which I know, please don t yell at me is a littler bit different from a ds). She is not comfortable because she tends to slip toward me and she finds the bike too high (I m 5 6 ). Any way I can improve her situation? But I don t want to lower the bike I always like sitting high and having all those inches of travel to eat all the bumps Montr al streets throw at it I have limited off road experience. With my first KLR I had found an abandoned dirt race track. The first times it would take me several attempts to complete one lap without putting foot to the ground. But these were my funniest moments on a bike (the Alps and European freeways were good too though). Are there any riders in the Montr al area who would like to share good off road spots as well as some of their experience? Riding is fun. I guess riding with a buddy (or more) must multiply (not add to) the fun. Does anybody have any experience on the Suzuki V-Strom (650 or 1000)? I though it could be a good compromise between stance, height, capability to fly over bumps (and fire roads?) and comfort. I have been thinking of maybe changing the KLR for it, so my beloved wife would more willingly come for rides. But please, don t throw stones at me, I haven t made the move yet, love for a KLR is something tough to break (I am not sure I want to). Well, was fun talking to you, you ve been very quiet and polite hearing me out. Let s see what you have to say now Regards from sunny +3 C Montreal winter hasn t said its last word, man we are going to pay for these warm days big time Jean The Running Turtle , A17 (I think) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Archive Quicksearch at: http://www.angelfire.com/ut/moab/klr650_data_search.html List sponsored by Dual Sport News at: www.dualsportnews.com List FAQ courtesy of Chris Krok at: www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html Yahoo! Groups Links

[Michael T]

Thanks - that was an excellent link - Although, our KLr650's would dust them both 0-5mph! ( haha) Michael T A16 lasvegasrider -----Original Message----- From: Guillaume McDowell [mailto:gmonay@...] Sent: Sunday, February 06, 2005 9:08 PM To: klrbud57 Cc: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [DSN_KLR650] NKLR Speed and power Shootout Is that shot in South Africa?

On Sun, 06 Feb 2005 13:29:04 -0000, klrbud57 wrote: > > > http://ninjazx12r.free.fr/videos/zx12r-hayabusa.wmv > > cool video > from ZZR1200 site > > Archive Quicksearch at: > http://www.angelfire.com/ut/moab/klr650_data_search.html > List sponsored by Dual Sport News at: www.dualsportnews.com List FAQ > courtesy of Chris Krok at: www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > Archive Quicksearch at: http://www.angelfire.com/ut/moab/klr650_data_search.html List sponsored by Dual Sport News at: www.dualsportnews.com List FAQ courtesy of Chris Krok at: www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html Yahoo! Groups Links

[John Kokola]

Ahh, Qu bec. One of my favorite trips was up to Montr al, west along the St. Lawrence, north to Lac St. Jean, south through the Saguenay area, across the St. Lawrence and out to Gasp . A gorgeous land with nice people. Bet a KLR would be fun on that trip. Hope I can go back someday. There's a V-Strom forum at http://11109.rapidforum.com/ for what it's worth. --John Kokola

> -----Original Message----- > From: Claudie et Jean [mailto:claudie.et.jean@...] > > Hello all.

> > Does anybody have any experience on the Suzuki V-Strom (650 or 1000)? I > though it could be a good compromise between stance, height, capability > to fly over bumps (and fire roads?) and comfort. I have been thinking of > maybe changing the KLR for it, so my beloved wife would more willingly > come for rides. But please, don t throw stones at me, I haven t made the > move yet, love for a KLR is something tough to break (I am not sure I > want to).>