Wilsons Sandbox

Earlier this month, I was riding a very rough, rocky trail in the canyon of the Clark Fork, in the Bear Tooth Range. The trail was giving me a good workout on my DR350; I would have hesitated to bring my KLR in there. On the way out, I encountered a local on an F650. I observed to him that this was pretty rough country for that bike. His response: "Yeah, but I don't care what it looks like." We both enjoyed a chuckle. His paint was about as scuffed and nasty as I've seen on a BMW, or for that matter a KLR.

--- In DSN_klr650@y..., Lazerus2000@s... wrote: > Scott, > two days ago I spent the afternoon test driving a 99 KLR 650 that was like new/ 11,000 Km, that had been traded in to my local BMW dealer for a [ you guessed it ] 650 BMW. So, you can assume that at least one rider made his choice for the BMW after trying to get what he wanted out of the KLR. > > Last month I spent a week with a like new/ 9000 Km, borrowed BMW 650 Paris / Dakar [ it helps to have rich friends ]. > > It seems most people who haven't ridden them both feel that the KLR is a poor man's second choice to the MUCH more expensive BMW. Actually, they are not really direct competitiors ... different design philosophies, different compromises, and different character. > The BMW is more long distance/road oriented right from the start, but still capable of some serious off road derring do. The KLR is somewhat more dirty, but capable of long hauls on the highway. So it depends on where you will be spending most of your riding time, and what your priorities are. > > Fact is, I actually enjoy riding the KLR more than the BMW. The "feel" of a motorcycle is an elusive thing to try and pin down or describe to someone else, but I simply like the way the KLR "feels" better than i do the BMW. The KLR is lighter on the front end, more "nimble", and has more low end "PLONK". More like the dirt oriented Dual Purpose bikes I'm used to [ XT 550/XT500 ] . I feel perfectly comfortable on a KLR. BUT, the KLR DOES vibrate considerably more than the BMW. I wore padded bicycling gloves for my afternoon ride on the KLR, and even then my throttle hand was getting numb after only a few hours. > > The BMW feels like it would be a real pig in mud, or on a dirt trail [ I never attempted this with my friend's NEW bike ]. But on the highway, the fuel injected motor revs smoother. And believe it or not, the heated handgrips REALLY do make a difference. I don't care for the way the BMW front end feels heavier at slow speeds, but both bikes are stable and agile at highway speeds. Supposedly, the BMW will stay stable till it tops out ... and I've heard the KLRs need a bit of help with aftermarket parts to improve their manners at very high speeds. BUT, I didn't personally test this out with either of my test rides. I stayed under 80 MPH. > > So, bottom line, > the KLR costs WAY less than a BMW, but needs a few bucks spent on custom parts to make it a great long distance dual sport. > The BMW is more comfortable and smoother on the highway, but sacrifices a bit of dirtability. > > Personally, I'll be getting the KLR ... soon! > My buddy [ with the BMW ] and I have a great deal of fun debating this back and forth, but if we ever do get in that trip to Baja that we are discussing for this Winter, then i think we will BOTH be happy with our choices. > > Both are great bikes ... take them BOTH out for a LONG test ride, and decide from there. > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Arden, You remind me of a buddy who likes to push his bikes way onto reserve on the chance he'll meet somebody interesting when he hikes for gas. He's seen the inside of quite a few barns that way. You never know when you might find something interesting tucked in the corner of a barn.

--- In DSN_klr650@y..., "Arden Kysely" wrote: > My 2 pennies worth on the Beemer/KLR debate: I've owned KLRs since > 1989 and love them. I'd probably never spend the tall dollars for the > Paris/Dakar Beemer to do what I can do with a KLR. In 1997 I rode a > 1998 (?) F650 Beemer on the Pancho Villa Copper Canyon tour and > thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a great street bike, lower to the > ground than the KLR, and excellent at carving corners in the Sierra > Madre. The T-66 Michelins were pretty good tires all the way around, > too. However, with its 19-inch front rim and shorter suspension it > didn't fare as well in the dirt. I made it in and out of the canyon > with no problems, but the bumps would have been easier to take on my > KLR. And the KLR's gas tank probably would have gotten me back to El > Paso on the last day without having to make a side trip into a tiny > Mexican village looking for gasolina. But watching two women stop > their hand laundry to walk to the shed and bring out the gas can and > funnel was worth the inconvenience. Very nice people, and a good trip > all the way around. > > __Arden

Many won't believe this but... We have a new BMW dealer in the New England area. The owner can't be more than 30 years old. Super nice kid and loves the sport. He just finished making an enduro track in the back of the shop. It's not enourmos but theres a great variety of terrain. Loose gravel, soft dirt, hard dirt, mud, hay, steep berms a real blast. Here's the best part, they encourge you to ride THEIR bikes on it and see what they can really do. Take the $15K 1150 GS or the F650, no questions asked. You are even encouraged to take your own bike out to compare between the two. I challenge ANYONE to find a dealer that's willing to go to these lengths? I couldn't even get a test ride in the Kawi dealer's parking lot. At one dealer I went to while shopping for my bike, the area Kawi rep. was visiting. I asked about test rides, he said "it's up to the dealer" and "Americade is coming in a few months, you can do it there" WHAT AN A-HOLE. I'm supposed to wait 5 months, ride 250 miles just to ride a frigg'n $4K motorycle... I'm calming down, sorry group. Another KLR rider and myself were even invited to go on the shops trail ride. One of us was low on gas but Max (the shop owner) filled the tank FREE OF CHARGE. His response was "that's just the way we do business" There were 7 of us total, 2 KLR's, 1 F650's and 4 honk'n huge 1150's. It was a great site to see and tons of fun. Are the bikes expensive - you bet but do the following. Examine the bikes part for part. Compare alternators, fork brace, adj. suspension. The stock parts are BETTER. They are not the best but certainly better than the ancient KLR. I know all about the fuel injection problems of the F650 but BMW is slowly (very slowly) getting better at admitting mistakes. My KLR has always felt like a wet noodle (stock). I rode the 2 bikes and felt more confident on the BMW. It was probably due to the stock fork brace. What am I getting at... Ride 'em both if you can. For me, spending 8K on a single is outside my budget. If I had the $ I'd go for the Beemer. Check out the track and shop at www.maxbmwmotorcycles.com Someone said there are photos posted from the ride but I can't find them. Still smiling. Body by Prozac Jay Phantomrider3@... Beverly, MA (about 25 miles north of Boston, on the coast) '85 BMW K100 RS, '72 Yamaha CT1 175, Y2K Kawasaki KLR 650 Toss me an email to to purchase my KLR Valve Adjustment and Tire Change VIDEO. Only 19.95 (4.00 S&H), Ah bahgin (MA speak for a great deal). You can see stills from the actual video and all my nutty crazy mods at http://2wheelerjay.tripod.com/jaysworldofinvention/

My brief experience and your comments about the Kawi dealer's lack of customer service... After going in and trying to convince them to allow me to test ride a USED KLR 650 to give me an idea about how the KLR rides, the manager would not let me ride it. Now I am not some snot-nosed teenager coming in off the street to get some jollies by tearing up a USED bike, I am a professional wanting to get as much info and insight into my next ride that I can. Before spending my money at a dealership, whether it's $2.00 or $25,000.00 I expect the same level of customer service! When is the last time that you bought a car without a test drive - this is absolutely ludicrous and needs to change. Go out to your local dealer and tell them that you will not deal with them unless they let you test drive your next bike! I know we can change this with enough pressure - they say there margins are too close to afford 10 test models, how about using some of the trade-ins for testers??? They can write them off anyway on their taxes for heavens sake!!! I hope we can change this soon but until then I am going to buy a BMW F650GS tomorrow and then drive it to the Kawi dealer and show/tell him what and why I bought it - because he believes that the customer should serve HIM not the other way around!!! I digress, Scott ===== ======================================================== Adrian Scott Abshire Senior Systems Analyst/Developer - KA Services Direct: 409-338-7693 or Fax: 309-210-2535 1989 Foretravel U300 36' GrandVilla Diesel Pusher Check out my website: http://www.rvhabitat.com - Your RV Home on the Web! Quote: "640K ought to be enough for everybody." BILL GATES, Microsoft,1981 __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New DSL Internet Access from SBC & Yahoo! http://sbc.yahoo.com

The April 2001 issue of Cycle Canada has a road test comparison report on the KLR650 and the F650GS, in case anyone is interested. Douglas Dick Winnipeg, MB CA mailto:ddick2@... -----Original Message----- From: lazerus2000@... [mailto:lazerus2000@...] Sent: September 30, 2002 2:25 PM To: scottabshire@... Cc: dsn_klr650@yahoogroups.com Subject: [DSN_klr650] Beeemer or Kawi 650 Scott, two days ago I spent the afternoon test driving a 99 KLR 650 that was like new/ 11,000 Km, that had been traded in to my local BMW dealer for a [ you guessed it ] 650 BMW. So, you can assume that at least one rider made his choice for the BMW after trying to get what he wanted out of the KLR. Last month I spent a week with a like new/ 9000 Km, borrowed BMW 650 Paris / Dakar [ it helps to have rich friends ]. It seems most people who haven't ridden them both feel that the KLR is a poor man's second choice to the MUCH more expensive BMW. Actually, they are not really direct competitiors ... different design philosophies, different compromises, and different character. The BMW is more long distance/road oriented right from the start, but still capable of some serious off road derring do. The KLR is somewhat more dirty, but capable of long hauls on the highway. So it depends on where you will be spending most of your riding time, and what your priorities are. Fact is, I actually enjoy riding the KLR more than the BMW. The "feel" of a motorcycle is an elusive thing to try and pin down or describe to someone else, but I simply like the way the KLR "feels" better than i do the BMW. The KLR is lighter on the front end, more "nimble", and has more low end "PLONK". More like the dirt oriented Dual Purpose bikes I'm used to [ XT 550/XT500 ] . I feel perfectly comfortable on a KLR. BUT, the KLR DOES vibrate considerably more than the BMW. I wore padded bicycling gloves for my afternoon ride on the KLR, and even then my throttle hand was getting numb after only a few hours. The BMW feels like it would be a real pig in mud, or on a dirt trail [ I never attempted this with my friend's NEW bike ]. But on the highway, the fuel injected motor revs smoother. And believe it or not, the heated handgrips REALLY do make a difference. I don't care for the way the BMW front end feels heavier at slow speeds, but both bikes are stable and agile at highway speeds. Supposedly, the BMW will stay stable till it tops out ... and I've heard the KLRs need a bit of help with aftermarket parts to improve their manners at very high speeds. BUT, I didn't personally test this out with either of my test rides. I stayed under 80 MPH. So, bottom line, the KLR costs WAY less than a BMW, but needs a few bucks spent on custom parts to make it a great long distance dual sport. The BMW is more comfortable and smoother on the highway, but sacrifices a bit of dirtability. Personally, I'll be getting the KLR ... soon! My buddy [ with the BMW ] and I have a great deal of fun debating this back and forth, but if we ever do get in that trip to Baja that we are discussing for this Winter, then i think we will BOTH be happy with our choices. Both are great bikes ... take them BOTH out for a LONG test ride, and decide from there. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Checkout Dual Sport News at http://www.dualsportnews.com List FAQ courtesy of Chris Krok at: http://www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

--- In DSN_klr650@y..., Douglas Dick wrote:

> The April 2001 issue of Cycle Canada has a road test comparison

report on

> the KLR650 and the F650GS, in case anyone is interested. >

Can you summarize the results for those of us who can't get the mag? Thanks, __Arden

Yet to do such a thing, but seems pretty straight forward thinking about it. If you got a lift, support bike, remove the dog bones and start unbolting, reverse order to put it back together. But im sure somebody with first hand knowledge will pipe in real soon. Dooden

--- In DSN_klr650@y..., "PauL M. Bober" wrote: > Right on ... ! Speaking of snow ..... I need to replace the rear spring / > rebuild the rear shock. Through the wonders of this list ... I wasable to > get a Progressive spring and find someone to rebiuld my rear shock. Now .. > anyone got any great, easy way to change 'em out .. other than paying > someone else to do it? > > PauL > A9 > 420 KTM - 4 sale