san pedro, you asked about power comparisons on the road. Most of the replies have been about off-road comparisons. For what it's worth, here's my take...

For starters, I've got a 2008 KLR650 and a 2006 KLX250S.

In stock form the KLR will go the speed limit on any road in the country. The KLX won't. (Ask TNC about those 80mph Texas speed limits). When the wind blows or the grades get steep, the KLX will be slowing down.

If you increase displacement, things change a bit. I've got a 685 in the KLR. It added very useful "drive-ability" type power. I did that at 30,000 miles (I've got 60,000 miles on it now). If I were to do it over, I would put the 685 kit in before I ever rode the bike.

I bought my 2006 KLX with 1050 miles on it. It worked fine in the desert here in Arizona. Riding on the road into the wind on a pretty windy day, the wind would slow me to about 50mph. I decided then to increase displacement. So, at 2300 miles, I made the bike a 351 (9,000 miles on it now).

With all that being said, here is my comparison of the two modified bikes.

I would day that top speeds are about the same. I'm not a "see how fast they will go" guy. I am more concerned with all around performance, not just top end, and both are excellent in that respect.

The power characteristics of the bikes are different. The KLR pulls harder from lower rpm and signs off sooner, which is OK, because it doesn't need to rev to the moon. The KLX power comes on higher and ends correspondingly higher, although it pulls great at low rpm. Even riding at 65mph, both bikes have roll-on passing power. The KLR has a little faster acceleration at those speeds than the KLX. It gets to 85mph pretty quickly. I don't generally ride the KLX over 75mph. These are true (GPS) speeds, BTW. The KLX will go faster, however. When I was fine tuning my main jet, I backed off at 90mph because I started to get a speed wobble (I had 1/2 worn out D606's on at the time).

In a flat out drag race, the KLR would win. Of course, it has almost twice the engine.

I learned with my first KLR650 (a 2001) that these were not off road bikes. They are great on paved and unpaved roads. I have my KLR set up biased toward the street. It's my road bike.

My KLX is my trail bike. That doesn't mean the KLX isn't capable on the road, though. A few weeks ago, I did a combined SS1000 (1000 miles in 24 hours) and a Bun Burner 1500 (1500 miles in 36 hours) on the KLX.

So, stock, the KLR will do what you want on the road. Modified, so will the KLX.

Ron

 

Thanks for the food for thought. I wouldn't be having this dilemma if someone would just buy the KLR so I don't have to look at it every time I go in for a quart of oil or a tire or something.

I'm looking for a road bike for riding in the west slope of the Sierras, on longer hauls than I like to do on the KLX. I had a W650 but made the mistake of selling it when I bought the KLX. I took it on a ranch road down near Latrobe once and there was a section where the road dipped down and a stream ran over it, with about 20 feet of loose cobbles. I had to put it in first, plant my feet on the ground, slip the clutch, and walk the bike over the streambed. I could see the KLR being like that but it looks like a fun bike for winding mountain roads.

 

I would love to make a scrambler out of a W650.
Decent power (in its class, as the marketing lingo goes) and not too heavy. Could be a fun little bike for exploring small paved and non-paved roads.


Something like this



--
Mikko

 

Well, I apologize to the mods for adding yet another non-KLX discussion point, feel free to rap me on the knuckles if you see fit. But...

I went down to a motorcycle dismantler in Rancho Cordova today because the weather was crap. They mostly have a huge parts yard, but there is a showroom up front with 40 - 50 bikes, mostly salvage title crash bikes and theft recoveries and a couple of old rusty barn bikes from the 80's. Lo and behold, there was a 2009 KLR with 152 miles on the clock. The guy must have crashed it on his first ride. They had changed all the damaged bits (mostly the plastics, they said) and said the shifter worked fine (their mechanic road tested it). I checked all visible parts of the frame and front end for signs of bent metal or impact damage. It looked really clean, I think the guy was a first time rider, had a low speed dump, lost his confidence (or his wife's approval) and talked his insurance co. into totaling the bike so he could cash out and stop riding. They are asking $3800, as is, salvage title.

Anybody think this is ill advised? Or is it a deal I should grab. I am not going to let go of my KLX. I'm calling my insurance monday to see if they will insure a salvage bike, apparently not all will.

 

Two years ago, I bought a salvage title '06 KLR with 104 miles on it for 3300.00. So, this isn't a bad deal, if you want that bike. However, I bet you could find one that has had some fairly expensive upgrades on it, with maybe 3000-5000 miles, for less than 3800.00. So, it partly depends upon whether you like buying and adding things to it....

 

There are 09's on the showroom floor still and dealers that want to move them. 38 seems high for a salvage bike. Look around. Watch craiglist and use searchtempest.com

 

That $3800 is close to the bule book value of a non salvaged bike, not a good deal at all. If it was a car the salvage title would reduce the value by nearly 50%, not sure about bikes though.

 

Wow! first time I think there is a question here I can answer. I have both and both are stock. The KLR is much faster, more comfortable and but for the handle bar buzz can be ridden long distances, perfect for dirt roads. Off road the KLR is a handful but overall is a pretty good bike in my opinion. I love the KLX for off road riding and for me is the perfect choice in that I am only 5'6" tall, if taller I would look at the Yamaha 250. So its really more a choice of what kind of riding do you want to do? I have not ridden the Suzuki 650 but from what I have read people seem to like this bike a lot, I would also look at the Honda 650 as well.

Frank

 

These guys are right about "savage bike" titles. However, it depends upon why the bike is "salvage". Mine was a mechanic's lien, and it had been stripped of many parts. It was sold as "salvage", then a secretary at the dealership had her husband buy it, and he replaced all the missing parts. So, at the time, 3300.00 was a good price for an 06 with 100 miles on it. If this 3800.00 bike is really the result of one minor get-off, and nothing is bent on the frame/forks, it's not a bad deal.

Again, you can find better "value" if you buy one that has had a lot of extras added, with a few more miles on it, for 3800.00. If the owner is a decent mechanic and took good care of it, I wouldn't shy away from one with many thousands of miles on it. The KLR can easily run well over 50K miles without the need for any mechanical rebuilding. Some guys report over 100K miles before rebuilding the top end.

Oh, you do need to know there were some oil burners in some of the 08's, seems to be a ring composition issue. I don't think they had this problem showing up in the 09's, but, better check first to make sure. The "fix" is putting a 685 overbore kit in it. In fact, I'd love to make a screaming deal on an 08...you know, someone that has an oil burner, it's out of warranty, they don't want to mess with it any more, and sell it for about 2000.00. The 685 kit, including the machine work, would be about 500-600.00, and you'd have a bike that runs so much better than stock. Now THAT would be a good deal.