KLR650 Photos and Review
Just another view of the ergonomics. The exhaust is all on the right, and there is quite a bit of heat on your right leg.
Notice the engine guard/highway pegs.
The front disk is adequate. The rear brake is almost as powerful, and once I locked up the rear before the front had really begun to bite. Hard braking results in a huge amount of fork dive. The KRL does a great job of soaking up bumps, but when braking, the front end really dives.
Cornering was fine. The rear end tends to tuck under, and this is exagerated by the knobby tires. The tires seem to have weak sidewalls compared to a typical sport/touring tire. It is no surprise that in hard cornering, the rear end wallows around a bit. Still the handling was predictable. I never had any bad surprises. Of course, I never pushed the limits either.
Keep in mind that suspension traits of the KLR are balanced between street and trail, so my comments about handling on the street are not a criticism. The bike does great at being all things to all people. (Well, less so for those of us who aren't tall.)
