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2012 KLR650 Change Can Be Good

Ask anyone and they will tell you that I do not like change. I generally prefer things to stay as they are. I will concede that 8 track tapes, Low-D TV, dial-up internet, and That 70's Show were all things that needed to change and the world is a better place for it. But, most change is not so significant and is therefore not needed. You might dismiss my attitude by saying, "Well, those old guys are all that way," and I would agree. Except in my case.

I was never a fan of change, even while looking over my shoulder at Wal-Mart to be sure that nobody noticed me in front of the Just For Men hair color display. Besides, restoring my hair to its youthful, sun bleached, brown was a good change; a needed change...and nobody even knows....

This brings us to the changes on the new 2012 KLR650.

Pictures and specs for the 2012 model are online at the Kawasaki site, with no surprises for the new model year. That's good, because most change is bad; remember that "superman" who replaced Christopher Reeves? The one improvement for 2012 is the blacked out rims, fork, and swing arm. This looks good in pictures and I am excited to see this bike in the flesh. Kawasaki carried forward the varied shades of  Red, Blue, and Black paint and plastics from previous years with one exception.

Last year's "burnt candy orange" is not in the new line up, which surprised me. I seriously considered the Orange 2011 KLR over the Blue model that I finally chose. I finally chose the Blue model because of its performance. The Blue KLRs are much fast than the other colors. Don't take my word for it, ask any Blue KLR rider. But the Red 2012 would be my choice this time around and is probably almost as fast as my Blue bike. I can always tell a fast bike just by observation - it's a gift.

While I enjoy the new Red model as eye candy, I will not be trading in my Blue 2011 for a Red 2012. Although I could understand anyone feeling the pull of that Red model. The blacked out rims and so on, are a great look for the new bikes. A color change like that is sure to add a couple of MPH to top end speed, the same effect that Just For Men had on me!

Baby Motorcycle Ride

This would be great for Halloween and would turn a few heads on the street.

Click here to see a baby on a motorcycle.

1000 Miles On the KLR

This was a beautiful morning and afternoon for Father's Day. I took advantage of the weather and went for a ride around town. This was the big ride that the KLR rolled 1000 miles. This was an important moment for Long Tall Sally, so I pulled over and took a picture with my phone. The city streets are still really  broken and full of potholes. Some of those could swallow a small car. The KLR does just fine on rough roads, but I could see those cruisers having a rough ride. I really doubt the city is going to do too much about the roads with all of the flooding going on this year, but we will see.

KLR650 Blowing in the Wind

A couple of weeks ago, my first KLR650 highway ride gave me a good scare. On a two lane country road, I was approaching  50mph, heading into a 15mph wind, when suddenly the front wheel wobbled. A vision of going down and sliding on the asphalt flashed through my mind, but I kept going. After a couple more wobbles caused by the gusty winds, I changed my mind and headed home.

I was very disappointed with the bike's handling at low highway speed in a relatively mild wind. Many people ride KLRs on long distance touring trips without this problem, so there had to be a solution.. I began researching and I learned that many KLR riders experience front wheel wobbles in the wind. The large front fender is usually blamed for this, but there are other possibilities. It was time to adjust the stock setup to gain control over this beast in the wind.

First, I removed the hand guards, which look cool, but clearly catch a lot of wind. I was unsure about leaving  the hand guards off, but quickly decided that I liked the cleaner look. Next, I adjusted the pre-load setting on the shock absorber. The KLR owner's manual says that setting "1" will handle a 150 pound rider, without a passenger or luggage. A 200 pound rider on soft rear suspension will have control issues without sufficient load on the front tire. I increased  the pre-load adjustment to "4" which was very simple with a 12mm socket.

Several days later I headed out again, down the same road with almost the same gusty winds. I slowly accelerated to 60mph, waiting for the wobble to start. The suspense was killing me! Then a solid gust of wind hit the bike and the front wheel remained straight and firmly in contact with the road. Between the hand guards, and the shock pre-load, the wind-wobble problem seems to be controlled.

If you are having similar problem with control in high wind, keep working with the bike until you find a solution. The KLR can do many things well, but will need some setup and adjustment first.