KLE 500 Review

[Mister James]

Well, I've had the little Kwak for about 7-8 weeks now, and it's had it's first service and finished the running-in period.

My initial impressions were that the seat was pretty high despite my 6'1 frame, and it was a little awkward to mount/dismount with my dodgy joints post-broken pelvis. Once my arse was on the seat, however, it was extremely comfortable, and the shape/texture means that there is very little shifting about on the saddle whilst braking/accelerating.

The tall seat and upright riding position mean that it is great for gliding in between the lines of stationary traffic on the way to work, as it's easy to see and be seen above the cars.

The engine churns out more vibrations than my silky IL4 Fazer, but I guess I was expecting that from a twin. It's got oodles of usable torque and power for such a small antiquated engine, 2nd and 3rd gear are again ideal for squirting through tiny gaps in the traffic, while 6 lets you sit at A road speeds with minimal hassle. I miss being able to accelerate comfortably up to 60mph in first as I did on my Fazer, but acceleration on the Kwak is more spritely than I expected, and still easily leaves cars for dead at the lights without any undue effort.
Now that the running-in is complete, the engine has loosened up nicely, and when warmed up is silky smooth and pleasingly responsive. The only down sides are a fairly clunky gearbox - especially from cold, and my personal dislike for bikes with no fuel gauge. Petrol comsumption seens to be fairly consistent at around 130-140 miles before I hit the reserve. I'm too gutless to see how much I can squeeze out of that, but considering it is mainly a commuting tool for me, I can squeeze 4 days worth of 30 mile round trips before I need to think about filling it up again, so that's all that matters.

I'm not too keen on the front brake, its single disc seems soft and feeble compared with the chunky 2 disc affair I was used to last year, but it's slowly growing on me - the key is to grab a fairly big handful and stamp on the rear as well. (that's also pretty mushy)
I use a lot of engine braking when I can, as the 500 twin makes that knocking down a gear and letting the clutch out a pretty useful technique.

It's too early to comment too much on the finish, but very few complaints so far. The paint on the fairing panels/tank looks pretty lustrous and shiny, and the gold paint on the engine and frame looks pretty good - shame it's rubbing off on the clutch panel where my boot or jeans are catching it. That's pretty pants for a new bike, but I suppose you can't expect too much for the price.

This month I'm going to try and take it on a few longer runs up north/midlands way to see some friends, and see how it fares on the motorway carrying soft luggage. If it can haul my (currently) fat arse around with relative ease, then it shouldn't struggle too much with that.

I'd be interested to hear if any other owners have looked into hard/soft luggage solutions for theirs, or indeed have added any other mods to them.
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>Soultrader Mister James, I bet you are a copper
>Bazza Wow. Eyes like a shithouse rat, you...

[extreme3d]

[Mister James]

I suppose you're right, although I didn't have any problems like this with my previous bike.

It seems a bit silly to paint your bike's engines gold if you know it's going to rub off in a couple of weeks and look tatty.
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>Soultrader Mister James, I bet you are a copper
>Bazza Wow. Eyes like a shithouse rat, you...

[Andy C]

nice review and glad your getting on so well with the new bike. The engine braking on twins is great, when i got my old bike i took it easy and found that i hardly touched the brakes because it slowed so quickly!!

Hope you have many years with her and you mentioned its a commuter bike, that mean you got anything planed for a sunday bike?

Also how many months has it been since your accident and does the pelvis give you any problems?
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99 RS125 --> 02 SV650s --> 03 Speed Four --> 92 RXS100 --> 93 CB400sf --> 01 CB600f Hornet

[king kong]

I was considering buying one of these, I thought it would be the ideal step up from my Varadero. I recall that Kawasaki direct were selling the 05 models for less than £3k.

Went to the local bike dealer (P&H) and the bloke really slagged them off, said that only 1 had been sold all year and that it came back for the geezer to trade it in again!

I think in hindsight that they were trying to sell bigger or more expensive bikes.

Hope you really enjoy your KLE and must admit I am slighty envious that I hav'nt got one

[Mister James]

[Andy C]

[Mister James]

Well, I've just taken it out for its first Sunday Spin, and what a hoot I've had!

I was planning to pop down to Southend as per a thread in the SE forum, to see the airshow, but decided against all that boring motorway travel.

Instead I went in the other direction, out past Watford and towards St Albans, Harpendon, etc. I ended up razzing down some pretty eerie country lanes with poor road surfaces, no sunlight and cold dank conditions - perfect for a bike with off-road pretensions!

Most of the trip was spent in 3rd gear, which makes a nice fruity scream when at maxi-chat through twisty B-roads, without letting the speed get too high. (ardent Mr James watchers will recall I'm a stickler for posted limits!)

The bike handled everything my limited and rusty skills could throw at it, and for such a old and cheap design, it attracted a fair bit of attention in the small villages and towns I whizzed through. (Probably just Locals thinking about killing me or imprisoning me to add to their gene pool)

I did a very brief motorway stint on it, just to see how it felt. Can't say I felt too confident, but I think that's more to do with it being the first time in 8 months that I've been over 60! Wind buffet wasn't any worse than I remember the Fazer being, although it felt a little unstable when passed by big wagons, no doubt due to its tall frame and greater side area.

The only down point of the whole trip was popping into a field down a deserted country lane for a pee, paranoid about getting caught by a load of Deliverance style Yokels with firearms and sharp pointy implements. In the end, I escaped without sqealing like a piggy, but managed to clog up the tread on my magnums with mud and other unspecified materials.

All in all - I'm pleasantly surprised with the bike's performance, and consider buying it an even smarter move on my part than before!
I saw plenty of other bikers out and about, many in groups, so looks a lot of us made the most of the decent weather - long may it last!
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>Soultrader Mister James, I bet you are a copper
>Bazza Wow. Eyes like a shithouse rat, you...

[stinkwheel]

If you fit braided steel hose and EBC HH sintered brake pads to the front, you will improve the brakes beyond all comprehension. I know people say it is unecessary etc but on those bikes (GPZ500 and KLE500, both share the same calliper and master cylinder, KLE disc is bigger) it makes a big difference.

Make sure they are the proper HH sintered ones. If you are ordering them off Busters or similar just ask for ones to suit a 1996 GPZ500s D. If you ask for ones for a KLE they'll send you 'red stuff' pads, they are crap.

I just did a round trip of around 600 miles this weekend on my KLE (mine has 17" cast wheels in though). Stuck with my mjates SV650 no problem and was faster than him on quite a few bits where the road got rougher. Lots of 'rollercoaster' style single tracker action. Had an absolute hoot.

Luggage wise. I've just fitted a couple of rails made from flatbar, lets me use my oxford throwovers without them touching the plastics/exhaust. I don't have any pictures but I'll annotate a picture for you in a minute to show you where I put them.

On the exhaust side, I saw a nice idea the other day on a BMW that I might try. He had fitted two vertical bits of box section, he then slotted a 'shelf' into these that essentially extends the parcel rack about 10" out to one side. He then strapped his tent and drybag to this with bungees.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[stinkwheel]

Well, the 'long' bits of flatbar on these racks are straight then bent into a kind of 'Z' shape at the far ends so they stand away from the bodywork. I stuck them in a vice and strategically battered them with a lumphammer until they were the right shape. Then I had the other two bits welded on to keep the pannier off the end can.

I'll try and take some piccys when I have both the bike and the camera in the same place but don't hold your breath.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Mister James]