First road test KLE500 motard

[stinkwheel]

As you may know. I have been motarding a KLE500. It isn't intended to be a high-spec racing machine, more a practical, everyday bike that I can cover distance on in comfort while retaining the general handling characteristics of a motard.

So. It now has 17", three-spoke cast wheels fitted after some degree of messing about. I have also fitted a new Laser Pro-Duro Sport exhaust sytem which is a full stainless exhaust.

Took it out for its first proper road test today. A little uncertain how it was going to handle. For one thing I have dropped the front end by 2" and I have fitted a set of tyres while uncertain of the profile they will require.

So, fired it up and holy shit, that exhaust has one hell of a howl to it, makes the bike sound bigger than its 500cc.

Tentatively set off trying to get a bit of a feel for it. So a little slow speed manouvering, weaving about, gradually increaqsing the power fed in and the braking force used.

All very steady, just rolling your hips to turn the bike, not a hint of head shaking or weaving under braking.

By the time I've done 10 miles I am giving it big handfulls and braking deep into corners before shifting my weight over to make it drop itself into the corner, reverse the movement and up it comes out of the corner with a howl of exhaust noise. Feels like the bike is leaning over a hell of a long way, a brief look about mid corner reveals that this is because it is. I'm doing some of the local corners at a much higher speed than I can on the GPZ and despite the odd wet patch, everything feels well planted.

With around 50 miles under my belt I nip over to see the girlfriend who of course want a go on the back. Well, here we run into a slight issue. Handling is dead neutral with a pillion on the back but as I dropped down a steeply descending s-bend at 70-80mph, I felt the odd scrape from under the bike.

Next couple of corners, taking it a bit easier and my toes are trailing on the road then the hero-blobs touch down. Bike is still behaving itself impeccably but I have very little ground clearance, it is scraping its arse like a dog with worms.

Once we get back, I asked her to get on and off the bike a few times. the bike is dropping a good 2" further with a pillion on it and combined with the geometry changes, there just isn't enough clearance.

So, very happy with the bike and its handling but for touring where I will have a lot of luggage on board, I am going to run into ground clearance problems. Time to revisit the idea of a shock with a remote preload adjuster I think. It will be expensive but in order to get the "do everything" motorcycle I want, it may be the way to go.
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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.

[lilredmachine]

Sounds hilarious fun. Here's to preload adjustment, saved my ass on the MZ once.
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Bikes: too many, too much for one man to maintain anyway.

[Kaben]

any pictures Stinkwheel? Sounds like you have sorted the bike out nicely, would be cool to see your work.
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Its Not a Melon, Its Clearly a Lime!!
Yamaha Fazer 600Now dead, MZ 125 SM
My Deviant Art homepage https://robabloke.deviantart.com/

[stinkwheel]

Still waiting for some custom fork clamps to assemble a brace/mudguard assembly to complete it. I have some slightly older piccys, these don't show the new exhaust either.

https://www.bikechatforums.com/download.php?id=24138
https://www.bikechatforums.com/download.php?id=24139
____________________
“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.

[RickHolt]

That bike looks great, are they good for off roading? Think my girlfiends uncle has one of those for sale. I'm not interested in jumping around and stuff, just getting across difficult terrain.

Rick.

[stinkwheel]

Never tried myself. In theory it should be ok because the chassis is basically a KLR650 one which is a well liked enduro style bike.

Having a twin engine means it is a fair bit heavier, wider and has less 'thump' to pull you out of trouble. To me it is a better compromise as it has much better road manners than a big single and I wouldn't be taking it offroad in any serious way, more dirt tracks for which it seems ideal.

As standard it has a 21" spoked front wheel and looks much more dirt orientated.

I did a review of it when I first bought it:
https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?p=608845#608845

This is it in standard trim:
https://www.bikechatforums.com/files/kle3.jpg
____________________
“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.