Why does the KLR engine suck in HP

[wheatwhacker]

The KLR is not just a bike, it's a lifestyle.

It shows the world that we are comfortable and have no desire to portray our riches/debt
There is no rush home because we have a modest home with a modest lifestyle.
I guess if you ride a flash bike with lots of power, you also have a flash car, flash home, blah blah and all these things cost money. It does not really matter how much more you make, you have to go to work and earn it.

A short little note.
I took almost 3 months off last year to ride to Panama from San Francisco. I rode the KLR all the way down and all the way back. I averaged about 150 miles per day, some days, no miles. I was in no rush home, no schedule. I met lots of travelers both from the USA and Europe. We all had the same mentality, to hell with the flash lifestyle. One French couple had a moving truck converted to a camper for themselves and their 2 kids and were driving all over Central America.
When I came back, a doctor friend of mine, who makes multiple 100K's of $$$ said there was no way he could do a trip like that. He has a BMW in the garage of his $1.5M home, golf outings, fine dining blah blah. He also said he would give anything to do what I did.
My trip cost me about 3K, the same as an average week in Hawaii, which he does twice a year.

So, back to power. The average KLR rider has time. We can ride the back roads home, enjoy the scenery, smell the roses, meet the locals, stop at the bar, talk to girls blah blah. You on the other hand, you with powerful bikes, except fro Vstrom owners as they are a small step up from KLR owners :), race home and get into the suit and get to work to pay off that depreciating asset(s) sitting in the garage, the interest on the mortgage and the credit cards.
As I say I had the orange kool aid. $14K in 2006 down to a selling price of $6.5K in 2012, I had a great time on it yes, but if I took an extra day with my KLR on every trip I took, it still would have cost me less than the $7.500 it depreciated over 6 years plus the running costs.
I have no regrets owning the bike, I'm just making the point that power is not everything.

[GAS GUY]

Originally Posted by wheatwhacker

The KLR is not just a bike, it's a lifestyle.

It shows the world that we are comfortable and have no desire to portray our riches/debt
There is no rush home because we have a modest home with a modest lifestyle.
I guess if you ride a flash bike with lots of power, you also have a flash car, flash home, blah blah and all these things cost money. It does not really matter how much more you make, you have to go to work and earn it.

A short little note.
I took almost 3 months off last year to ride to Panama from San Francisco. I rode the KLR all the way down and all the way back. I averaged about 150 miles per day, some days, no miles. I was in no rush home, no schedule. I met lots of travelers both from the USA and Europe. We all had the same mentality, to hell with the flash lifestyle. One French couple had a moving truck converted to a camper for themselves and their 2 kids and were driving all over Central America.
When I came back, a doctor friend of mine, who makes multiple 100K's of $$$ said there was no way he could do a trip like that. He has a BMW in the garage of his $1.5M home, golf outings, fine dining blah blah. He also said he would give anything to do what I did.
My trip cost me about 3K, the same as an average week in Hawaii, which he does twice a year.

So, back to power. The average KLR rider has time. We can ride the back roads home, enjoy the scenery, smell the roses, meet the locals, stop at the bar, talk to girls blah blah. You on the other hand, you with powerful bikes, except fro Vstrom owners as they are a small step up from KLR owners :), race home and get into the suit and get to work to pay off that depreciating asset(s) sitting in the garage, the interest on the mortgage and the credit cards.
As I say I had the orange kool aid. $14K in 2006 down to a selling price of $6.5K in 2012, I had a great time on it yes, but if I took an extra day with my KLR on every trip I took, it still would have cost me less than the $7.500 it depreciated over 6 years plus the running costs.
I have no regrets owning the bike, I'm just making the point that power is not everything.

You hit it right on the nose.
I just sold my Ktm and Bmw and went back to a Klr for those exact reasons.I have had 5 Bmw's.
I have nothing bad to say about the Euro bikes, they are wonderful, if you have the money and patience to live with them.
I want out of the rat race that America is in, and there for went back to cheap and simple, as many KLR owners do.

[tHEtREV]

I under stand all that, but I ride a bike for fun, and going fast(ish) over gravel roads is what draws me to bikes.

I get bored shitless man handling some heavy underpowered badly suspended thing over rough roads and I would much rather hammer down the same roads on my 640, something I can get some speed up on.

Something that excites me and let's me have fun.

I do understand that it's not for everyone, and there are a lot of people who just want to putter around at a more sedate speed and take everything in, and so a KLR/DR is great for that, but I want to enjoy the riding.

And I find road riding boring so I like to have my bikes set up for dirt where I will use them (as opposed to tar where I just sit on them), so I like a more dirt focused bike.

So in summery, KLRs are not for me, and The 640 fits the bill better, and boobies are awesome.

[michael1968]

Originally Posted by tHEtREV

and boobies are awesome.

I agree with everything you just said but mostly that last part.

[siyeh]

Originally Posted by tHEtREV

and boobies are awesome.

here here.

[XDragRacer]

Originally Posted by tHEtREV

. . . and boobies are awesome.

What, exactly, do you find "awesome" about these Pacific sea birds? (Images from Wikipedia):

[Mikef5000]

Originally Posted by XDragRacer

What, exactly, do you find "awesome" about these Pacific sea birds? (Images from Wikipedia):

Isn't it obvious? That first one is handling that nasty rock garden with ease! And that second one... it's flying through a corner in the wet.

You couldn't do shit like that on a KLR.

[jeepsandbikes]

for whoever hates the klr , did one run over your dog , or call your mom a bad name .....

[OrangeYZ]

Originally Posted by jeepsandbikes

for whoever hates the klr , did one run over your dog , or call your mom a bad name .....

I ran over two of my mom's dogs with a moped and a Yamaha 180, I think she wanted to call me bad names.
Then she ran over the third dog twice with a Suburban, so I think we're even.

I'd hate to let this thread get hijacked off of KLR bashing, so the moped had better brakes and suspension than the KLR

[jeepsandbikes]

Originally Posted by OrangeYZ

I ran over two of my mom's dogs with a moped and a Yamaha 180, I think she wanted to call me bad names.
Then she ran over the third dog twice with a Suburban, so I think we're even.

I'd hate to let this thread get hijacked off of KLR bashing, so the moped had better brakes and suspension than the KLR

For the sake of dogs everywhere. Please never get another dog.

[bobnoxious67]

Originally Posted by wheatwhacker

The KLR is not just a bike, it's a lifestyle.

It shows the world that we are comfortable and have no desire to portray our riches/debt
There is no rush home because we have a modest home with a modest lifestyle.
I guess if you ride a flash bike with lots of power, you also have a flash car, flash home, blah blah and all these things cost money. It does not really matter how much more you make, you have to go to work and earn it...

Puhlease...spare me this sanctimonious bullshit

Nothing says "flash home" like a run down 93 year old home in need of everything...


...and nothing says "flash car" like a 25 year old Suzuki Samurai


Yup, you have it all figured out

I find most preachy Japanese bike owners to be so closed minded about bikes that I want to puke. You think you have it all figured out, and that you're better than others because you think you're "doing more with less", and you can "sleep at night" because you don't need to "keep up with anybody". Please...spare us. I find that most of the mouthy FF's who say bullshit like this are brand blinded, and incapable of seeing the forest for the trees.

[wheatwhacker]

Originally Posted by bobnoxious67

Puhlease...spare me this sanctimonious bullshit

Nothing says "flash home" like a run down 93 year old home in need of everything...


...and nothing says "flash car" like a 25 year old Suzuki Samurai


Yup, you have it all figured out

I find most preachy Japanese bike owners to be so closed minded about bikes that I want to puke. You think you have it all figured out, and that you're better than others because you think you're "doing more with less", and you can "sleep at night" because you don't need to "keep up with anybody". Please...spare us. I find that most of the mouthy FF's who say bullshit like this are brand blinded, and incapable of seeing the forest for the trees.

With that beautiful house and car, there is a KLR in your future.
I don's see a BMW in the garage so, I don't know what your so pissed about. My post was referring to KLR like folk with a humble mentality, not the kind that like to prove anything.

It's like the guy with the big dick. Women say that they can judge a guy with a big one before he takes off his pants because, he does not have to prove anything, therefore does not try and impress anyone.
It's the guy that talks all the shit they stay away from.

[jeepsandbikes]

This thread makes me feel like this at the 50 second mark
http://youtu.be/dXngQtk0BCU

[bobnoxious67]

Originally Posted by wheatwhacker

With that beautiful house and car, there is a KLR in your future.
I don's see a BMW in the garage so, I don't know what your so pissed about. My post was referring to KLR like folk with a humble mentality, not the kind that like to prove anything.

It's like the guy with the big dick. Women say that they can judge a guy with a big one before he takes off his pants because, he does not have to prove anything, therefore does not try and impress anyone.
It's the guy that talks all the shit they stay away from.

Did you miss the part of your post I quoted? The part that said I must have a flashy house if I have a flashy bike?

Now my feelings are hurt...you're saying my TE450 and Triumph Tiger aren't flashy

[wheatwhacker]

Originally Posted by bobnoxious67

Did you miss the part of your post I quoted? The part that said I must have a flashy house if I have a flashy bike?

Now my feelings are hurt...you're saying my TE450 and Triumph Tiger aren't flashy

Sorry bro, they are both very practical bikes. Your one of us, like it or lump it. Same mentality, different bikes.
I have the TW 200 and an Africa Twin also because we all know the KLR is a pig in dirt and boring as hell on the interstate but, it will get you there.
It's the ritzy touratech covered guys I'm aiming at here.