BawdyMonk
23-11-2004, 09:32 AM
Kawasaki KLE 500
About a month ago I had one of these lent to me for the day while my bike was being serviced (I was hoping for a Dakar :( ).
http://www.bikez.com/bike/20654/index.jpg
My first impression was that it’s featherweight, off into the heavy morning traffic of Nicosia and the next thing that hit me was the lack of low down power, well actually it was the lack of power, full stop. I then found myself looking around at traffic lights for the bike I could hear, a reminder that I’ve been riding boxers for nearly 2 years…Not that the 500cc twin is noisy, it’s just so different
After a bit the little bike grew on me, especially when I was blocked in by a prat in an X5 so had to lift the front wheel up the kerb to keep moving, I then took it right into the old part of Nicosia and went down the tiny backstreets around the UN manned Green Line, cutting across a very rough bit of waste ground en route reminded me of the benefits of a 21 inch front wheel over a 19 inch.
After an hour or so of going from bike dealer to bike dealer, just looking around, as we all do, I’m sure the only bike that’ll tempt me off my GS Adventure is a KTM 950 Adventure; it’s such a pity that KTM have the biggest knob on the island as their sales manager… :buttkick:
By now I was getting bored as I really didn’t have anything to do, so glimpsing the Troodos Mountains in the distance I thought I’d nip up to Kakopetria for lunch at the Linos Inn (http://www.sunvil.co.uk/sites/sunvil-cyprus/display_property.asp?company_id=3&property_id=80), a lovely place for a dirty weekend :dancebanana: , but adequate for this purpose as well, off I went through the city, at one of the thousands of sets of traffic lights I came up against an arsehole on a V-Rod, I hated myself for giving him the bikers nod as I pulled up beside him as he took one look at the 500 KLE sticker and smirked, “Fuck You!� think I, “NO, Fuck YOU� he seemed to say and took off like a rabbit, well a fat rabbit at least, as the lights turned to green, we then had a good old dabble across the city from lights to lights, to be fair I was screaming the shit out of the KLE :FFonRF: to keep him in my sight but eventually caught him by slowing down well before a red light and trickling up to it in 2nd, as the lights changed I wrung it’s neck and got the drop on him, resisting the temptation to give him the finger as I did so. :innocent:
By now I’d sussed the KLE out and was riding it like every bike I ever ride, to the red line, and was on the outskirts of town and up onto the highway (that’s a good dual carriageway for those of you in the UK).
Onto the highway and casually up through the box, it’s a smooth little twin with a nice gear change and I didn’t notice much vibration, looking down at the speedo I realised I’d hit 140kmh (just under 90mph), throttle twisted right back, hmmm “that’s not much� I think, down into 5th then 4th then redline all the way back up.. 160kmh (100mph) and that was it, at that speed however the little bike was definitely out of it’s depth and didn’t feel at all stable, going past a big articulated lorry was a wavy experience which I didn’t like, that and the fact that my arse was feeling sore meant that at the first chance I turned around and headed back, settling for a Big McShite Burger and fries when I got back into town, am I the only one who wishes I hadn’t had one as soon as I’ve eaten it? :wacko:
I phoned the dealership who told me my bike wouldn’t be ready until after 3pm (that’s Cypriot for about 4:30pm) so thinking that if they wanted my bike all day, I’d have to get theirs dirty, I headed for some trails I’d seen just on the outskirts of the city.
Great fun, I was soon up in the pegs and flying over some dry muddy fields, out onto a gravel path and down into some rough stony tracks, the lack of real grunt meant I could give it some twist without any real fear of over cooking my limited off road skills, it’s not really fair to compare it to a GS but as that’s the only bike I’ve gone off road on, I must; firstly the weight at low speeds is a big plus, with the GS I often err on the side of caution if having to make slow speed turnaround as not only is it a heavy bitch to lift but I need to have solid ground to do it on, at speed I noticed the KLE was going over some tractor tracks where the GS would have just ploughed through them, I’m not sure if that’s good or bad either way?
http://image16.webshots.com/16/4/77/60/220847760ayWAci_ph.jpg
Anyway, I had a good hours fun, and never came close to an off, what more could I want?
Summing up the KLE 500, I think it’s a great little bike, a good urban assault bike, and one you could have some rural fun on as well, it’s possible that somebody of a smaller size than myself (6ft and 109kg) could even do short tours on it, all in all it’s an honest bike that doesn’t pretend to be anything great, just not one that I’d ever buy, I can’t remember the last time I rode a bike so small, but I am thinking it’s one I’ll aim my son at for his first proper bike. :thumbsup:
About a month ago I had one of these lent to me for the day while my bike was being serviced (I was hoping for a Dakar :( ).
http://www.bikez.com/bike/20654/index.jpg
My first impression was that it’s featherweight, off into the heavy morning traffic of Nicosia and the next thing that hit me was the lack of low down power, well actually it was the lack of power, full stop. I then found myself looking around at traffic lights for the bike I could hear, a reminder that I’ve been riding boxers for nearly 2 years…Not that the 500cc twin is noisy, it’s just so different
After a bit the little bike grew on me, especially when I was blocked in by a prat in an X5 so had to lift the front wheel up the kerb to keep moving, I then took it right into the old part of Nicosia and went down the tiny backstreets around the UN manned Green Line, cutting across a very rough bit of waste ground en route reminded me of the benefits of a 21 inch front wheel over a 19 inch.
After an hour or so of going from bike dealer to bike dealer, just looking around, as we all do, I’m sure the only bike that’ll tempt me off my GS Adventure is a KTM 950 Adventure; it’s such a pity that KTM have the biggest knob on the island as their sales manager… :buttkick:
By now I was getting bored as I really didn’t have anything to do, so glimpsing the Troodos Mountains in the distance I thought I’d nip up to Kakopetria for lunch at the Linos Inn (http://www.sunvil.co.uk/sites/sunvil-cyprus/display_property.asp?company_id=3&property_id=80), a lovely place for a dirty weekend :dancebanana: , but adequate for this purpose as well, off I went through the city, at one of the thousands of sets of traffic lights I came up against an arsehole on a V-Rod, I hated myself for giving him the bikers nod as I pulled up beside him as he took one look at the 500 KLE sticker and smirked, “Fuck You!� think I, “NO, Fuck YOU� he seemed to say and took off like a rabbit, well a fat rabbit at least, as the lights turned to green, we then had a good old dabble across the city from lights to lights, to be fair I was screaming the shit out of the KLE :FFonRF: to keep him in my sight but eventually caught him by slowing down well before a red light and trickling up to it in 2nd, as the lights changed I wrung it’s neck and got the drop on him, resisting the temptation to give him the finger as I did so. :innocent:
By now I’d sussed the KLE out and was riding it like every bike I ever ride, to the red line, and was on the outskirts of town and up onto the highway (that’s a good dual carriageway for those of you in the UK).
Onto the highway and casually up through the box, it’s a smooth little twin with a nice gear change and I didn’t notice much vibration, looking down at the speedo I realised I’d hit 140kmh (just under 90mph), throttle twisted right back, hmmm “that’s not much� I think, down into 5th then 4th then redline all the way back up.. 160kmh (100mph) and that was it, at that speed however the little bike was definitely out of it’s depth and didn’t feel at all stable, going past a big articulated lorry was a wavy experience which I didn’t like, that and the fact that my arse was feeling sore meant that at the first chance I turned around and headed back, settling for a Big McShite Burger and fries when I got back into town, am I the only one who wishes I hadn’t had one as soon as I’ve eaten it? :wacko:
I phoned the dealership who told me my bike wouldn’t be ready until after 3pm (that’s Cypriot for about 4:30pm) so thinking that if they wanted my bike all day, I’d have to get theirs dirty, I headed for some trails I’d seen just on the outskirts of the city.
Great fun, I was soon up in the pegs and flying over some dry muddy fields, out onto a gravel path and down into some rough stony tracks, the lack of real grunt meant I could give it some twist without any real fear of over cooking my limited off road skills, it’s not really fair to compare it to a GS but as that’s the only bike I’ve gone off road on, I must; firstly the weight at low speeds is a big plus, with the GS I often err on the side of caution if having to make slow speed turnaround as not only is it a heavy bitch to lift but I need to have solid ground to do it on, at speed I noticed the KLE was going over some tractor tracks where the GS would have just ploughed through them, I’m not sure if that’s good or bad either way?
http://image16.webshots.com/16/4/77/60/220847760ayWAci_ph.jpg
Anyway, I had a good hours fun, and never came close to an off, what more could I want?
Summing up the KLE 500, I think it’s a great little bike, a good urban assault bike, and one you could have some rural fun on as well, it’s possible that somebody of a smaller size than myself (6ft and 109kg) could even do short tours on it, all in all it’s an honest bike that doesn’t pretend to be anything great, just not one that I’d ever buy, I can’t remember the last time I rode a bike so small, but I am thinking it’s one I’ll aim my son at for his first proper bike. :thumbsup: