I'll go out on a limb here and stay the KLR650 is probably one of the best values in the motorcycle market today. It doesn't do anything the "best" but it does do everything quite competently.

I've chased folks on KDX's on my KLR650. Now I've had to go home, sleep for 12 hours and then submerge myself in a tub of Ben Gay to relieve the pain. If you don't mind wrestling an aligator all day long and have the endurance to do it, the KLR650 will take you just about anywhere you chose to venture.

Were something to happen to my KLR650, I would be buying another one. However, there is more available for the older - 96 through 07 model years. Plus the price is lower. Knowing what I now know about that bike, I'd have to buy used.

 

Since we are talking about blaspheming, I just wanted to say that I have been talking to all sorts of people about bikes and the characteristics of each, and I have come to the conclusion that Honda has the most reliable and easiest starting motors in the world. I have heard of Honda engines that have sat out all winter in the Tundra up in Alaska and started almost immediately. I wonder if I can fit a Honda 450 motor in the KLX frame. Sorry I'm just frustrated with trying to start bikes in cold temps, (see cold starting post)[:@]

 

I was talking with my new neighbor about snowthrowers soon after I moved from a highrise to a house. He said that he got a Honda snowthrower for his wife (yes, for his wife!!!) because they were guaranteed to start on the first pull. I asked him about electric start and he said that its more of a hassle and you can still run into starting problems. He said that the dealer will give it a free tune-up if it ever doesn't start on the first pull. (He has to bring it in and pay for annual servicing, though.) It looked like a nice machine, but at over twice the price of a similar machine, I opted for the cheaper brand. (Its always started for me by 3 pulls, so I'm not complaining.)

Now, if I could only figure out how to ask my neighbor's wife if she could do my driveway! (Maybe I should show her my Dog Supervision Quiz results? [sm=drooldude.gif])

 

Easy player...