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KAWASAKI KLE500: It's one of the few dual-purpose middleweight twins and derived from the ER500 commuter bike.

Parts-bin special for growing commuter market

September 12, 2004

Kawasaki SA's Chris Speight, his eye on the underserviced and underselling commuter bike market in South Africa, has landed another budget middleweiight.

It's the Kawasaki KLE500 adventure tourer – a bike that borrows almost every component from another Kawasaki Heavy Industries product but nevertheless adds up to more than the sum of its parts.

The liquid-cooled, 498cc, DOHC parallel-twin motor has been lifted whole from the company's long-running ER500 – and in fact goes back to the GPz500S of the late 1980s.

In this edition, it's good for 34.7kW at an understressed 8500rpm and peak torque of 42.3Nm at 7500rpm.

The liquid-cooled 498cc DOHC parallel twin motor is lifted whole from the long-running ER500

It's fed by two 34mm Keihin CVK carbs and breathes out through a single large tailpipe high up on the right. The gentle-running twin uses balancing shafts to combine the smoothness of a multi-cylinder bike with the grunt of a single, together with decent fuel economy.

The power gets down to the ground via an ordinary six-speed gearbox and chain final drive.

The square-tube steel frame is derived from a generation of big Kawasaki trailies, with the lower right loop detachable to make removing the engine less of a chore.

A beefy rectangular steel swing-arm and uni-trak rear suspension linkage are managed by a monoshock that's adjustable for preload while neat 41mm conventional forks handle the 21" front wheel.

Single disc brakes with budget-basket floating callipers do braking duty at each end.

If the chassis is unremarkable parts-bin engineering the cosmetics are both neat and strikingly modern

Though the chassis is unremarkable parts-bin engineering, the cosmetics are neat and strikingly modern with a number of styling cues derived from current Kawasaki street bikes.

The half-fairing carries the same dominant headlight and windscreen as fitted to the radically styled Z1000 while the indicators are similar to those of the Z750S.

The fairing also has Kawasaki’s patented Air Curtain - horizontal ducts on each side of the cowl that reduce wind buffeting by pushing a sheet of fast-flowing air up and over the rider's helmet.

Don't laugh, Cyril, it's a well-known principle in air-conditioning.

The KLE500's long, well-padded seat, high handlebars and relaxed seating position make it a comfortable light tourer - the low-hung rear footpegs in particular mean that long rides don't have to be an endurance test for your companion.

The 21" front wheel, sump-guard, dual-purpose tyres and 180mm ground clearance give it decent dirt-road capabilities for weekend exploration while the smooth power delivery and torque characteristics of the parallel twin – and its low 181kg dry weight – should equip it admirably for the high-density weekday work run.

The KLE is aimed straight at the burgeoning dual-purpose sector of the market where its relatively low-tech specifications will matter less than all-round competence.

It slots in next to Kawasaki's KLR650, a big single more suited to the rough but not as passenger-friendly as the 500 twin.

The KLE500 will be available in metallic titanium, flat black and candy gold and it'll be here in late February 2005. Speight says the price has yet to be decided but "you can expect a large chunk of change from R50 000".

Specifications:

Motor: Liquid-cooled four-stroke parallel twin.
Capacity: 498cc
Bore x stroke: 74 x 58mm.
Valvegear: DOHC with four overhead valves per cylinder.
Compression ratio: 9.8:1.
Power: 34.7kW at 8500rpm.
Torque:42.3Nm at 7500rpm.
Induction:Two Keihin CVK34 carburettors.
Ignition: CDI electronic.
Starting: Electric.
Clutch: Cable-operated multi-plate wet clutch.
Transmission: Six-speed, constant mesh gearbox with chain final drive.
Suspension: 41mm conventional cartridge forks adjustable for preload at front, uni-trak monoshock adjustable for preload at rear.
Brakes: 300mm disc with twin-piston floating calliper at front, 230mm disc with single-piston floating calliper at rear.
Tyres: Front: 90/90-21 tube type. Rear:130/80-18 tube type.
Wheelbase: 1510mm.
Seat height: 820mm.
Dry weight: 181kg.
Fuel capacity: 15 litres.