2022 Kawasaki KLR650 vs 2021 SUZUKI DR650, Which is Better for you?

hi i'm mike with riding in the ozarks so a few weeks ago kawasaki announced a new klr [Music] it comes in three flavors and ever since the internet has been flooded with videos talking about the new features and capabilities of the klr 650 or reasons why they don't like it i recently got to do my first ride video on a klr 650. now it was a second gen and i want to thank my buddy jordan for letting me ride his bike you can check out his channel up here if you don't follow the channel you may not realize i bought a dr 650 last year i'm almost 50 and i decided to get back into riding dirt bikes i know it's probably not a great idea maybe not the smartest thing i've ever done but i'm going to do it anyway i've also made a couple of new friends that ride klr 650s and i did a lot of research on the klr versus dr's before i bought my dr-650 i wanted to make sure i was buying the right bike for me i watched several of these new klr 650 videos learning about the improvements and the new features in the klr and one of the things i heard commonly complained about in the videos and in the comments was that kawasaki did not do a complete redesign of this bike to make it more competitive with the tener race 700 well because they did not do a complete redesign i think the klr 650 is still a great bike to compare to the dr-650 so let's compare the 2022 klr 650 that's going to be coming out to the 2021 dr 650 that has not been updated yet i do realize these bikes are not available in all markets and that's a real shame it's a shame and i feel sorry for anyone who can't pick one up locally i think these are great bikes to get into adventure riding on a budget i've been watching for a small cc dual sport bike for firecracker on two wheels but they're impossible to find used right now for a reasonable price and if you find one they're gone within 24 hours since uh the whole pandemic thing and people are trying to get out and camp and stuff like that it's hard to buy dirt bikes new they're flying off the shelves i mean my local power sports dealer has very few new bikes that are in a displacement size for adults they can't keep four wheelers atvs or dirt bikes in stock if you've not watched any of these videos i've been talking about on the klr 2022 model where they talk about the improvements and features you should go check them out i'm not going to get into that in depth but we are going to cover the three models that they came out with and the pricing on those and talk about which model we're going to compare the dr to the 2022 klr based model is about 6 700 and comes in right at 7 000 with the abs option the klr 650 traveler version comes in at about 7 400 now this model does come with a top case dc and usb charging ports and abs is standard it also comes with the ugliest paint scheme i've seen yet that lava color just doesn't do it boys the top of the line model is the klr 650 adventure it comes in about eight thousand dollars it has side cases fog lamps frame sliders tank pads dc and usb charging ports abs and it comes in a premium camo gray color option all right if you're not familiar with the dr650 it comes in one trim one model one model only it doesn't have abs and it's sixty seven hundred dollars so we're going to compare it to the klr 650 base model without abs which is also sixty seven hundred dollars the klr 650 has a 650 cc four-stroke liquid-cooled single-cylinder dual overhead cam engine the dr-650 is 644 cc's four-stroke air and oil cooled and has a single cylinder single overhead cam the compression on the klr is 9.8 to 1 and the dr-650 is 9.5 to 1. the klr has fuel injection now and the dr650 is still running a carburetor both are five speed transmissions chain drive and there's less than one foot pound of torque difference between the two with the dr just slightly edging out the klr when you get into horsepower the klr now has 40 horsepower at 6000 rpm and the dr has 43.5 horsepower at 6400 rpm the klr has 7.9 inches of travel on the front suspension and the dr has 10.2 the dr also has 10.2 inches of travel in the rear suspension and the klr still only has 7.3 they're both running 21 inch fronts and 17 rears now we have a little bit of differences in the brakes here while the klr has a 300 millimeter disc it has a two piston caliper the dr has a 290 millimeter disc but it comes with a four piston caliper in the front when we get to the back of the bike they're both running 240 millimeter disc with a single piston caliper on the klr and a dual piston caliper on the dr overall length the klr is one inch longer than dr at 89.8 inches overall width the klr is four inches wider than the dr at 38.2 inches seat height on the klr is 57.7 high 56.3 low the dr just gives us one measurement at 47 inches ground clearance on the klr is 8.3 inches and the dr has 10.5 inches of ground clearance the seat height on the klr comes in at 34.3 with the dr just being a half inch higher at 34.8 all right curb weight is one of these things where they differ quite a bit the curb weight on the klr is 460 pounds and the dr is only 366. now the klr does have a 6.1 gallon gas tank and the dr only has 3.4 the wheelbase on the klr is a little bit longer at 60.6 while the dr is 58.7 they both have a 12 month warranty the headlight on the klr is led now and the dr is still around the old halogen bulb when you get into the gauge system the klr is digital but no tach and the dr has a good old analog speedo with the turn neutral indicators only when you look at the horsepower per pound the klr comes in at 0.087 while the dr is almost 30 percent more at .119 all right we're done comparing the specs on these bikes and you know i'm not going to get into all the improvements on the klr there's lots of videos out there but if you guys would really like to tell you my five favorite things about the new klr 650 leave me a comment down below and maybe i'll do that video for you but i will let you know they have supposedly fixed the doohickey and i don't know if this is good or bad but the subframe is now welded to the frame and is no longer bolt on that could be a big deal if you have to do a repair to the frame so nobody has rode the 2022 klr 650 yet because it's not out and in this case i'm going to compare the klr i've rode to the drive road and i'm going to tell you the klr feels bigger and heavier and that's not necessarily a bad thing when you're dealing with traffic on the highway but the dr feels lighter and faster and more responsive and that's not a great thing on the highway but it's a great thing on the dirt you know i'm probably sound like i'm talking out of both sides of my mouth and i kind of am what really matters is what bike is best for you and your style of riding and we've compared the specs i can tell you that i feel if you're going to ride more than 50 or 60 percent of the time on the pavement the klr is probably better suited for that but if you want something that you can really get out and play with in the dirt then i think the dr 650 is the best choice now if you're going to be riding in the mountains where the elevations change drastically then fuel injection is probably an advantage but if you like the idea of being able to work on the carburetor then you know maybe the dr is the way you still want to go i'm pretty comfortable working on carburetors i'm not comfortable working on fuel injected systems i just don't have any experience with it maybe it's not that complicated that's just not something i'm familiar with now the new klr has digital gauges and led headlamps and it provides better wind protection with that big gas tank and you won't have to fuel up as often so again like i said if you're looking to do a lot of highway riding i think the klr is better suited for that but that's just my personal opinion you can get bigger tanks for the dr you can put a windscreen on it you can change it up to be more like the klr if you really just love the dr 650 all right i've done a couple of these bike comparisons before and i can promise you someone's going to have an opinion about which bike is the best and they're going to leave a comment below and they're going to explain why this bike is superior than the other one i think what's really important is for you to understand the specs and the differences in the two bikes and which one may be suited for which style of riding better i always recommend you get out and ride as many bikes as you can before you decide which bike is best for you in the end you're the one that has to ride it and live with it and it's your choice i can only point you in the right direction based on generalizations of different types of riding styles and what these bikes may be equipped better for now leave me a comment down below and let me know which of these two bikes is best for you and why if you like this video give it a big thumbs up if you do that youtube thing check out the content on my channel and if you dig it don't forget to subscribe down below ring that bell to be notified the next time i drop a new video and as always thank you for support stay safe and keep on riding

Channel: Riding in the Ozarks

Views: 50,200

Rating: 4.8302279 out of 5

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Id: 4LLFti1ptyI

Length: 11min 8sec (668 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 06 2021