Hi everybody, it's Peter, and in this review we're going to go an in-depth review of the KLR S. Now the S stands for shorter, and we've already reviewed the KLR on its own. We've compared the KLR Adventure to the versus 650 in previous videos. And you can see them in the link that I'll put below in the description. But this time we're looking at for the very first time, the S model, which like I said, is shorter. We're going to talk about how it's shorter, why it's shorter, and we're going to do all that. But if you have questions that I don't get to in this video, make sure you let me know in the comments below and hit subscribe because I have full access to the Kawasaki lineup here at Jim Gilbert's PowerSports, and they will allow me to come back to this vehicle again and again and again to make sure that I answer your questions.

So we want to thank Jim Gilbert's PowerSports, who are currently renovating, and you'll see a little bit of a different area here where I'm in, and maybe the lighting's not perfect and there's some stuff on the ground, they're making renovations just for you, but this bike is in stock now and you can come check it out. Let's get going with the review. So if we're going to talk about it being shorter, we can go over the specs in a second, but let's show you practically what this is like. First of all, my right foot is flat on the ground. I'm going to put the kickstand up so it's out of my way, and my knees are in a nice casual bend, so I could still be flat-footed even sitting taller, but I'm casually comfortable. This doesn't feel intimidating at all, which was always the knock against the KLR. It being so tall that sometimes it was a little bit intimidating for people.

So let's just compare as I jump over to the KLR Adventure. Now the KLR S is not available in an Adventure, but we can talk about how that can be set up in the future. Let me jump over here, and you can see if my left foot is flat. Let's get the kickstand out of the way as well. My left foot is flat. I'm kind of angling the bike. Let's bring it straight. My heel is a good few inches up, so it doesn't seem like a lot just by looking at my feet. I'm about a six footer, and if I was to go flat foot, I'm swinging side to side, so it's definitely shorter. Let's talk about how you get to that shorter seat height right now.

So there's three key ways that they get to the lower height on this vehicle. First of all, they lower the front suspension. Instead of having 7.9 inches of travel, you now have 6.7 inches of travel, same thing with at the back. Instead of having eight inches of travel, you now have seven inches of travel. And the final thing they do is they give it a little bit of a re-contoured lower seat, which is still very, very comfortable. But those three components are really the only differences in getting this to that lower height.

So the thing that's most interesting to me about this bike is that I kind of assume the S would just make it for shorter riders, but now I'm thinking, this actually appeals to me even as a relatively tall rider just as it is because of the familiarity I have with it. So if you talk about losing suspension travel, absolutely that can matter if you're going way, way, way off road. But reality is I'm not sure how far off road I would take this bike. Maybe down gravel roads, the odd light trails, I'm not sure I need that last little bit of suspension travel that the regular KLR gives me over this, especially when every piece of my riding is going to benefit from having that little bit closer to the ground reach.

So what's interesting is I think this now gives you not just an option for taller riders and shorter riders, but a truly different feeling bike that's just as capable because the components are really the exact same. So let's talk about some of those components right now. So when I think of the KLR, I think about its capability and its practicality, and you've got all the same stuff here, the same rack, the same rear plate back here, which you can mount extra components to. You've got a toolkit that locks into here. And what I really like is you've got this relatively level to the seat. Now, it's a little bit different angle here, but you can still stack your stuff over these metal bars onto the seat right through to the rails here.

And you have little, little pins on the bottom here to help tie things down. So even if you don't go with expensive luggage, you can still mount things to this bike and take things anywhere. Now, this doesn't have the adventure model with the hard side bags as a separate model, but because these are all the same components, you can accessorize this up in the exact same way with both Kawasaki options as well as with aftermarket options. And I think that makes this just as practical as it's taller sibling. Taking a look at the dash, this is what you see from the driver's environment, and we looked at the Adventure in a previous video not too long ago. This section here on this one is just a hard plastic case, on the Adventure model it was already filled in with a rubber topping, and then inside that was a USB port. You could add that to this bike if you wanted.

Over here on the other bike, on the adventure model, again, you had the push button, extra auxiliary lights, the fog lights if you will, that you had the button for here. Again, just a hard plastic thing here. You can add that if you want. And there's also a place for a 12 volt port. So you can see all of those things could be added to this, but just like the KLR non-Adventure model, this is the same thing here. So if you want those pieces, you can add them. If you don't, that's fine too. Turning the dash on, you can see everything comes to life. And again, a very basic simple dash here, no tachometer, which I thought was a problem, but remember this is a thumper. This is a single cylinder engine. It has all of its torque down low. You don't have to rev it out for max power. So it's not something that you really have to max rev to get good power like a twin cylinder bike or something like that. That's really high revving. This is a low revving bike and therefore you don't need it as much.

One thing I think I wish they would do is this spot here feels like a perfect place for a gear indicator. It is not a gear indicator. This bike does not have one. That's okay. It is a five speed transmission that KLRs all are on like a six speed transmission for most of the other Kawasaki lineup. Other than that, just basic info in here, you've got your odometer, trip A, trip B, and that's it. So pretty clean stuff. Your fuel gauge there, this one needs to have some fuel at it. I literally just stole it after the inspection right off the truck and I've taken it. Clock is sitting there right there as well, and a very clear speedometer, which you can read at any speed. So everything you need, maybe I'd like a tack or a gear shift indicator. But again, you don't really need the tack, you don't really need the gear shift indicator. And again, nothing you don't. Just the very basics.

Taking a look out front, if you haven't seen a modern KLR, you do have those bright white LED headlights. LED headlights are great for a couple reasons. One, they look modern, they're nice and bright, but the color is closer to daylight color. And that means when you're driving down the road at night, that white light allows your eyes to very quickly identify what you're seeing. So when it's different color like a yellowy light, it's just harder for your brain to identify instantly what you're seeing. Down here, again, this is a shorter suspension bike, but it is still a full KLR. You have the exact same front tire, the 21 inch front tire as you have on the other KLR. And this one here has the disc brake. So a large single disc brake, which is all you need for a bike like this, keeps it clean, and the spoke wheels are going to give you that strength that you need. You always see dirt bikes with spoke wheels, street bikes with the non-spoked wheels, or at least non-traditional spoked wheels. That's what you want to see on a bike like this for extra strength.

I'm going to use this view to really show you some of the adventure roots of this bike, and how they've thought of basically everything. So in here your rad has some nice shielding built in. It's all bolted in there. This is a hard plastic shield, which is a really nice solid plastic. It's lightweight in that plastic, but it's going to cover your key components when you have things ripping up there. You've got rubber foot pegs here. Again, a thumper engine, a single cylinder engine can have some vibrations and stuff. So you've really kind of isolated that through the rubber padding here. And you've also got the rubber padding on your passenger pegs as well.

So a lot of dirt bikes or bikes that are more dirt oriented don't have that. But again, this is more of an adventure bike. It gives you that long drive comfort as well as the dirt road ability. So really good just overall understanding of what this bike is going to go through and prepare for it. And again, that's part of what makes this such a legendary bike. So once again, we're going to film from some awkward angles here. Again, the KLR S has the same windshield as the regular KLR. Now this is adjustable with tools. You can move it up taller and down lower simply with an Allen key. And again, it's not quick adjust that you can adjust it on the fly, but you do carry your Allen wrench with you. So if you decide you're going on the highway, want to raise it up. It does not take long to just quickly do the screws and raise it up for that portion of the trip.

In behind you have a nice little support bar which you can see there. You can mount a GPS to that, you can mount other things to that. So it's nice to have that nice solid bar here. And you also have protection for your hands, which is really nice on a bike that can go down some gravel roads, if you have other vehicles passing you maybe shooting stones up or something like that. You've got your hands protected, and it's just nice to keep you a little bit warmer as well.

The other thing we should point out is this has an enhanced alternator generator type idea. So you can really add accessories, things like heated grips, things like lighting, things like heated vests and other kinds of things. This bike is a capable of handling all that stuff now where maybe it was a little bit less capable of handling that in a previous generation, which is really nice. They're thinking about how you use this bike and making it really practical.

I also want to make mention of the color of this one. It's this pearl storm gray, and it's just a really cool, kind of a little bit of metallic to it, but also sort of a matte ish finish. It's a really cool colored person, and everybody's walked by just while I've been filming this has been like, "Wow, that's a great color." A little different than the camo look of that one. A lot of people are really liking this. The other thing, while I'm standing here, you have a very large fuel tank, 23 liters of fuel in here, same as the regular KLR. So you've got a really good range on this bike, so you can take it off the beaten trail and even if you're not near your gas stations, you're going to be good for a long, long time with that single cylinder, relatively efficient fuel injected engine. Now, it didn't use to be fuel injected on previous generations, it is now, used to be carburetted, so that means it's going to start up or without any problem in the cool morning hours.

But even if you go up altitude, it doesn't have to be adjusted as you go up. You can really handle any kind of riding with this. I want to talk really briefly about the riding position on this bike because every review I'm sure is going to mention that it's shorter, but if you haven't seen my previous KLR review, you may not notice a few things. First of all, even though it's shorter, my legs are tucked in here nicely. There's a little bit of wind protection just from the shape of the bike overall. And your knees aren't up into the tank or anything just because it's a little bit shorter. You've got a nice triangle of space here, and it's a very, very wide handlebars. The first thing you're going to notice compared to something like a versus, or even a sport bike, or other kinds of bikes, it's a very wide handlebar.

It's probably the widest handlebar we've got on any bike here. And there's no difference between the regular KLR and the KLR S in that width of handlebar. So you have a really commanding position, and being a little bit lower the ground. To me, this is a really confidence inspiring bike. You have no problem reaching the ground even on uneven terrain, and that's really where the KLR makes a difference. If you're on that uneven terrain, sometimes that's where you get stuck. It works fine on a showroom floor, but if you park and stop and there's a pothole right there, then you're a little less confident on the bigger bike. This one, you're going to have that confidence, but you're also going to have that confidence riding. You've got really good leverage here to control the bike. And overall it's just a really comfortable riding position that you can ride for a long time and feel like you have good control over the bike.

And like I said, the one benefit here is I don't think you have to be a shorter rider to appreciate this. I think a rider like myself really appreciates this overall position. The one thing I'm wondering, just looking here, the wind screen seems to be just a hair taller and that would make sense if the seat's a little bit lower. It just positions you a little bit different on this wind screen, and it may actually give you slightly better wind protection on the S than on the regular KLR.

So I always try to end these videos by talking about who this bike is for. And like I said, I started with, well, this is a KLR for shorter riders, but I'm not sure that's really the case. I think it gives you two options within the Kawasaki lineup for a different style of an adventure bike. They really do feel in some ways like different bikes. I love the confidence that this gives me just standing on it. And even as a six footer, this is a bike that I might even consider for myself over the larger KLR. Now, obviously a little bit extra suspension travel. If you're riding really hardcore, you're going to want to go with the KLR. But if you're just going to go, like most of us are going to drive and take some rougher roads, some off-road, you don't really need all that extra suspension travel, you may find yourself just as comfortable on this.

I think Kawasaki was brilliant to bring this out because if you like the KLR bike overall, I think the S may appeal to taller riders, shorter riders, just to give them a different bike that gives you all the same features, the great value and that comfort of being a bike that really does it all. You want to drive on the streets, you want to drive off road, you can do that, you want to tour, everything you want to do, you can do on this bike and it makes it a great single motorcycle to do everything and now it's more approachable. So great job for Kawasaki for bringing this bike out.

So if you want to see this bike in person, you can see it here at Jim Gilbert PowerSports. Like I said, they're renovating the showroom right now, which is why I've been moving around to different places. But they have this one here, they've got another one just like it over there. They've got all kinds of KLRs in stock, and you can see them here this winter. I'm filming very late November of 2022. They're around. This is a 2023 bike. And if you have questions for me that you want to know more about this bike, make sure you subscribe right now and let me know on the comments below because I'll make sure I get to those questions, answer them in the comment section and come back with future videos. Thanks everybody for watching.