Kawasaki KLE 500: feel-good all-rounder for every day

The name KLE stirs memories, and so does its engine: with 45 hp at 9000 rpm and 42.6 Nm of torque at 6000 rpm, the 451cc parallel twin at the heart of the KLE 500, already familiar from the Ninja or Z500, is a mature engine that goes about its business with real zest yet remains very accessible. Zippy, present, only up top might you sometimes wish for a bit more, but we're moving in A2 territory here and it need not shy away from any comparisons. All of this is backed up by an extremely precise gearbox that makes shifting a pleasure. The bike is agile, letting itself be steered playfully into corners with the wide handlebar despite the 21-inch front wheel. Nothing to complain about with the brakes either, which always have the Kawasaki firmly in check - not too grabby, but sharp enough to rein the rig in at any time.

Nevertheless, it calls less for sporty pass-hunting with a knife between the teeth, and definitely has its qualities in relaxed touring instead. That starts right when you get on, where you immediately feel at home in the saddle of the KLE, almost regardless of body size. The seat height at 850 millimeters is manageable, and even tall riders find good ergonomics. The same goes for standing up while riding, which has a lot to do with the relatively high-mounted handlebar. The suspension isn't adjustable, but with genuinely generous travel of 210 millimeters up front and 196 millimeters at the rear, it irons out bumps like nothing. In terms of setup it's definitely on the comfortable side - the bad, bumpy roads we tackled in our test were a pleasure to ride on the KLE.

It's only when you really want to go at it sportily that the chassis reaches its limits. In other words: to blast through the well-developed hairpins at maximum lean angle on the Grossglockner High Alpine Road, the KLE is less suited for that - the rider lacks closeness to the front wheel, that final trust. In touring use, however, which is exactly what the chassis and bike are designed for, it does a really good job. Even the ground clearance, which at 185 millimeters is on the lower end for an adventure bike and clearly below the suspension travel, won't cause any problems there. The reason given is that within the modular platform shared with the naked bike and supersport model, it would have been too costly to redesign the exhaust routing so it doesn't run underneath the engine - which would also have required new homologation and driven up the price of the bike.

The combination of 21-inch front and 17-inch rear wheel sizes is shared by the KLE with genuinely off-road-capable adventure bikes like the BMW F900 GS, Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro, or Suzuki V-Strom 800 DE, but the unusual rear wheel dimension does considerably limit tire choice. Besides the standard-fitted Japanese IRC Trail Winner, which cuts a good figure both on the road and on gravel as long as it's not too muddy, it becomes difficult to find suitable rubber with a coarser tread pattern.

When you turn off the paved road with the KLE, whether onto a gravel track or into somewhat more demanding sections like the ones we found on the off-road course at the Newchurch Summit, there's at least not much to adjust, because there's not much adjustable in the first place. The suspension is fixed, there's no traction control, no riding modes either - all as purist as a Yamaha Tenere used to be at the start. The ABS can be fully switched off; there's no off-road ABS that only deactivates at the rear wheel, which probably wouldn't have been a bad choice for this bike's target audience. There's definitely room here for the next model update.

Still, quite a lot is possible with the Kawasaki on unpaved roads too, as pro rider Bernd Hiemer showed us, kicking up plenty of noise and dust in the process: the bike can do more than most riders will want to ask of it. And with a sturdy engine crash bar fitted, the odd scrape underneath is no big deal. Still, the KLE is definitely not a hardcore off-road machine - but with its wonderful engine and this agility, it's a feel-good all-rounder just as suited to the daily commute as to the trip that may well include some tricky gravel sections, for adventure wandering without riding at the limit.

The Kawasaki KLE 500 is offered in two variants. The standard model is available in Austria for 7,099 euros and in Germany for 6,895, while the Kawasaki SE variant we tested costs 7,899 (AT) or 7,695 (DE). For that you additionally get a TFT color display with smartphone connectivity, LED indicators, a taller windscreen, genuinely sturdy hand guards, as well as a large aluminum bash plate. Above all, though, it's a beginner-friendly bike that will be a reliable companion on the most varied of routes.