u/too_much_covfefe_man

Got a 2027 V2 last month, took it on a rip through some national forests. It's surprisingly easy to ride all day long. I was looking for a midweight sport tourer or tall-rounder with good components and this seems to scratch the itch pretty good.

My last long term road bike was a Ulysses that I loved until consumable parts became scarce. I'd compare the two favorably. A lot of the same muscle memory works, which wasn't the case on the KLE 500 I had for a few months; that thing rode like a Sportster and I couldn't get over that.

I went for a topless drive to finish out August. I did not dress for the day.

The gravitational pull was irresistible

I took this thing on a 2500km road trip east to Nelson BC, west to Tofino BC, and back down to western WA on pretty much just paved terrain. Things that bothered me about it when I left no longer bother me, and I found a couple new gripes along the way.

At the end of it I think I can conclude that the KLE is a decent 2026-shaped UJM. The riding position is big and relaxed, and the forward peg position is described fairly by my wife as "scootery" (compared with her more athletic 890 advr).

I think the suspension is probably pretty good despite no adjustability, I ran it on some tight twisties in the Okanagan and on Vancouver Island and it never felt overwhelmed with my moderate pace on broken up paved mountain trails; I think that's what it's for. That kind of riding felt well suited to the bike. I can grab big handfuls of throttle and the bike stays composed, thanks to the little twin. It started feeling small on the interstate/freeways though.

I think they should have put the 650cc twin in it for me for the 110kph+ roads, I like a little more headroom for efficient overtaking, but I get how they got to the 451cc platform.

Started near Seattle, ended near Phoenix. That last day of straight line 2 lane was hot 🥵

All that highway and luggage roached the rear tire real good.

I connected some tracks through the parts of northern California I wanted to see, it was great, did Mattole Rd and Usal Rd in the LCBDR-X.

Ran the stock tank dry in SB and Maricopa counties. The bigger tank vs handling decision came down to handling for me. So I brought a 1 gal can and only filled it when necessary.

This thing is gonna need different tires for the kind of dirt we have in Arizona. The 605s managed just fine in what you typically see on the west coast but go nowhere for me in sandy conditions, which I tried out in SB county around some cool looking rocks by the highway.

Lotta fun. I enjoyed the lightweight machine with the exception of long bridge spans. Astoria and SF were both white knuckle in a side wind, phew!

The KLX is a rad bike. I liked it before taking it on Seattle Phoenix one way but now that I'm on day 7/8 I'm loving this thing

Last time I did this road was on a 1300 cruiser. This was a little more fun but I still got worn out and had to stop several times to take pictures or whatever

This is on the Lost Coast BDR-X near Steamboat Rock. I'm traveling from Seattle to Phoenix and definitely had to check out some of the tracks along the way. It's hard to describe how huge everything was on this tiny little road.

Connected later with Usal Rd. There were so many big beasts out there, I would have believed there was an organized rally happening.

West Coast touring north to south

Mattole Road was absolutely unreal

If I didn't ride it with my own two wheels, I'd suspect this photo of being an AI fabrication.

One way trip to Buckeye AZ, checking "camp on the California coast" off my list.

Anybody know good chill camping near San Francisco or Los Angeles?

Brought my 25 GT in for its first oil change. Had them look at a loose piece of stripping by the door. The glue gun they used to fix it exploded and got permanent epoxy adhesive on the weather stripping, the paint around it, and the canvas top.

They said they got the glue off the paint but they didn't do a very thorough job and didn't even mention the canvas to me, now I have a bunch of verbal promises to fix it "if we caused the damage". Ughhhh this is a disaster

Getting set to leave on a Seattle-Phoenix trip next weekend

WS ferry, Oregon Coast, Lost Coast, Golden Gate, and Big Sur are on my list.

Got my rackless, dry bag, beads, and Zumo set up. Gel palm gloves bought. Oil changed. All I have to do is clean the chain and ride for only like 45 hours