KLR 650

I have a 2009 KLR 650 that I bought new. Recently I bought a new battery for it as I was told they don't last much past 2 years generally. I bought a kit which was what the motorcycle shop had in stock and was very careful filling the battery cells with battery acid. If you do this just remember that battery acid in your eyes can make you blind. So don't touch your eyes until you wash your hands  well while doing this. Also, be sure to wear eye protection glasses or goggles in case of any drips or splashes that you might not notice or see that could splash into your eyes somehow when you don't notice. I found I was very careful but I still ruined the flannel plaid shirt I was wearing which was one of my favorites that I sometimes wore under my jacket when riding my dualsport. It had holes the size of quarters to nickles below my belly. One even burned through a hole in my T-shirt underneath even though I didn't notice any splashes at all at the time. The holes showed up later in the week. I also bought a trickle charger to charge the battery.   I installed it permanently into it's spot I attached permanent trickle charger leads to the battery so I can charge it up as many times as I need to especially if I don't ride it for awhile when I'm traveling to another state or out of the country on a plane. You just roll up the leads and stuff them there until you need them to plug into later. I've thought about getting a Husqvarna motorcycle that is made by BMW because it is made for bigger men like myself. Also, someone showed me a Yamaha bike that fits this adjustable shock type of bike as well for men over 200 pounds like me who are over 6 feet 4 inches tall. Most of the bikes that are dualsports like this are around 600 to 650 cubic centimeters in displacement. If you go much beyond a 650 cc bike it is difficult riding something like that in the dirt. It takes a lot more work. And even 650 is a lot. I think my KLR 650 is about as much weight as I would want to have while riding in the dirt. Even then it's weight is high  you can throw it a little bit with your hips like you often have to in the dirt. But, I wouldn't recommend it for riding sandy washes in the desert or something like that because you wouldn't want it to fall on you. You don't want to get pinned by it while moving 30 or 40 in the sand. So, I mostly prefer to ride it on country paved roads or dirt roads that aren't too squirrely.
You want to give yourself a little leeway on a bike as big as a 650 even if it has height or knobbies on unless you are more of a professional rider or just an expert rider off road.

A Kawasaki KLR 650 is mostly an off road touring bike Dualsport built for stability in literally almost any kind of terrain you will encounter worldwide. So, it is not specifically an off road bike but it will do it as long as you are careful. It is something you can ride worldwide if you want to and can license and ride anywhere you wish.

Lately, this last year I haven't ridden as much because of dealing with my heart compression problems but even with that I try to ride at least once every week or two to keep the feel of it up because you don't want to lose your ability through disuse.Being very instinctual and intuitive is good so I don't ride unless everything feels perfect for me to do it.  It is sort of like flying a plane you need practice to be safe. Or like driving a car it is good to drive at least once a week to keep up your reflexes and driving skills, especially if you leave the country for a couple of weeks and don't drive anything during that time.

Where I live there aren't a lot of dirt roads that I can run down like when I was young out in the deserts near Yucca Valley. It was wonderful then riding my BSA 500 from World War II in North Africa and then later my 1974 Honda 250 XL dualsport. I think from 1975 until 1985 or so this was my favorite motorcycle I ever owned because it was a dream off road in the dirt. It was easy to throw my hips and do really amazing moves on that bike almost anywhere. At one point I jumped the bike 8 feet high in the air (without the newer shocks that allow 25 feet or more for racers). In my 20s and early 30s I loved that bike from 1975 until my oldest stepson was 17 or 18 and we traded the bike for a new sound system for him for his room likely around 1989. The shifter pedal by then had broken a couple of times and I had welded it back together and it was time for it to move on once again. But I will never forget the fun I had and the freedom it gave me from the deserts of Yucca Mesa (near Yucca Valley) to the wide open dirt roads of San Diego County then to all the dirt roads around Mt. Shasta and all the volcanic dust trails often left in the air behind me as I explored all the back dirt roads that encircle Mt. Shasta from Mt. Shasta City, to McCloud to Lava Beds National Monument in the summers there from about 1975 to 1985.