Longterm 2026 Kawasaki KLE500: First Ride

• Smooth twin-cylinder engine brings a different feel to the class
• 21″/17″ wheels. Strong road manners — even two-up
• Big question remains: how will it perform off-road?

Kawasaki has loaned BRM a new KLE500 for an extended period to see if the green team’s contender in the small-capacity adventure category is up for the challenge.

It’s been a while since we’ve had a Kawasaki to play with, so I was pretty excited as I headed down the road from BRM HQ to Kawasaki NZ’s warehouse for the handover. Meeting tech whiz George, I was quite surprised at how good the new KLE looks — especially considering it’s essentially all black. I guess with the small ADV segment so hot at the moment, bikes need to look the part or they’re not going to compete.

At the heart of the KLE500 is, well, a 451cc (weird, I know) parallel twin taken from the Ninja 500. That’s no bad thing, as the LAMS Ninja is held in high regard. But will the powerplant work in an adventure platform? I was keen to find out.

Revived Name

While we’ve seen plenty of road-leaning adventure tourers from Kawasaki under the Versys umbrella, reviving the KLE name — it was a mid-capacity adventure bike from the 90s — gives the impression the new bike is going to be more dirt-focused.

There’s a 21-inch front wheel, which is a good start, an upright adventure riding position with a nice set of one-piece handlebars, and decent KYB suspension. We were given the standard KLE500, so there’s not much to play with in terms of adjustment or tech, although I was pleased to see a big button to deactivate the rear ABS — that’s certainly going to be handy.

The IRC Trail Winner tyres also hint at Kawasaki’s intentions, with the chunky tread pattern on the OE rubber suggesting the KLE is expected to see at least a bit of dirt.

Swinging a leg over the saddle of the shiny Kawasaki — it only had 80km on the clock — proved easy enough with a seat height of 870mm. In the grand scheme of things, that’s pretty manageable. And if it does sound like a stretch, it’s worth trying the KLE for size as the narrowness through the middle meant I was virtually flat-footed — and I don’t have especially long legs.

That might also tie into something many reviewers have mentioned — the relatively low ground clearance. With 185mm on offer, the bashplate does look like it could get a bit too friendly with the ground if you were pushing hard off-road. But — and this is the important bit — how many KLE owners are really going to do that sort of riding?

If your riding is more about sealed roads with the odd gravel detour — which, let’s face it, is most Kiwi adventure riding — then outright ground clearance is probably less important than feeling comfortable and confident on a bike that isn’t too heavy and that you can actually reach the ground on.

First Run

After heading back to BRM HQ, the glorious sunny day was enough to persuade the wife to jump on the back and head to Raglan for a spin. With Mrs Lance onboard, there was going to be no chance of gravel shenanigans. Although with so little mileage on the twin, I was happy to get some road kilometres on the clock to bed everything in before heading off-road.

With around 50hp and 43Nm on offer, the fact the Kawasaki doesn’t run anything fancy like a 270-degree crank to offset the firing order makes the KLE500 feel quite different to others in the class. And it took a little getting used to after spending plenty of time recently on small ADV bikes that mimic V-twin character or rely on punchy single-cylinder motors.

On the Kawasaki, you do need to dial in a few revs to get things moving.

Once I adjusted to that, we made good progress. And the KLE impressed considering we were two-up on a LAMS machine. Launching off the line takes a bit of revs and clutch slip if you want to beat traffic, but once rolling, the twin has a decent mid-range.

That showed itself on overtakes, where the roll-on in sixth gear at 100km/h was more than acceptable. Only when I wanted a pass to be a bit more urgent did I need to drop a cog.

It’s a good engine — and it works well in this package. On the road, at least. The dirt will be the real test.

Being the base model — and $1320 cheaper than the SE — the main difference is the LCD dash instead of the TFT. That didn’t bother me too much, as the first thing I did was mount my Quad Lock to the bar above the dash, which conveniently positions my iPhone behind the screen.

Talking of the screen, I raised it to its highest position (a bit of a job involving undoing bolts), and it now shelters the phone nicely. The only issue was the lack of a USB outlet, so I fitted an Oxford unit up near the dash — easy fix.

The SE adds some worthwhile extras — handguards, a bigger screen, a better bash plate and nicer graphics. I’d probably take the TFT dash if I had the choice, but it’s not a deal-breaker.

The road to Raglan is always a favourite, with a decent set of twisties over the Divi. And even two-up on a 50hp ADV bike, it’s still a good time.

The KLE handled better on the road than I expected. The suspension coped with tight turns and heavy braking well, and if anything, it feels slightly on the firm side — possibly to avoid running into clearance issues off-road. The result is a bike that actually works nicely on the road.

We added a bit of preload to the rear Uni-Trak shock to cope with the extra weight, and the KLE proved itself a competent little tourer. It’s not a big bike, and Kerry wasn’t overly keen to go much further than Raglan and back, but it was smooth, easy and engaging.

What’s Next

Next up will be some proper local adventuring. With Greg Boyd already talking about another day out exploring some of his favourite Waikato tracks and trails, the KLE500 should be in for a decent workout.

With the phone mounted and powered for GPS, I’ll add a set of Oxford Nomad throwovers so I can carry some camera gear and tools. With no rack, that’s really the only option unless you go for Kawasaki’s hard pannier system — but that’s not really the direction I want to take this bike.

At $11,215 + ORC, the KLE500 is another solid contender in the small-capacity adventure segment. Stepping up to the SE at $12,535 + ORC adds some nice extras, but also pushes it further into a very competitive part of the market.

Ultimately, it comes down to what sort of riding you’re planning — and whether the Kawasaki approach suits what you want from an adventure bike.

Check back soon — we’ll have our first proper off-road impressions up as soon as we can.