There's a special place in my dirt-loving heart reserved for entry-level off-road adventure motorcycles. Yes, I could pray at the altar of the big-displacement, huge-horsepower monsters from the likes of Ducati, KTM, or BMW, but they're just that, big, bulky, and while mostly manageable, I'd rather not manage a motorcycle when I'm off adventuring. I want freedom and care-free riding, not worrying about just how much this motorcycle freakin' weighs.
So when Kawasaki dropped the all-new 2026 KLE500, an entry-level adventure motorcycle in the vein of Royal Enfield's Himalayan 450, CFMoto's Ibex 450, and KTM's 390 Adventure, you'd best believe I stood up and took notice. But then the internet did what the internet does best: eschewed nuance for hot takes and hatred. The Boom and Bust cycle that reduces enthusiasm to nothing.
Folks decided that the suspension wasn't good enough, that the engine was too high-strung for off-roading, that the rear tire was too small, the layout was bad, the components were trash, and every other accusation of malady they could think of. No one had ridden the motorcycle, mind you, but the prognostication was that the KLE500 was stupid and bad and bad and stupid.
Annoyingly, reviewers parroted the original internet accusations because the internet rewards hate and hot takes. But after riding it through the scenic roads and trails that zigzag through Zion National Park and its surrounding public lands, after jumping it, plowing through a sandstorm, and utilizing all of its aluminum skid plate, I'm here to tell you that, shockingly, the internet is wrong. It's a good entry-level off-roader.
And it could be great with a few small tweaks.
Our test site was the surrounding area of Zion National Park, a place that screams The West. Towering cliffs once full of seawater, rock slides the beggar's belief, a mountain affectionately dubbed "Flying Monkey" as the feds used to test rocket sleds atop it with monkeys strapped into the chairs, and the siltiest of dirt you can imagine. Fire roads of all sorts criss-cross the terrain, as some are gravel, some are dirt, and some are washed out to the point where only cattle, deer, and bighorn should dare enter.
If you're going to find flaws in an off-road motorcycle, it'll be here, is what I'm saying. And it very much mimicked the Northern Utah terrain of the route I rode with my personal lord and savior, the Royal Enfield Himalayan 450, two years ago. And that's absolutely one of Kawasaki's competitors within the space.
Apples to apples, as it were.
Throwing a leg over, what you'll first notice is the seat height and ergonomics, in that they're pretty damn perfect. Seat height is 34.3 inches, which sounds high and it is. I'm 6'4" and have a 34-inch inseam, so this is a motorcycle that's more or less built for my stature, but it could all fail if the bars and cockpit aren't well thought out. Kawasaki, however, delivered with the bars being super upright, the tank contoured to your legs and pushing you straight up, and the seat being surprisingly comfortable. The pegs are solid footholds, too, though I did spy that Kawasaki was testing a set of accessory titanium pegs with a much wider pad, and I'd have taken a set of those in a heartbeat.
The dash is pretty basic, and is the now-standard TFT that comes on basically every new motorcycle. It tells you all you need to know and nothing more. There is the option for Kawasaki's Rideology app, which connects to your Bluetooth-enabled comms, and you can ask the bike things like how much fuel is left, get turn-by-turn directions, and more, too. Most importantly, at least to all the off-roaders in the group, there's no traction control, and ABS can be fully disabled with the push of a button on the bars. The former, however, can be somewhat disconcerting to the entry-level rider. It shouldn't be.
Not having traction control can seem daunting for those new to riding off-road, but this is a motorcycle that neither makes a ton of power, nor that power at the front of the power band. The 451cc parallel-twin engine, one plucked directly from the Ninja 500 and unchanged from that application, is a high-revving unit in that you have to really grab it by the scruff of the neck and wring it out to get the advertised 51 horsepower. Many online have taken aim at that fact, but I didn't find it a deal breaker at all.
Along the washes and roads, the KLE500 had enough torque and power down low to chug-a-chug along at walking pace, and when everything opened up, or I went linking corner-to-corner, I could slide the ass end out like I was Chris Birch. On one particularly quick fire road, I was more often sideways than I was straight. On purpose, that is. I do understand the critique, however, as there were a few spots where I would've liked more torque, and I think Kawasaki could fix that pretty easily with a slight ECU tune, and a larger rear sprocket.
I say this, as there were a few areas where I went hunting for a gear in between a gear, i.e., one between first and second, or second and third. The gearbox itself was solid, but a bit more torque, whether mechanically-derived through a sprocket, or electronically-derived from a new torque map, would've made all the haters not have a leg to stand on. Right now, they've got a toe to point to. Well, two toes, as the suspension needs a slight adjustment, too.
Before I get into it, you have to be reminded that this isn't some go-fast, take-names, Dakar-wannabe. Though it definitely looks like one. It's an entry-level adventure motorcycle. It's built for new riders and those just starting their off-road journeys. It wasn't designed to be the end-all, be-all, and the internet needs to understand that nuance. And by that standard, the suspension is good, but not great.
Inverted KYB forks offer 8.3 inches of travel at the front, while the single shock at the rear gives you 7.7 inches. The fronts are non-adjustable, while you can play with the preload at the back. There's also a much-criticized 6.8 inches of ground clearance, coupled with a small skid plate on the base model, and a much bulkier one on the SE model, which is what I rode.
On one particular section of our ride, it became a cattle trail. It was a washed-out, heavily rutted, twisty, turny, serpentine-esque two-track with baby-head rocks, sharp whoops, and quicksand bogs. It was here that I found the KLE500's limiting assets.
While the suspension is super linear and progressive, its compression is too fast to really soak up the heavy hits. I get why Kawasaki's engineers did this, as the bike is light, tipping the scales at just 428 pounds. And a lot of folks are going to be riding these on-road or on light fire trails versus the more gnarly off-roading we were doing, so a softer setup makes sense. Heavy-duty internals probably aren't needed, especially for an entry-level anything. But what I found was that any time I needed the front or rear to really soak up a hit, I'd hit bump stops and the skid plate. Thankfully, it did enough not to buck me off, but I get why folks were upset about it. Kawasaki could easily fix this, too, as with some added preload and some small dampening adjustments, you wouldn't have any issue at all.
I did make the joke, "I paid for this skid plate, so I'm going to use all of it," a few times, however.
To that end, even with me and my 190-pound frame punishing the aluminum unit, it didn't show a single dent in it at the end of the day. You could also increase the rear wheel by an inch, which is what the entirety of the internet yelled about when Kawasaki first released the specs last year. "How dare it have a 17-inch wheel when 18-inch wheels are available!?" And, eh. I didn't find the 17-incher all that limiting, as it cut through pretty much everything I threw at it. Including the mud the following morning, after it rained 3-4 inches overnight. You'll see that in the video review I did soon.
I do think the height/width (140/70-17) is a bit funky given all the off-the-shelf tires available, though. But none of this is the sky-is-falling the internet would've had you believe. The KLE500 ain't a basket case. It isn't some fail-son of an adventure motorcycle. It's exactly what it purports itself to be: an entry-level adventure motorcycle with entry-level parts and tuning. But of course, the internet isn't a place for nuance.
Yet, you absolutely have to think about those things, especially when you're talking price. Kawasaki wants $6,599 for the base KLE500, and $7,499 for the KLE500 SE, which nabs you the better skid plate, the TFT display, LED turn signals, a taller adjustable windscreen, and reinforced metal hand guards, along with the option to have it in the dope white/green colorway you see in the pictures here. Both prices put the KLE500 squarely within the realm of those other entry off-roaders mentioned above. The CFMotos, the Enfields, the KTMs, etc. So pricing isn't going to be the deciding factor when choosing one over the other.
Personally, I'm still team Himmy, as the Royal Enfield didn't have some of the tuning issues I found with the Kawasaki. But those issues are solvable. And easily solvable at that. Moreover, the bones of the KLE500 are impeccable, and there's room in it for something else, something greater, something more hardcore, something that could take on the best of the best in a way that I'm unsure any of the others could.
Maybe that's a discussion for another time, though. Or maybe that's just a fantasy. Hell, the internet lets you say whatever you want, whether it's right or wrong, so maybe stay tuned and I'll detail what I'd love for Kawasaki to build me...
