For a bike that wasn't particularly inspiring, the Kawasaki KLE500 had a decent run. It spanned 16 years between the first generation, launching in 1991, and the second generation, ceasing production in 2007. Just when we thought it was dead forever, we got a teaser at last year's EICMA, and since then, there have been even more rumblings to build the hype train, which have worked because people are giddy to see what it's like.
And now, we get to dive in.
Peel back the chassis and you'll find the engine you were probably expecting: a 451cc parallel twin with the same 70.0 x 58.6 bore and stroke as the one powering the Ninja 500. When I tested the Ninja 500, its mid-range power was what impressed the most, but Kawasaki states that the ECU settings on the KLE500 "smooth out power delivery on the road and provide plenty of low-end pull off-road." So, we have to imagine that it'll have been retuned.
