Which 650 dual sport suits you?
12/9/2024
Dr650, Featured, KLR650, XR650L
At first, it looks like nothing’s changed over the past decade. In 2015, you had a choice of three Japanese 650 dual sports: The Honda XR650L, Suzuki DR650 and the Kawasaki KLR650. In 2025, it will be the same deal. Those three bikes are still the only Japanese 650 dual sports available in North America
The names are the same, but things have indeed changed. If you’re looking to buy a new 650 in 2025, your choice might be different than a decade back. Let’s look at what each of these bikes does well.
Suzuki DR650
They didn’t even change the DR650’s paint between 2024 and 2025. Photo: Suzuki
This bike is known as the DR650S or the DR650SE in some markets, but whatever name it has, it’s pretty much the same bike that came out in 1996. So why would you want a 29-year-old design?
The DR has three things going for it: It’s relatively affordable, it’s highly reliable, and it’s very adaptable.
As far as affordability goes, right now, the DR650 has a $7,199 MSRP in the US market, $7,849 in Canada. That’s not much more than some 300cc Japanese dual sport bikes.
Suzuki DR650 for a rally raid? Let’s dance! Maybe not the best bike for the job, but it can be adapted to any task… Photo: Egle Gerulaityte
For that money, you’re getting one of the most reliable bikes in the world. There’s very little that can go wrong with this air/oil-cooled single-cylinder engine, and if you keep an eye on the POTW post every Friday, you’ll notice that the DR650 is probably the best-represented machine there, with at least one example on display every week. That’s because if you want an all-round machine that’s OK on the trails, OK on the street, it’s hard to beat the DR formula.
However, if you want to make it more street-friendly or more dirt-friendly, the aftermarket is there. You can turn the DR650 into anything you want, within reason: A hardened dirt-basher, a streamlined street tourer (uh, sort of), a supermoto, the world is the limit. Big-bore kits are readily available and easy to install. Same for aftermarket carbs and cams. Want to install an EFI system? It’s been done. If you like to tinker on machinery, the DR650 is one of the best bikes available, because the end result can turn out being surprisingly capable. The DR650 can even be lowered very easily, with factory parts (flip the shock linkage upside down, reverse some fork internals, bolt on a new kickstand).
Honda XR650L
Notice much difference from the 2024 Honda XR650L? Neither did we … Photo: Honda
You thought the DR650’s run from 1996 was impressive? Check out the Honda XR650L, basically the same since… 1992. Why hasn’t it been changed? It’s because no other Big Four manufacturer has challenged Honda’s big-bore XRs for decades. If you want a Japanese 650 that’s made for the dirt, this is the bike you want.
The XR is light (349 lb wet weight) compared to the DR650 (366 lb wet weight) and KLR (456 lb wet weight). With 13 inches of ground clearance, it’s much better-suited for off-road than either the the Suzook or the Kawi competition, and the suspension is better-tuned to handle the bumps as well. If you want to flog a big-bore thumper in the dirt, you’re far better off buying a Honda. However, if you want to cover longer distances, the weight differential between the Honda and the Suzook will somewhat even out when you add farkles to the XR.
A Honda XR650L outfitted for adventure touring. The XR isn’t generally used as a travel bike, but it can be pressed into that duty. Typically, travelers using the XR focus on having a light load, using the Honda to access tricky trails, where it outperforms the bigger 650s. Photo credit: Rocky Mountain ATV/MC
Some riders dislike the sky-high 37-inch seat, but others actually like the setup; it suits tall riders very well (my very tall former boss once told me the XR650L was the only bike he ever sat on that fit him perfectly). And if you’re used to riding trail bikes, you expect these ergos.
In the US, the XR is still quite a bargain, at a $6,999 MSRP for 2025 models, undercutting the DR650. Sadly, no MSRP for Canada, as it hasn’t been sold there for a long time. But if you’re an American looking to buy a machine with its roots in the massive Baja-dominating XRs of the 1980s and 1990s, this is the machine. It’s a dirt bike on steroids, and maybe the best deal on a current-production dual sport.
Kawasaki KLR650
The current-generation KLR650 is even bigger and heavier than before, but the price is still low, and the bike still offers the best road comfort of all the Japanese 650s; in fact, it’s far better than it was before. Photo: Kawasaki
The Gen 1 and Gen 1.5 KLRs (1987-2007) were true dual sports—slightly on the porky side, perhaps, but very rugged and solid machines. The Gen 2 (2008-2019) bikes were even more porky, with more front end plastics that hinted at on-road bias (although many riders still happily tore around off-road on them). The Gen 3 bike that came out as a 2022 model completed the transformation into a proper adventure bike. There’s a 21-inch front wheel, long-travel suspension and knobby tires, but this bike is most comfortable on the street or fire road. As mentioned above, it’s quite heavy as well.
The Gen 3 bike comes with optional ABS, but that’s a bit of a misnomer. With supply chain issues, you’ll have to just take what you can get, and the term “optional” is meaningless unless you actually have a choice. But if you fancy ABS, it’s completely unavailable on the Honda or Suzuki, and both those machines rely on carburetors, while the new KLR has EFI.
The KLR 650 Adventure comes pre-farkled with LED accessory lights, hard saddlebags and several other useful parts. However, if you can find a standard model, you can probably upgrade your bike for less money than the cost differential for the Adventure model, and some of the upgraded bits will be superior to what’s provided by Kawasaki. Photo: Zac Kurylyk
The KLR’s US pricing for the non-ABS version is excellent, at $6,899, even less than the Honda and Suzuki, and it comes with a windscreen and small rear rack, unlike either of those bikes. In Canada, it’s slightly more than the Suzuki, at $8,099 for the non-ABS version.
Of course, adding ABS and other factory upgrades (the Adventure version comes with plastic sidebags and some electro-farkles) will drive up the price, and there’s a good chance that you won’t be able to find a bike without those features. Maybe that doesn’t matter, because you want to add them anyway.
So, what to buy?
Which 650 should you buy? It depends where you want to go and what you want to do.
If you’re looking for a stripped-down thumper for blasting around the woods or dunes near your house, it’s hard to argue with the Honda.
If you’re looking for a 50/50 mix of street and trail, the Suzuki is your bike, and you can easily customize it in either direction should you decide to do so. It is the most versatile motorcycle on the market today.
If you want to do long miles on a 650, from Boston to Prudhoe Bay or something like that? Get the KLR. It’s smoother than the other two machines, gets excellent fuel economy, has a much larger fuel tank, a more comfortable seat, better lights… and did we mention its excellent price? To get either an XR or DR to the same level of comfort, you’d spend several hundred bucks. As always, if you want to save cash, the KLR is your friend!