SURPRISE, SURPRISE Well, it turns out I was in for a surprise. I’ d ridden up to the Kiwi Rider Mangakahia KR350 adventure ride on my trusty Suzuki DR650E. It’ s the usual story with the big trailie; it ticks along quite happily at 100 – 110km / h on the main roads, but after about 100km the old posterior starts to make its presence felt and unhappy feelings known. I’ d also ridden the Kiwi Rider Riverhead KR350 on the big DR, way back in 2022, so I was fully prepared to ride the old girl again for the day’ s adventure ride. Most of the riders at the morning briefing looked to be on 650cc or bigger machines, and looked suitably keen to get stuck into the

day’ s gravel. As often happens with Kiwi Rider events, an offer came my way to try Kawasaki’ s new KLX300 dual-sport / trail bike, and give some first thoughts on the bike.‘ What the hell’, I thought. I’ ll give it a whirl.

PLAYING CATCHUP I cut out the first forest section— which I was later told may have been some of the best riding of the day— in order to catch up and ride with photographer Geoff Osborne and Jock McLauchlan( nothing to do with always being late, huh Todd?- Ed). The damp asphalt whirred away beneath the excellent, standard Dunlop D605s. At 100km / h the engine turns over at a little over 6500rpm. That might sound like a lot of revs, but the Kawasaki seemed to cope with it remarkably easily, without sounding too stressed about things. Caught up with the crew, and had a coffee stop— yes, really. While sipping my caramel chai latte, what struck me most after that first spin on the KLX was its weight, or

KIWI RIDER 47