瑞士军刀使一个美妙的比喻。我t can even stretch to a metaphor for other countries—the French Army Knife, for example, does not include a knife but is made up solely of a number of corkscrews. So… is there a Swiss Army Motorcycle? One which perhaps does not do everything entirely well—think of some of the tools on the original—but which does effectively do everything? A motorcycle which, should you only be allowed to have one bike, would at least partly satisfy your requirements?

Keep in mind that I am not writing this as a review for the hardened adventure or dirt rider. This is written for the rest of us, from a kind of outside viewpoint. I’m sure you know riders or would-be riders who can relate to this.

Good news. I am fairly sure I have found it in the Kawasaki KLR650, and more specifically the 2022 KLR650 Adventure.

Yes, I know that that will sound absurd to some of you. “A single cylinder 650, Bear?” I hear you say. “Surely you jest.” But I am perfectly serious, and don’t call me Shirley. I have been riding one of these bikes for a few days now, on dirt, gravel and tar and even on the superslab, and I am convinced. The price helps; it’s less than ten gorillas here in Oz.

我t is easy to make the case for a 650 single, by the way. Look around you at the absurdly punitive speeding laws, the fixed and mobile speed cameras, the salivating highway patrol officers and all the other tools of those who hold power over us. Doesn’t it look as if they want to slow us down?

我n fact, the answer is only a qualified “yes”. What they really want to do is wipe us out. Motorcycling annoys them, and they have found justification for driving us off the roads in the ridiculous but easily espoused Vision Zero. But slowing down will do for a start. So it makes sense to have a bike that will at least be a bit of fun below supersonic speeds. And given the KLR’s other virtues, it is easy to ignore the mild power output.

Let’s start with a walk around Kawasaki’s refurbished jack of all trades. You can’t immediately see one of the major changes, the fuel injection, but much else is obvious. The toolbox sits cleverly where you do not have to pull the seat off to reach it. It is unlocked by the one key which also works all of the luggage locks (even the top box if you add one), the seat and the ignition. Crash protection for the upper part of the bike and the rider’s hands is standard, as is a plastic but reasonably strong bash plate. Electrical goodies are all there: spots, heated grips, a cigar lighter socket and a USB outlet protected by an oddly clunky cover. The KLR has a 23 litre (19 US gallon) tank with a repositioned fuel pump which accesses almost all of the fuel. Depending on your right wrist, that could get you nearly 500 kilometers (300 miles).

座位舒适,得益于它的形状,通过the foam and the seat cover material. The pillion has grips to hang onto—some riders may prefer a more intimate solution to pillion nervousness, it’s true—and there is a reasonably strong rear rack.

Sydney had seen some serious weather in the weeks before I got my hands on the KLR, and the heavy rains had done what they always do: they had washed out roads all over the place and caused major landslips. That gave me a wonderful excuse to sample the bike’s capabilities, held back only by the OEM tires. I found plenty of challenges on what passes for our roads. Landslips, even when they have supposedly been cleared, leave deep sand and dirt on the hard hotmix, which can be quite tricky. Broken roads provide another challenge with sharp edges and abrupt drops into sometimes huge potholes.

The bike did well. One reason for that is simply that it is light; I admit that I did not have much in the panniers or the top box, but it is light even when loaded. The 21-inch front wheel did its work quite enthusiastically, and the weight of the nearly full tank seemed to plant the front end reassuringly.

A while back I had the opportunity to put some miles on an Africa Twin in the Canary Islands, and much as I liked the bike, the 21-inch front wheel made the many hairpins hard work. I am still not sure why the KLR handles significantly better in tight corners on the road. There is a fair bit of weight on the front, and that may help. Presumably the geometry does too.

Whatever: since I am looking at it as an all-rounder, and I am a happy bear. But while I maintain that the Kawasaki KLR650 Adventure truly is the Swiss Army Knife of motorcycles and the one bike to have if you can only have one bike, I must admit that it does have a drawback for someone of my height – 5’11” or 183cm. This is a complaint I have only ever made about KTMs before: the bike is too tall. When I tried fitting the lower seat it did help, but the panniers on the Adventure still feel the side of my boot whenever I mount. Then again some of those red knives are not perfect, either: they can get too bulky. And to be brutally honest, this problem may have more to do with my arthritic joints than with the bike, so take it with a pinch of ibuprofen.

Well, what do you think? Amirite or what? Do you have another candidate for the Swiss Army Knife of motorcycles, the sole bike in your garage?