Kawasaki Tengai
KAWASAKI TENGAI
CYCLE WORLD TEST
A streetbike with dirty looks
NEXT TIME SOMEONE TRIES TO TELL YOU MOTORCYcyles have become too specialized, direct their attention to Kawasaki’s Tengai. The Tengai (“Horizon,” in Japanese, and pronounced “10-guy”) is based upon the familiar KLR650 dual-purpose bike. But in its development of the Tengai, Kawasaki made two important changes to the basic KLR. First a small, surprisingly effective, frame-mounted fairing was added. And second, the bike’s suspension was softened and shortened. Those changes have yielded a very competent streetbike that looks like a refugee from the Paris-Dakar Rally. And thanks to its heritage, the Tengai does have off-road capability, though that capability is limited.
The Tengai is built around the KLR s tubular, semidouble-cradle frame, and like the KLR650, it uses a Kayaba fork, hung at 28 degrees of rake with 4.45-inches of trail In the rear, an aluminum swingarm is attached toa single Kayaba shock. Though these components are ostensibly the same on the two bikes, there are differences. The Tengai fork uses shorter tubes and shorter damping rods, and the wall-thickness of its stanchion tubes has been increased from 3mm to 4mm to provide additional rigidity. The result is that while the KLR650's fork oilers a claimed 9.1 inches of travel, the Tengai's provides a claimed 8.7 inches. Schrader valves are provided at the tops of the fork tubes for pressure adjustment, but Kaw^asaki recommends atmospheric pressure in the forks; the valves are there to bleed off any built-up pressure.
The Tengai's rear suspension provides a claimed / .V inches of travel, about an inch less than that of the KLR. because the shock and spring are shorter than those used on the KLR. Spring preload and rebound damping are adjustable, but the adjustments are oriented towards tuning the bike's street manners, not towards transforming it into a motocross berm-basher.
Even with these suspension alterations, which drop its ground clearance to 8.3 inches from the KLR’s 9.4 inches the Tengai is no low-rider. Its seat height remains 34.3 inches above terra firma, about three-quarters of an inch lower than the towering platform that crowns the KLR650, but still a long stretch of the leg for anyone whose nickname might be Shortie.
And anyone fooled into thinking the Tengai is a real dirtbike need only look at spec chart. (M s scales caught it at 388 pounds with an empty fuel tank, and at 422 pounds with a full one. While those figures are acceptaMy light for a road-going machine, they prompted one offroad-riding wag to observe that Kawasaki named the bike the Tengai because if it ever tipped over, it would take 10 guys to put it back on its wheels.
Fortunately, the Tengai's motor is a match for its mass. Transferred straight from duty in the KLR, it's a whopping 65Icc Single, its 100mm bore and 83mm stroke fed by a 40mm Keihin carb. There was a time, way back in motorcycling’s golden age. when engines with these credentials were known as Thumpers. This one is anything but. Firstly, what might otherwise be vigorous rocking and rolling is tamed by a pair of counterbalance shafts. And secondly, this engine doesn't docily chuff along at preindustrial-revolution speeds. It's redlined at 7500 rpm. and while it makes most of its power between 5000 rpm and redline. it has plenty of torque. The engine exhibits the characteristics of being carefully jetted, providing instant throttle response in all situations, idling easily and cleanly, cold or hot, and yielding an average fuel mileage of 45 miles per gallon. Starting is by electric motor only, a boon to anyone who's broken a sweat trying to coax a disinclined big-bore Single to life via a kickstarter. The Tengai romped through the quarter-mile in 13.98 seconds at 89.8 miles per hour. Not exactly superbike-threatening performance, but enough to provide entertainment.
One notable difference between the Tengai and the KLR is that because of its more-inclusive fairing, the Tengai tends to run a bit hotter, especially at low' speeds. To handle that heat. Kawasaki gave the Tengai a 50-watt radiator-fan motor, instead of the KLR’s 40-watt unit, and increased the diameter of the fan from 4.7 inches to 5.5.
The KI.R's transmission and sprockets have been transferred directly to the Tengai. In its initial look at the KLR in the March, 1987, edition. Cycle World found shifting between first and second to be notchy, but CWs Tengai test bike gave no evidence of this, shifting smoothly up and down through all five gears with no vagueness or heaviness. While the Tengai is geared just right for the street, allowing the engine to turn at a relaxed 4000 rpm at 60 miles per hour, its ratios are too tall for serious dirt use. But that's okay: Kawasaki reckons that in spite of its dirtinspired look, the Tengai's buyers will mostly use it on the street, venturing onto the dirt for no more than 10 percent of their total mileage. And indeed, in spite ofthat look, in spite of its tallness, and in spite of its dirtbike-derived seat and handlebar, the Tengai is a wonderful streetbike.
Pay no heed to the bike's narrow, 21-inch front tire, or to its lugged 1 7-inch rear rubber: in spite of those seeming liabilities, the Tengai is a ball to ride in sporting style, flicking easily into corners and able to attain radial lean angles, thanks to its almost limitless ground clearance. Too much of this kind of riding, however, begins to use up the bike's single front and rear disc brakes. The front rotor has been enlarged from 9.1 to 9.9 inches in diameter, and is clamped by a twin-piston caliper instead of the KLR's single-piston unit. This is far superior to the front brake of the KLR, but the limits of its performance still can be reached under really hard street scratching.
Though the bike's seat foam is soft enough to pack down during the extended stints in the saddle made possible by the 5.7-gallon fuel tank, the Tengai’s comfort is enhanced by its tiny fairing, which does a very good job of keeping the wind blast from the rider s chest. And as part of the bargain, it isn’t saddled with the buffeting that handicapped the KLR’s small, handlebar-mounted fairing.
Riders used to more-street-oriented equipment may find the Tengai’s riding position a little strange at first. The slope of the seat, its angle, and the position of the handlebar soon slide the rider forward, elbows out, in das sic dirt-riding posture. And actually out in the dirt, you ci better be even further forward than that, so far forward, in fact, that your most-precious parts are pressed lovingly against the back of the bike s gas tank. This is necessary because the Kawasaki’s tires grip poorly in the dirt, and because not enough of the bike’s weight is on the front wheel. Because of these two factors, the front tire is extremely easy to wash out. When that happens, you crash. Those who insist upon riding their Tengáis in the dirt will put more-aggressive tires on them, will stay as far forward as they can get and will, we suspect, learn to resist the temptation to attain hero velocities.
Besides, anyone harboring thoughts of winning enduro trophies with the Tengai soon will be put on the path to right-thinking by the bike’s suspension. T his is suspension tailored for the street, and there, it works beautifully, soaking up ruts and potholes as though they didn't exist. But in the dirt, the fork is far too soft for unbridled use, bottoming with a loud bang when speeds get spirited and bumps get sizable. The rear-suspension rates also are street-oriented, though dialing up the heaviest rebound position slows the system's reactions and reduces its tendency to kick-back over obstacles.
Actually, the Tengai copes really well with fire roads and other relatively smooth, wide, dirt paths. It doesn't behave so well in mud or snow, because its tire grooves soon pack with the stuff, thereby giving away any bite they might have had. Additionally, slippery riding conditions soon illustrate why dirtbikes have toothy metal footpegs. The pegs of both the Tengai and the KLR are rubbercovered, and when the going gets wet, the pegs get slippery, and this makes keeping one’s footing a task which requires some effort.
None of which is to in any way detract from the Tengai’s overall usefulness or versatility. It is, in many ways, a surprising and revealing motorcycle. It isn't as fast as a sportbike, but it’s every bit as much fun to ride, reminding us that it’s the quality of the riding experience that matters, not the ultimate speed. As a streetbike, it’s light enough and nimble enough to be a fine commuter; it’s comfortable enough for longer rides, with lots of places from which to hang luggage. And, if the rider uses a bit of discretion, it’s quite adequate fora bit of dirt-road exploring. It is, literally, a bike for all seasons, a versatile performer that’s at home in a variety of riding situations, specialization be hanged.
KAWASAKI
TENGAI
$3899
SPECIFICATIONS
