Kawasaki KLX 230 first ride review: Does it live up to the hype?

Off-roading culture has really picked up in India in the last five years or so. Suddenly, it seems like everyone wants to go off the beaten path and get their hands (and other bits) dirty. Rightly so, considering that having a strong foundation in off-road riding can help improve riding across various different disciplines, even tarmac. Things kicked off with the Hero Impulse which then became the Xpulse 200. On the other side of the spectrum you had more adventure focused machines but nothing that would serve well as a bespoke tool for off-road training.

That is unless you were willing to spend many lakhs and get a non road-legal dirt/enduro bike from Kawasaki or KTM. Things have now changed with the entry of the KLX 230, which is Kawasaki’s first road-legal off-roader that won’t require you to sell many of your organs. Relatively speaking. The problem with getting a non road-legal dirt bike is logistics. You need a trailer or a pick-up truck to get it to the location, have a mechanic you trust given the frequency with which you need to get the bikes serviced and very quickly you realise that this is a rich man’s sport. Which is why offerings such as the Xpulse work so incredibly well. Keen to eat some of that success pie, Kawasaki has finally gotten the KLX 230 to the country.

Kawasaki KLX 230: Design

With a bright LED headlight and number plates on either end, you can ride this bike from your parking spot to the trail and back. Talk about being practical. That said, Kawasaki hasn’t watered down the form or the function of the KLX 230 to make it more usable for the roads. It still very much looks like it belongs to the big family of Kawasaki off-roaders. With the iconic lime green colour scheme and the contrast grey frame, the KLX 230 looks every bit as purposeful as it does beautiful. Add a little dirt and dust to the equation and it looks that much nicer.

Kawasaki KLX 230: Engine and performance

Powering the Kwacker is a 233cc air-cooled, single-cylinder engine that is good for 17.8bhp at 8000rpm and 18.3Nm of torque at 6400rpm. Yes, yes, I know what you’re thinking, your grandpa’s electric wheelchair makes more power than that. But this here is a classic example of ‘there’s a lot more than the specification sheet lets on’. The way the gear ratios of the six-speed ’box are set up, it feels like there’s actually a lot more power than the numbers suggest. That coupled with the fairly short turn of the throttle tube means that you have a snappy, aggressive throttle response and more than enough oomph to get going. Out on the highway I managed to see 122kmph on the speedometer and if the engine was geared taller I feel like that number could go up by 10kmph at least. Is that something you really want though? I for one didn’t. The short gears mean that even the smallest actions from your wrist translate some forward movement and this comes particularly handy when navigating slow and technical trails.

Once you finish your ceremonial breakfast portion of the breakfast ride and leave the poorly paved tarmac behind is when you really start appreciating everything that the KLX 230 stands for. The tractable engine means that unless you’re really gunning it through the rough stuff, you don’t need to fiddle with the gearbox too much. And even when you do, the clutch is light with a short pull, and the gear lever is tactile and communicative. Which almost makes the lack of a gear position indicator tolerable.

Kawasaki KLX 230: Chassis, ride and handling

Coming to the road manners of the motorcycle, we have to address the elephant in the room and that is the seemingly colossal 880mm saddle height. This will come off as an immediate deterrent to many riders to whom I can only say one thing; try it before you decide. The suspension is softly sprung and the narrow seat and inseam mean that your legs aren’t splayed out and reaching mother earth is a lot easier than it actually seems. At five foot ten with a large frame I had zero trouble getting both feet flat on the ground while still having a bend at my knees. Even some of the lighter and shorter riders in the office were baffled as to how the KLX enabled them to at least plant one foot comfortably on the ground.

Once you get going, the same soft suspension setup becomes one that allows you to power over every pothole, speedbreaker and imperfection on the road without so much as a squeak. Despite my generous build working the suspension that much harder, the setup is robust enough to deal with all the curveballs the Indian road authorities seem to want to throw at us these days. Braking performance is plenty albeit not sharp like a road bike’s, which is in fact a good thing. With the suspension being as soft as it is, a very sharp bite will cause the front end to dive a lot more than it already does and that is just a recipe for disaster. Good thing then that the boffins at Kawasaki know what they’re up to. You also have the safety net of dual-channel ABS to take care of things if required. The narrow off-road seat is not the most supportive for long hauls on the road, but then again, it is not what the bike is meant for. The 7.6-litre fuel tank is indication enough for the same.

The soft suspension setup might seem like a problem but there is a certain sophistication in the way that it damps and rebounds. This means that despite the softer setup that lends a plushness to dealing with uneven terrain, you are never left without the crucial feedback telling you what your wheels are doing below you. This also means that landing big jumps where you’re actually a few feet off the ground feels like you were just a couple inches off it. The setup is one that inspires a lot of confidence and really allows you as a beginner rider to push and find your limits without ever losing that sense of security. And this will mean that you will upskill fairly quickly. Not something to fret about because the KLX 230 is just as competent for an experienced rider as well. If you’re just starting out, you won’t need to make any changes to the bike because if anything it’s your skill level that would be holding you back. The one thing that could stand to be changed soon if you’re doing a lot of off-roading are the MRF tyres. They’ve been designed to give you a good balance of performance on and off the road. And it does well for that. But the more committed you get to riding off the beaten path, the better a set of off-road-focussed tyres would be.

Kawasaki KLX 230: Features and equipment

The perimeter frame is taut and communicative, while the right-side-up Showa forks and UniTrak monoshock provide an impressive 240mm of front and 250mm of rear travel. This setup delivers a ride that’s both confident and commanding, making you feel like a king whose every command is executed flawlessly. The 21-inch front and 18-inch rear wheel make you feel invincible and that combined with the 265mm of ground clearance almost makes you invincible. Which is maybe why Kawasaki didn’t feel the need to give you a bash plate as standard fitment. Not once did I bottom out the bike and I did go over some nasty obstacles.

In terms of features, this bike gets as many updates as a new iPhone generation — very, very few... You get LED lighting, a switch that allows you to turn ABS off and a digital instrument cluster that would impress you if the calendar said 1990. It misses out on a few crucial things like a tachometer and a gear position indicator and instead has a small cut-out which will display basic information pushed from your smartphone when paired. I’d much rather see the revs and gear than some silly notification from my phone.

Kawasaki KLX 230: Verdict

Now, to answer the burning question of whether or not you should get one. The short answer is yes. At ₹3.3 lakh, ex-showroom, it does seem like an expensive proposition for what it is, but then again a lot of that is because of what the spec-sheet has or doesn’t. You see, the KLX 230 is meant for a very specific type of rider, the kind that is making a serious commitment to riding off-road and wants a purpose-built tool that enables upskilling without breaking the bank. Yes, ₹3.3 lakh can get you two Hero Xpulses, which is a very competent bike in its own right, but the Kawasaki just seems to do everything that much better. Plus, when you consider that it offers nearly dirt bike levels of capability without needing service as often as a baby would need its diaper changed, the asking price seems very good, as it should.