Coming Soon: The New Kawasaki KLE
Dirt-focused dual-sport for 2026
Kawasaki released a teaser video for a new KLE model, suggesting the dual-sport or lightweight adventure bike will soon be revealed. The new model, expected to be a KLE500, will likely be announced next month at EICMA.
We’ve been anticipating the KLE since last November, when Kawasaki teased it with a display at EICMA. The exhibit showed parts of a rally-style dual-sport bursting out of a box with the tag line “Life’s a Rally, Ride It,” and “est. 1991,” referring to the year the original KLE500 was introduced.
The teaser video repeats both those phrases while giving us some tantalizing footage of the KLE in action entirely on unpaved roads.
Most shots of the KLE are from a distance, revealing little beyond a lot of white bodywork. A shot of the front wheel at the seven second mark looks similar to the 21-inch wire-spoke wheel visible on the EICMA display. The only discernible differences are the white, green and gray fender, and an orange reflector to meet street homologation requirements. The fork looks like the same telescopic unit from EICMA, as does the single brake caliper.
A look at the rear wheel at the 10 second mark provides a glimpse of the exhaust tip and a part of a green frame.
And while we can hear engine noises, the teaser video provides little information about the powertrain. The EICMA display featured what looks like Kawasaki’s 451cc Parallel-Twin engine, which is why we’re assuming the new model will be called the KLE500, like the original 1991 model.
What’s interesting about the branding is that the KLE500 was the precursor to the Versys 650, which still to this day carries the model code “KLE650.” Kawasaki appears to be steering away from the Versys branding on the new model, which may be its way of identifying it as a more off-road capable motorcycle compared to the more street-focused Versys.
With Kawasaki showing the initial KLE display at EICMA, we can probably expect the production model to also debut at the Milan show in November.
Become a Motorcycle.com insider. Get the latest motorcycle news first by subscribing to our newsletter here.
Dennis has been a part of the Motorcycle.com team since 2008, and through his tenure, has developed a firm grasp of industry trends, and a solid sense of what's to come. A bloodhound when it comes to tracking information on new motorcycles, if there's a new model on the horizon, you'll probably hear about it from him first.
More by Dennis Chung
Comments
Join the conversation
Wow, just what the world needs, another adventure bike!
Years ago people were fitting EX500 engines to worn out KLR chassis. It was a thing.