2026 Kawasaki KLE500 - the KLE500 is back

Kawasaki’s original KLE500 was a key player in the 1990s European bubble of rally-inspired bikes alongside concurrent generations of the Honda Transalp and Yamaha Ténéré—and with those names seeing a resurgence in recent years as customers shift towards smaller, lighter adventure models the KLE is making a welcome return to the EU and its first appearance to the US for 2026. 

This is the new 2026 Kawasaki KLE500 ABS!

It’s a model Kawasaki has been teasing for a year now, having given a first, disguised glimpse of the new machine at the EICMA show last November (it was almost entirely hidden inside a wooden crate with just the 21-inch front wheel visible) 

The KLE500 slots into the company’s lineup somewhere between the Versys-X 300 and the KLR650. It’s designed with an eye to off-road abilities a step above those of the larger, street-biased Versys models, but with more on-road sophistication than the single-cylinder KLR. It’s also vastly more affordable than the Versys 650, which is directly descended from the bike that replaced that original KLE500 back in 2007.

The name might be the same, but the 2026 KLE500 isn’t simply a revival of that old, 1991-2007 machine. Instead, it packs the 451cc parallel twin engine already known from bikes including the Eliminator, Ninja 500 and Z500 into a completely new steel trellis frame, paired to 21-inch front and 17-inch rear wire wheels on long-travel suspension. Instead of vying with the likes of the Ténéré and Transalp it’s heading into competition against CFMoto’s Ibex 450, which comes closest to the KLE500 in terms of performance, specs, and price.