Combat Kawasaki

COMBAT KAWASAKI

Tour of duty aboard an Army KLR250

"JUST PRETEND YOU'RE A KID AGAIN PLAYING Army," came my orders from General Edwards of CW High Command. "You did play Army as a kid. didn't you?"

"Well, um, sure. I played Army. and lived to tell about it. But motorcycles?" I mumble.

My childhood commando missions were filled with imaginary Tiger tanks, pillbox machine-gun nests and plenty of dummy hand-grenade chuckin'. But no motorcycle riding. Our make-believe war games were heavily influenced by Sergeant Rock and the Howling Commandos of comic-book fame, and those guys rode around in jeeps, not dirtbikes, for cryin' out loud.

“You've got your assignment, soldier!” Edwards barked, his patience growing thin.

It seems the times, they are a changin', and so are the tactics used by today’s Army Special Forces. In the near future, these highly trained fighting units will increase their mobility behind enemy lines by way of stealthy Kawasaki KLR250s. Hayes Diversified Technologies in Hesparia, California, the military's supplier of modified KLRs, loaned Cycle World one of the Team Green killing machines for operational trials and evaluation.

So, what makes a KLR combat ready? After riding a Stocker, you might say an extra 20-30 horsepower would be a good place to start. However, it seems that the Army brass is content with the KLR's mellow power delivery, opting to leave the engine and chassis bone stock. Ask any four-star and you'll get an answer something like, “Óur objective is winning wars, son, not supercross titles, now get a move on!”"The liquid-cooled, four-stroke Single may not be a powerhouse, but it's very quiet and reliable, and there is a lot to be said for that when you've been inserted deep behind enemy lines.

Military-spec KLR modifications are limited to a camouflage paint scheme, a hefty, tubular handguard bolted to the handlebar, addition of a document satchel and replacement of the stock dual-purpose rubber with fullon knobbies. But the trickest mod of all is a blackout lighting system which supplements the KLR’s standard lighting array. These special low-emission head-and-taillights are used during night missions to avoid alerting the unfriendlies of the bike’s position. Unfortunately, the blackout system on our test KLR wasn't wired for operation. so we remain in the dark as to how effective the system is.

With the combat KLR at my disposal, a new battle plan was devised for attacking the daily routine around the CW headquarters. Lunch hour now became a covert operation as I slipped away before 1200 hours and silently returned well after 1300 hours, unobserved by the general’s staff. The commute from base camp-my house-to the CW office through Southern California’s rush-hour traffic can be likened to negotiating a mine field, and the agile KLR snaked its way through this melee of frustrated motorists, leaving them dead in the road.

Playing urban commando just wasn't enough to fulfill my duties, though. As ordered by my C.O., I needed a special mission.

Ah, target acquisition! There I was, riding the Special Ops KLR inside the Naval Air Station at Miramar. I’d like to report back that my undetected penetration of the base perimeter was due to the Kawasaki’s clever camo guise and minuscule radar signature, but more than likely it’s due to the fact that I was among 200,000 other civilians attending the annual NAS Miramar Air Show.

Just don’t tell the general. -Don Canet