Kawasaki KLR Water Crossing? Video of the Day

Kawasaki KLR Water Crossing? Video of the DayWater crossings can be exciting, splashy affairs that make for good video and photos. A mishandled...

By: Jim Downs

May 24, 2016 at 9:00am ET

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Water crossings can be exciting, splashy affairs that make for good video and photos. A mishandled crossing, however, can strand a motorcycle and rider midstream, choke an engine with water through the air intake, or worse, sweep away and drown a rider. Even the simplest of crossings should be taken seriously.

Typically, the goal is to get the motorcycle from one bank to the other by traversing the water at a perpendicular angle. However, convention be damned for this enterprising KLR rider, who for reasons unknown finds himself riding his Kawasaki downstream in a swollen, muddy creek. For some KLR riders, bucking the status quo is at the very fiber of their choice in motorcycle. While others may spend tens of thousands of dollars on KTMs, BMWs, or other costly dual sport and ADV machines, a select few KLR fanatics believe that they have gotten one over on everyone: They own an off-road machine for which they were able to purchase at a fraction the cost of other, more exotic motorbikes.

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It's impossible to know if this soggy KLR rider subscribes to that sanctimonious school of thought, but what can be inferred from this video is that he simultaneously underestimated the depth of the water, while overestimating the capability of his motorcycle. How he got in this predicament will be left to speculation, but he did have the foresight to choose a pair of shorts as riding pants for the endeavor.