1911fan use to have KLR 650 - went to KTM Adventure - and now loves his BMW 650 dual / he's been around bikes all his life
Yeah, all true. The KLR650 is carbed, easy to work on, heavy, and underpowered. Cheap, widely available, and spares aren't expensive. If you get one, there are a few performance mods to the engine- damn few. Definitely replace the doohickey (you'll see what I mean). Don't buy into the big bore kits, IMHO. Spend the money on suspension. Check out klr650.com for tons of info.
My 990 Adventure was an incredible machine, but NOT a learner bike. I'd look at the 690 if there's a dealer close by. Any KTM is indeed 'ready to race'. Maintenance intensive and parts are expensive. My oil change cost $125 for parts if I did it myself, and the two gas tanks are around $700 each if you break them.
I'm currently riding a 2002 BMW F650 Dakar, the higher suspension version of the F650. Water cooled Rotax engine, should be good for 100,000 miles. Yup, heavy, but stone reliable and lots of info and parts available online. I've taken it places I shouldn't and just ran home on the highway at 70-75mph.
Honda 650s are good, but as noted above a plated 600R is better than the XL version.
Suzuki DRs are good bikes, don't have a lot of experience with them but have friends who like them.
Best advice I've seen above is buy an inexpensive 650 of some sort, ride it for a season or three, and get your next bike based on experience with the first one. Leave the bike alone until you've ridden it at least one season, with the exception of protective gear like engine and tank guards. Speaking of gear, get yourself the best, Klim is great $tuff. Wear it. You're on a learning curve that will be painful without it.
Websites: klr650.com, advrider.com, f650.com and so on. I'm sure there are lots more. PM me for anything you think of.
1911fan