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This week, while Dustin and Zack were off in Japan and Spain piloting exotic motorcycles, I was flogging Kawasaki’s entry-level KLX230 Sherpa S dual-sport a stone’s throw from home base in Los Angeles. Short end of the stick you say? Not quite.
Admittedly, I wasn’t exactly exuberant to attend the press launch for this puny new beginner bike, but it ended up being one of the more enjoyable rides in recent memory. The Sherpa isn’t sophisticated or high-performance, but it’s a darling little adventurer that punches well above its weight in terms of capability. Mix that with a dash of childish enthusiasm, beautiful mountain roads, and rain-freshened trails in one of my favorite off-roading areas, and you have the ingredients for a great day on two wheels.
You look familiar
Team Green is calling the Sherpa an all-new bike, but it’s based on the familiar KLX230 platform, first introduced in 2020. That means you get the same 17-ish horsepower fuel-injected 233 cc engine hung in a steel-perimeter frame, along with a 21/18-inch wheel combo and a weight of about 300 pounds with the two-gallon tank topped off. This time around it’s wrapped in casual khaki bodywork and has a few key features intended to make the Sherpa especially approachable and practical.
Specifically, a 32.5-inch seat height, which is a ¾ inch lower than the already low seat on the KLX230 S. That puts the ground within reach of riders as short as five feet, four inches, as demonstrated by Cait Maher, who also attended the launch. In addition, the Sherpa gets a tubeless rear wheel (bye-bye pinch flats, hello easy puncture repairs) and steel-spined handguards bolted to a tapered-aluminum handlebar. Other Sherpa-specific accessories include a tiny skid plate and a “grab handle” at the headlight. This is all on top of standard KLX features like disc brakes with switchable ABS, spartan LCD dash, and an LED headlight.
Off we go
Any 16-year-old novice or 65-year-old veteran who’s slowed way down would likely be pleased with the compact size and mellow demeanor of the Sherpa. My age is between those two bookends and my usual off-road steed is a competition-grade 300 cc two-stroke, so it’s safe to say I was prepared to be underwhelmed. What I ended up being, was surprised.
For starters, the ergonomics work, even at five feet, eleven inches tall. I’d ridden to the launch on Kawasaki’s own Ninja 1100SX, and it felt like the Sherpa had more legroom. The seat is broad enough to support your butt and the bar is wide and reasonably tall, so although the bike feels tiny between your knees it’s plenty comfortable, even while standing on the pegs.
Maybe it’s because the last air-cooled single I flogged was a Grom with about half the displacement, but the Sherpa has some legs. There’s a modest-yet-broad plateau of torque, and with six gears to work with you can get up to a cruising speed of 50 to 60 miles easily enough. A maximum velocity of 75 mph is eventually attainable as the motor runs up against the rev limiter. What’s redline, you ask? Great question. There’s no tachometer, but it sounds like 9,000 rpm or so to me. Even with lots of revs the bike doesn’t get buzzy enough to blur the mirrors or irritate your appendages.
Like its KLR650 brother, the Sherpa tractors. Most climbs can be tackled in second gear, or first is available if the ascent is especially steep and/or technical. While the press group followed the fire road along our ridge route, I took steeper alternative trails, stuff I’ve tackled before on a variety of proper, performance off-road bikes. The Sherpa summited everything easily, with less speed, but a lot more confidence.
What surprised me most about the Sherpa was its suspension. There are bikes in this category that will bottom the fork if you stab the front brake, but the Sherpa manages its stroke (just 6.2 inches in the front and 6.9 in the back) admirably and resists bottoming, even when provoked with ruts, rain bars, and football-sized boulders. Imagine that: An entry-level dual sport with springs and damping that keep the bike from wallowing, pogoing, or bottoming, even when a 200-pound (with gear) manchild is at the helm. Well done, Kawasaki.
From kudos, to criticisms
It was easy to be pleasantly surprised by the Sherpa, because frankly, I had low expectations. I’m genuinely happy to report that this bike has so much potential. That’s important for the new riders that it’s aimed at. Unfortunately, there are two issues that stand in the way of freshly minted M endorsements and on/off-road adventuring bliss.
The first is price. This bike carries an MSRP of $5,899. Woof. It’s not just the seat height that has to be accessible, Kawi. For reference, Honda’s lovely little XR150L, which is admittedly much less capable but even more approachable, is $3,299. There’s also Yamaha’s TW200 for $4,999 or even Honda’s CRF300LS for $5,749. It would be fun to make a pun about the Sherpa traipsing all over Royal Enfield’s Himalayan, but the $5,499 steed from India only really comes up short in terms of weight. It’s a whopping 439 pounds. It also has flaccid brakes.
Which brings me to my next complaint: The KLX230’s front brake. It’s alarmingly grabby, and managed by a lever that’s too far from the grip, even for my size-large hands. You really need to be delicate with the lever, particularly off road with the ABS turned off, and small, inexperienced hands probably won’t be. I’d like to think that a set of GG-rated organic brake pads would help (the stock pads are sintered, and the HH rating is visible on the back), as would a reach-adjustable brake lever.
Other than that, this bike is an absolute darling, and a great option for any rider — new or experienced — who wants to get back to the basics of two-wheeled fun.
My coworkers surely had more unique experiences during their overseas rides, but I doubt they smiled as much as I did while riding the Sherpa here in SoCal.
| 2026 Kawasaki KLX230 Sherpa S | |
|---|---|
| Price (MSRP) | $5,899 |
| Engine | 233 cc, air-cooled single |
|
Transmission, final drive |
Six-speed, chain |
| Claimed horsepower | 17.0 @ 8,000 rpm |
| Claimed torque | 13.3 foot-pounds @ 6,400 rpm |
| Frame | Steel perimeter |
| Front suspension | Showa 37 mm fork; 6.2 inches of travel |
| Rear suspension | Showa shock adjustable for preload; 6.6 inches of travel |
| Front brake | Dual-piston caliper, 265 mm disc with ABS |
| Rear brake | Single-piston caliper, 220 mm disc with ABS |
| Rake, trail | 24.4°/3.8 in |
| Wheelbase | 53.2 inches |
| Seat height | 32.5 inches |
| Fuel capacity | 2.0 gallons |
| Tires | IRC GP-21F 2.75x21 front, GP-22R 4.10x18 rear |
| Claimed weight | 300 pounds |
| Available | Now |
| Warranty | 12 months |
| More info | kawasaki.com |
