Kawasaki also does away with the clutch: the 2027 KLE500 SE Smartride starts and stops without a lever

Kawasaki joins the manufacturers looking to free up the motorcyclist’s left hand. For 2027, the KLE500, the mid-size adventure bike that brought a historic Akashi nameplate back to life last year, gets the Smartride system: you can pull away and come to a stop without touching the clutch lever.

We’re talking about one of the moments off-road riders dread most: pulling away on a gravel slope, with the rear wheel skidding across the stones and the engine at risk of stalling at exactly the worst possible moment.

The principle is the same as on scooters. A centrifugal system inside the standard clutch assembly engages the clutch automatically as engine revs rise and disengages it as they fall. Feathering the clutch becomes a thing of the past—a benefit that matters just as much in city traffic as it does on slow off-road trails.

It’s not an automatic transmission, though. You still use the lever and foot pedal to shift up and down as usual, and according to InSella, the system contains not a single electronic component.

Kawasaki’s choice closely resembles the Easy Ride Clutch on the BMW F 450 GS and takes the opposite approach to Honda’s electronic E-Clutch. The philosophy is clear: less complexity means fewer things that can go wrong. That’s an important consideration for a motorcycle designed to take you far from home.

The system will be reserved for the top-spec version, dubbed the KLE500 SE Smartride, which will be available in a single color: Pearl Blizzard White.

The SE Smartride also brings a change touring riders have been waiting for: its spoked wheels finally get tubeless tires, meaning a puncture can be repaired with a kit without removing the wheel. The front remains a 21-inch wheel, while the rear gets a 150/70-17 tire exclusive to this version—wider than the 140/70 on other KLE500 models, and with a broader choice of replacement tires.

The rest is familiar: a 451 cc parallel twin producing 45 hp and 42.6 Nm, a steel trellis frame, and the SE’s equipment, including a color TFT display, metal hand guards, a taller windscreen, and a skid plate.

The standard KLE500 and the conventional SE remain on the price list, available in three packages featuring genuine Kawasaki accessories:

Prices for the 2027 model year have not yet been announced. For reference, the KLE500 currently costs €6,340 and the SE €6,990; it remains to be seen how much extra Kawasaki will charge for the convenience of forgetting about the clutch.

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