KLR650

Smash said:

This is the sort of thing that has me really second guessing a KLR for my next bike. It seems to me like the dang thing needs SO MUCH to make it into a decent bike you've doubled the price.

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It is a "decent" bike stock, but they all need the balancer chain tensioner lever (doohickey) and spring updated. The sooner, the better. Bits can fly off, from all years, and nuke the engine. Some people go way overboard on upgrades and updates IMHO. My stock bike runs great, and I have not touched the carb, cylinder or exhaust. Plus I got mine dirt cheap all farkled up, and there are lots of them out there.

If a KLR is going off road, the thing needs a skid plate minimum with crash guards and brush guards highly recommended. I am a big fan of Happy Trails and PackRat racks. The stock seat sucks too, but I have never had a stock seat that did not. Suspension is an issue with some folks, I am a little guy so I just set the rear shock on "4" and take off. The front is soft and could use some work, I will probably add stiffer springs and a little preload later, Ok for now.

Smash said:

This is the sort of thing that has me really second guessing a KLR for my next bike. It seems to me like the dang thing needs SO MUCH to make it into a decent bike you've doubled the price.

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While it is true many people consider a KLR a good "platform" to upgrade and customize(much like the ST owners getting all farkled out). The stock bike with just the doohickey mod will take you just about anywhere. It is also pretty easy to find fulled modded out KLR's for under 4K that have relatively low miles on them. I have "Tinkeritis" so I love playing with my KLR. You don't have to.

Dan

I paid $5663 OTD for my 08 New. I've added over $1k in just electronics alone. CB radio, GPS, MP3 Player Sound System. Front and Rear Suspension Upgrades another $1K.
I'm looking at over $4K for my 2010 BMW GSA to grow better Legs.

So out of curiousness, does the new NE with the better suspension and all still need the doohickey? Kinda thinking a dirt bike/gravel bike locally would be a great deal of fun.....enlightenment? ff

jmcarruth said:

I love my 2011 KLR, got it cheap about a year ago all farkled out. I will try to save you some pain:

Check your oil level at every fill up! These things are known to use oil at various levels, especially with extended riding at RPMs over 5k. 08s and some 09s are the worst.

If the bike still has the stock, slosh battery, get rid of it and get this:
http://www.batterymart.com/p-Big-Crank-ETX15L-Battery.html?Category_Code=kawasaki-kl650a-klr-battery

Also, do the doohickey upgrade ASAP using the Eagle Mike lever and torsion spring. No matter what you may hear, 2008+ KLRs require this. I have the tools, PM me if you want to borrow for postage.

Lube, with waterproof grease, in order of importance:
Unitrack bolt, unitrack bearings, swingarm bearings, R wheel and driven hub bearings, steering hub bearings.

Torque to spec all fasteners. The ones on the frame will be loose, I promise. Apply blue Loctite to all frame fasteners. Footpeg bolts torque to 18 ft/lbs (NOT 31 ft/lbs as per the shop manual). Safety wire on these is advised.

Clean and oil the air filter.
Check valves at 5k miles, then every 15k miles.
Change oil every 2k miles, filter every other oil change.

Suspension is OK to start with, but you will want to upgrade eventually. The front end is very soft.

If you off road, you will crash. Prepare for it with skid plate, racks, brush guards and crash bars. Mine are Happy Trails with Packrat pannier racks. You may need a low profile oil drain plug, depending on your skid plate.

Stock tires and seat are just awful.
Tires are all a compromise. Street/dirt 30/70 D606s are good, but expensive. 80/20 Shinko 705s are cheap and good. What I run.
I like Corbin seats.

Get yourself a shop manual but beware, there are errors in it!

For even more than you ever wanted to know about a KLR:
http://www.klr650.net/forums/index.php

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Follow this above and all will be good...........I have owned 8 different Klr650s since 1992 (still own a 2010 with 30,000 miles) and have ridden them to the Arctic Circle and to Labrador on the Trans Labrador Highway. I have been riding for 44 years and my two favorite motorcycles are the EIGHT KLR650s and THREE ST1300s I have owned ....... No BS/no lies.

flyfisher said:

So out of curiousness, does the new NE with the better suspension and all still need the doohickey? Kinda thinking a dirt bike/gravel bike locally would be a great deal of fun.....enlightenment? ff

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Yes, same doohickey.

Follow this. In case you think you don't need the 'Doo because it has low miles...mine was broken when I opened it up at the 1000 mile service (I bought the bike new a couple weeks before). Also pull the right engine cover off and clean out the oil screen. At 1000 miles mine was almost plugged with bits of RTV.

Definitely pull the rear suspension completely apart. I did that at 1000 miles and mine was bone dry from the factory...NO lube anywhere.

If you are a big guy and/or plan to put panniers and load it up sometimes, do the subframe bolt upgrade. I broke a subframe bolt before it was a month old, and I hadn't even gone off road yet.

I loved Mefo tires. Wore like iron on the pavement, handled well, but worked GREAT off road.

I did the Progressive springs. Big improvement.

While the KLR is a bargain to buy, by the time you do the necessary upgrades you could buy a V-Strom. I cheaped out trying to save money, but I ended up spending a lot more than the cost of a DL650 by the time I upgraded what was necessary. Still good bikes, lots of fun.

And Yes, they do use oil on the highway. At 17k miles when I did a 2600 mile trip to Kentucky and back I had to put a quart in about every tank of fuel. I had been running synthetic since the second oil change.

jmcarruth said:

I love my 2011 KLR, got it cheap about a year ago all farkled out. I will try to save you some pain:

Check your oil level at every fill up! These things are known to use oil at various levels, especially with extended riding at RPMs over 5k. 08s and some 09s are the worst.

If the bike still has the stock, slosh battery, get rid of it and get this:
http://www.batterymart.com/p-Big-Crank-ETX15L-Battery.html?Category_Code=kawasaki-kl650a-klr-battery

Also, do the doohickey upgrade ASAP using the Eagle Mike lever and torsion spring. No matter what you may hear, 2008+ KLRs require this. I have the tools, PM me if you want to borrow for postage.

Lube, with waterproof grease, in order of importance:
Unitrack bolt, unitrack bearings, swingarm bearings, R wheel and driven hub bearings, steering hub bearings.

Torque to spec all fasteners. The ones on the frame will be loose, I promise. Apply blue Loctite to all frame fasteners. Footpeg bolts torque to 18 ft/lbs (NOT 31 ft/lbs as per the shop manual). Safety wire on these is advised.

Clean and oil the air filter.
Check valves at 5k miles, then every 15k miles.
Change oil every 2k miles, filter every other oil change.

Suspension is OK to start with, but you will want to upgrade eventually. The front end is very soft.

If you off road, you will crash. Prepare for it with skid plate, racks, brush guards and crash bars. Mine are Happy Trails with Packrat pannier racks. You may need a low profile oil drain plug, depending on your skid plate.

Stock tires and seat are just awful.
Tires are all a compromise. Street/dirt 30/70 D606s are good, but expensive. 80/20 Shinko 705s are cheap and good. What I run.
I like Corbin seats.

Get yourself a shop manual but beware, there are errors in it!

For even more than you ever wanted to know about a KLR:
http://www.klr650.net/forums/index.php

Click to expand...

ZIAMON said:

Yes, same doohickey.

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The doohickey itself has been improved on the 08+ KLR's - The newer model doohickey will not fracture as the earlier models are know for but for some unknown reason Kawasaki has installed a tension spring that is too long and after just a couple of thousand miles and the balancer chain stretches a slight amount the tension spring does not have enough pull to remove the slack. When this happens the balancer chain begins riding up on the sprocket teeth and eventually will slip time or the sprockets will begin losing teeth. It is a very simple fix to replace the doohickey with an aftermarket one (Eagle Mike) that uses a torsion spring instead of a coiled type spring.

fnmag said:

This is something to consider. The V-Strom is an excellent bike.

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#10 on the V-STrom View attachment 161431

I too thought about buying a WeeStrom. The real difference for me is that the KLR is much more off road capable than the WeeStrom. It really depends on your ridding style. Riding forest roads or easy trails with more emphasis on paved roads the WeeStrom would be a good choice. If you ride a little more un-improved roads and smaller trails more rutted and loose traction with less paved road emphasis the KLR would be a good choice. For myself after riding my KLR through some single track(yes it can be done!) and through some pretty tight switchbacks and deep loose dirt combined with deep ruts - I can not imagine trying to do this on a WeeStrom or the other larger adventure type bikes. Again it depends on your riding style. The KLR for me is as big a bike as I could ever imagine wanting to take off road. I have ridden dirt for many years and am comfortable riding off road having competed in many enduros in my younger years and this is why I leaned towards the KLR.

Saw a pic of a Versys engine stuffed into a KLR frame, I wish I had the skills to do that!

I made a fancied up picture of the KLR from a ride last month. I rode out to the "Caprock" 40 miles north of Clovis. The Caprock is the edge around much of the LLano Estacado (Google it).

fnmag said:

This is something to consider. The V-Strom is an excellent bike.

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I'm a +10 on the WeeStrom too. Just love mine. Have added a tail trunk since the pic.

gmast1100 said:

I'm a +10 on the WeeStrom too. Just love mine. Have added a tail trunk since the pic.

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You guys quit classing up the KLR thread with those little wee wee bike pictures.

ZIAMON said:

You guys quit classing up the KLR thread with those little wee wee bike pictures.

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Sorry Raymond, just couldn't help myself showing off what a fun bike it is!

Norm said:

... They are harder to pick up than an ST1100 despite that the ST is twice as heavy...

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Can you please elaborate this a little bit?

Originally Posted by Norm
... They are harder to pick up than an ST1100 despite that the ST is twice as heavy...

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Afan said:

Can you please elaborate this a little bit?

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I had a KLR and now have a KTM950SE which is around the same weight but taller. Both the 950 and the KLR are flatter and taller than the ST when they fall so you have farther to lift. Plus, usually you are on dirt which gives less traction. I still think it's tougher to lift the ST but not by as much as you'd think given the much lower weights.

As someone with very recent experience, standing up the ST on pavement or loosely packed gravel is far easier than I expected (I did both on the same day). Maybe it's because the "wings" don't let the ST lay all the way down. I used the butt to seat, hold a grab rail in one hand and the bars in the other and just backed up. Really little effort required. It really looks like the engineers at Honda put some good thought into standing a fallen bike back up.

Smash said:

Definitely NOT been my experience!!!

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Not my experience either. The ST1300 is MUCH harder to pick up on either pavement or loose surface.

Interesting how people can be so sure but obviously wrong since they aren't agreeing with my impressions. ;-)

Kidding, of course. I do find the ST11 easier to lift than a KLR650. Some of it will be body geometry I suppose but the point, from my perspective, is that the ST11 isn't a big problem to lift. I do find that wrapping a bungee cord around the front brake lever and having the transmission in gear makes a huge difference. If the bike 'walks" due to a wheel rolling, that makes it very challenging to get past the 45 degree point.

I will say that I prefer having a KLR fall to an ST.

Unfortunately that compels me to bore you with my favorite BMW versus KLR experience. Some friends & I had come over from the Harrison Lake East FSR into the Nahatlatch and came out to have lunch at the Charles Hotel in Boston Bar, BC. We parked out front, to the east of a group of dual sports which looked to be getting ready to set off.

As I walked past, a guy standing with a 650 BMW dual sport made a rude comment to the effect that the KLR was a cheap piece of junk. Since we were face to face and he could have had no idea what medication I as supposed to be taking and wasn't, I was a bit surprised at his level of risk taking.

I turned to him and said, "It's better than having a girl's bike I'd be afraid to take off road." He was momentarily speechless and some of his buddies started to chuckle, then responded, "It will do anything your bike will do and better!"

I turned, walked back to the KLR, put one foot on the seat and pushed it over. "CRASH!!!" In that dry air it sounded like a pallet load of sheet metal roofing hitting the ground from about 20 feet. People at the gas stations across the highway turned to see what was the noise.

I walked back to him mildly retorted, "OK, your turn!"

He didn't know whether to poop or wind his watch. His mouth opened and closed several times while he made odd sounds, then he grabbed his gloves in one hand, shoved his helmet on, no strap, piled on his bike and roared off. His buddies were doubled over slapping their thighs and howling with laughter.

Walked back and stood the KLR back onto the side stand and had about the best tasting Chinese food I've ever eaten. Must admit, I wouldn't have pushed that BMW over either.