[RCW]

I am selling my 08 KLR after three warranty rebuilds to try and stop the oil consumption problem. Not because it is a bad bike, but because of the remote places I use it. I may even buy a new one, and hope the oil issue is really fixed. They are pretty handy and can go just about anywhere.

Mine is one of the original ones introduced, and supposedly those made after the fall of 07 have improved oil rings.

Regarding excessive oil consumption, mine was burning about a quart every 750-800 miles if you ride at anything approaching highway speeds with a load on the bike. They seem to do fine if you keep the speed down to about 45 or so, such as riding around town and in the woods and gravel. And, the guys that just putt around with them unloaded seem to do OK, but that is not what I do.

There is a "fix" out there that uses higher tension rings to try and stop oil consumption, but all I did was wear a serious taper in my cylinder and ended up burning even more oil after about 6,500 miles of loaded use. I finally did the aftermarket rebore kit and upped the displacement, and that seems to have stopped the oil burning, but for how long I do not know.

The doohicky is identical, lever and all, to the older ones. The spring was changed, but they still crack the lever at the connection. If you are curious, you can verify the parts are identical by going to the parts listings on Kawasaki's web site and looking up the part numbers. The solution is the aftermarket doohicky kit, works great, is inexpensive, and easy to install.

Nearly everyone that owns one will run into a problem with the ignition control wiring under the tank scrubbing through and causing missing and hesitation, and outright stalling. Most dealers now know about this and will reroute the wiring to eliminate the problem.

The built-in compression release on the end of the camshaft rattles a bit, and can be annoying but does not seem to hurt anything.

The carb is seriously lean, but fixes are well known and inexpensive. No different than any other newer bike with the DEQ tuning.

The hand guards suck, just replace them with good ones that have metal reinforcement loops so they do not flop around. Another cheap fix.

I put over 38,000 miles on mine of riding in Canada, the US, and through Mexico and Central America. Most people never even get near that number of miles before trading for another bike.

The hard surface and highway handling is heads and shoulders above the earlier KLR's. The peg and handlebar buzz is much less than the earlier bikes. Brakes are good, and handle a fully loaded bike with ease.

The seat leaves a lot to be desired, but there are plenty of options available.

Just like the older KLR's, the fuel capacity is great. All your woods buddies will try and bum gas off you as their 2.5 gallon bikes run out after a half day of riding, and you are still going strong.

Fuel mileage is good. Expect close to 55 mpg with normal riding, and you can get over 60 mpg on the highway. The worst I have ever got is in the 40's, and that is riding in mud so deep it was building up on the rims.

As far as bang for the buck, I do not think you could beat it for the intended purpose, even with the oil issue, if you ride near civilization or keep trips under 250 miles between towns where you can get good motorcycle oil.