[RCW]

I ran an 08 for over 30,000 miles and burned so much oil that I had it rebuilt three times, once under warranty, once was a good deal fix that did not work, and the last time I had the big bore kit installed. The first rebuild was an OEM waste of time that never did anything but cost me two weeks of down time; the second rebuild was with a half-baked higher tension ring solution recommended by Thumpertalk, and it worked about 6,000 miles then my bore was so tapered that it started burning oil again; the last rebuild was with the big name big bore, new cylinder, carburetor rejet, and head kit, and it stopped the oil consumption and made it run a lot smoother. But, by then I was gun shy of riding it south of the border - I hate walking!

The conking out mystery is probably the wiring harness pinch problem they all seem to have. There is an ECM failure problem that some seem to have that also just shuts them down for no apparent reason. The dealer will know about both problems, as they are very common and there are almost always bikes in the shop with one or both of the issues.

Take it back under the warranty and get it fixed.

The Kawasaki dealer I deal with is a real straight shooter, and he simply recommended I either find one of the Kawasaki 400 dual sports that were sold a few years back, or go to the Suzuki DR-Z400S as it is the same bike as what Kawasaki used to sell. I took his advice, and when Kawasaki fixes the KLR650 I will buy another. I really liked the flexibility of the bike and what it was capable of doing, but just could not deal with being broke down in Mexico on a ride.

I toyed with buying the Versys, but it is way too cramped for me, and is a design for street use not gravel and dirt.