[RCW]

The 650 is particularly sensitive to having the correct oil, one light enough that it oils the cams as soon as it starts, and in the operator keeping the cam chain tensioner properly set so the cam chain does not flop around. I use the best 10-40 I can find and change it every 1,000 miles, and readjust my cam chain tensioner at every oil chain, it is easy to do and only takes a minute.

Also, never rev them up cold, that tears out the piston skirts and wallows out the cam journals - results in knocking. Let them warm to just hot enough to be uncomfortable to touch, and then you can nail them all you want without any trouble at all. I ride mine more than the more powerful Zuki, simply because it is a whole lot more fun than just about any other bike I can think of.

By the way, the older KLR650's carry the exact same part numbers for the balancer lever, the balancer idler shaft lever, and the spring - the items that break, as does the 07. The early 07 and older models use a different spring. Just go aftermarket and save a lot of worry.