2008 klr reliability issues?

[taro]

Hey gang. I've been occasionally looking into how people are liking the new klrs. I've got wind of some reliability issues. Of the people on this forum that have new klrs, have you had any problems? Inquiring posers want to know

[Drifter]

I read in a couple of magazines and on the other KLR forums that the 08s burn alot of oil, like a quart every 500-750 miles. Some have thought its because of the new thin rings on the piston. I sure would like an answer to the question also. I hope it gets fixed soon!

[Michael600r]

I read in a couple of magazines and on the other KLR forums that the 08s burn alot of oil, like a quart every 500-750 miles.

That can't be right.

[Drifter]

I posted this question on the KLR.net forum and there are many 08 owners who have serious oil consumption problems and others that dont. I asked the question about the production numbers to try and figure out why some burn oil and others do not.

[MK592]

I lusted for a KLR for years. Once I saw the 08 model and the improvements made (brakes, suspension, etc), I figured it was time to finally pull the trigger.

Then I also heard many, many reports about excessive oil consumption. The frequency of the complaints and advice from people I trust made me decide to buy a used 2005 a month ago. I'm very happy with it.

[herk]

Just curious...

Is the doohicky repair still done on the KLR? JMK.

[Saleenguy]

A few ( its the exception, not the norm) 08 klr's are using oil if used to commute on at very high speeds for sustained long rides.
My 08 klr uses no oil, no matter how hard i ride it.
I geared mine down so its always revving hard, and still uses no oil....i ride regualrly with 8 other 2008 klr's as well, and none of them use oil.

The doohickey has a new and better lever, but the spring is too long , and can run out of adjustment.
I changed the spring in mine, it was pretty much out of adjustment, maybe at best had 1 more in it, but i doubt it.
Have done a few otjers for other guys, and same scenario really, the spring is just too long.

Your good for a few thiousand miles, and a couple 2 or 3 adjustments it appears, then the average bike needs the spring changed out.
I use eaglemikes springs.
No, i have not tried the torsional spring, but it loooks like a great idea, and i hear it works well to.

My bike was crazy lean, so i cut off the sealing plug with a hacksaw blade, and now have the pilot screw at about 2.25 turns out....seems perfect now.
I tossed the snorkel away that was in the airbox to, so it can breath better.
Run the chain slightly looser than the manual says to, as its too tight as the suspension compresses.

[bross]

The Killer Reborn - Kawasaki's 2008 KLR 650

[two_hawks]

Bought my 1st KLR a month ago. A 2008 ( GREEN!) Have about 400 miles on it. Not using oil at all so far and runs up mountain trails like a goat.Great on the pavement too. I love it.

[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.

[bigchief]

Got mine May 27th. Runs good but Sunday, I noticed the front right turn signal was hanging. The rubber boot or stem had cracked. Checked on a KLR650 site and found that many people have had one or more that broke. Of course my dealer knew nothing of this problem. Anyone else?

[Saleenguy]

Originally Posted by 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.

A cheap fix is to get Kary's 685 kit for it.
More powewr, no oil useage, smoother running, proven very reliable, and damn cheap to boot.

685 Kit information - KLR650.NET - Your Kawasaki KLR650 Resource!

[Inquisitive]

Originally Posted by taro

Hey gang. I've been occasionally looking into how people are liking the new klrs. I've got wind of some reliability issues. Of the people on this forum that have new klrs, have you had any problems? Inquiring posers want to know

Taro, I took my 08 KLR on a highway only (pretty much high speed - for a KLR) road trip. I had over 3,000 miles on my bike when I left, and had "consumed" no noticeable oil in that time. On my trip I went 1162 miles in eighteen hours (I do not recommend such), nineteen hours on the way back same road. My KLR "consumed" / burned 3.5 quarts of oil, have rode maybe 500 miles since and have not consumed any noticeable oil since I "slowed down". On my trip I was always "ten over" I-5 from Seattle to Anaheim and back. Though often much faster, and for extended periods of time. Other than 1.5 quarts of 10W-40 and 2 quarts of 20W-50 my KLR to my knowledge has not consumed any other oil. Have changed the oil several times. Bike ran strong (I weigh 220 and had 70 pounds of gear). Only other issue I have had (just noticed today) is one of my exhaust support clamp bolts has vibrated loose / out and would otherwise seem to be lost forever. The next bolt will have red Locktite liberally applied prior to installation.

[taro]

Inquisitive, thanks for the input. The thing I love about Kawasaki is that with the ex500 and the klr650, they have two of the most incredible bangs for the buck at the $5k price point. The frugal side of me loves this! So far, I've got about 29k miles on my ex500. I bought my ex500 new for $4300 (last year's model at the time) and so I'm close to recouping the cost of bike. I want to eventually recoup the cost of all of my motorcycle costs and then eventually get a klr. Who knows, by then I might not have to be so cheap. But the point being, nothing I have heard thus far has dissuaded from still wanting one.

[Inquisitive]

Originally Posted by taro

Inquisitive, thanks for the input. The thing I love about Kawasaki is that with the ex500 and the klr650, they have two of the most incredible bangs for the buck at the $5k price point. The frugal side of me loves this! So far, I've got about 29k miles on my ex500. I bought my ex500 new for $4300 (last year's model at the time) and so I'm close to recouping the cost of bike. I want to eventually recoup the cost of all of my motorcycle costs and then eventually get a klr. Who knows, by then I might not have to be so cheap. But the point being, nothing I have heard thus far has dissuaded from still wanting one.

Taro, what is wrong with keeping your EX500 rather indefinitely? Do you have a need / reason to move to a KLR? I chose the KLR because I considered it to be the most utilitarian / best value motorcycle on the market to serve my interests. I am sure there are those who would argue otherwise, however 20+ years of KLR production is tough to argue against... With all of the changes in the 08 model I thought it was a good time to get a KLR, even though I was leery of the "untested" changes. I was behind an earlier model KLR today (all green model). I do not know what year, though looked to be a later model. The rider appeared to be about my size / weight. In all fairness the other KLR had side boxes, and I have no idea if they were empty or full. What I do know is when the other KLR would "get on it" in a few different highway on ramps. I could keep up (easy enough) and could also go by him in no uncertain terms. It was as if the 08 had significantly more power. I rode along as a shadow the the other KLR as I was interested to see how a KLR handled from a "drivers" perspective? My KLR is all stock, except for 1/2 of a turn on a particular screw... The other KLR looked to be all stock as well, and by no means am I a KLR expert, I only qualify as a KLR novice because I own a KLR.

[taro]

Inquisitive, I have no plans of getting rid of the ex500. It's a vital part (well, the only part) of my master plan in which my me time activity actually saves me money (cue sinister laugh). In my feeble calculations, after a few years, I'll have saved enough money to cover the cost to add a klr to the fleet (of one so far). Then, whichever bike I choose to ride, I'll still be saving money (in the overall picture that is).

[Inquisitive]

Taro, I can appreciate your plan/s. I rather suspect you are a practically minded individual. Not meaning to rain on your parade, however have you factored in maintenance costs along the way of aging equipment? The only reason I bought the KLR was for practicality. Fuel economy, "carpool lane" and parking availability. After that the KLR would have amounted to a "toy". Instead the KLR is a fun "tool". And since effectively my tools are my toys, I am rather pleased to say the least...

[taro]

Although I haven't added up the costs, I have been doing my own maintenance and repairs ever since my bike's warranty expired. Thus far, maintaining the ex500 has been relatively painless. I was figuring that working on the klr would be pretty straight forward too. I was in Buena Vista, Colorado recently, which only spurred on my fantasy of utilizing the klr to its fullest potential. BTW-me time mostly constitutes commuting to work. Now if I can only find a way to commute to Colorado...

[HawkeSHR]

Just bought my '08 KLR (Blue) May31st and it is treating me well. Not burning oil, nor any problems with signals coming loose. Definitely will be watching for any problems. Just getting the hang of things and habits of doing the pre-ride inspections, etc. I'm due for a chain lube this week and then my 600 mile check up in 2 weeks.

Has been reliable so far and a nice ride. Just getting my throttle hand limbered though, so it does not cramp too much. Just like learning how to play guitar, gotta get through the first few months of pain learning new muscle memorization and building.

Only 475 miles so far and my son and I head for MSF class July 23rd.

[Inquisitive]

HawkeSHR, congratulations! Obviously you can type (or do you hunt and peck?). Just like typing, the more you ride, the better you get (to a point) - I have been quite stagnant for many years. Though my abilities seem to get me where I believe I reasonably want to go on a bike.