Faults:

Nothing has gone wrong with my KLR in the time that I have had it. The previous and first owner is personally known to me, and he claims to have had no issues either. At 8800 miles that is a pretty good thing. All it has had are oil changes, air filter cleanings/oilings, and new tires.

General Comments:

It does its job just fine. I am the second owner. It has about 8,800 miles on it and no issues at all. I have not done the doohickey, nor did the previous owner. That may be something to get done soon.

The KLR is great because it is reliable and cheap to buy/own/insure, and provides good all-around performance. It is not the greatest dirt bike for sure, but it is as good or better than just about any other "dual sport", of which all can be said to be somewhat lacking compared to pure street bikes or pure off-road bikes.

That being said, it is reliable and you can take it just about anywhere. Easy to maintain, easy to ride, easy to fix.

Faults:

Nothing.

If you do lay it on the left, your front fender will catch the radiator guard. Still have shoe lace holding it in place.

General Comments:

Power?

Seat?

Brakes?

Took it to Deal's Gap and had a blast.

Took the local cross trail and had a blast.

$1000.00 more and you'll have a great bike.

Faults:

At 600 miles I put in a new chain balance tensioner (only faulty part).

At 10,000 miles I did a slight valve adjustment.

At 28,000 miles my radiator temperature bulb went out.

It's a low performance, but low maintenance enduro. Good bike.

Faults:

Nothing... the thing works...!!!

General Comments:

If you want a MOTORCYCLE, here it is; the thing works really well!!!

Yes, the seat could use some help...

Faults:

Chirping noise from exhaust, seems to be a "nature of the beast" problem. Fixed by piercing the inner baffle of the muffler with a screwdriver, as read from a KLR650 forum.

Adjusted engine balancer "doohickey", which instantly quieted and smoothed engine. Easy adjustment, recommended OFTEN. I am considering the upgrade kit for this.

General Comments:

Great "go anywhere" motorcycle.

Wind sensitive on the highway.

Faults:

Nothing wrong... it all works.

General Comments:

Lots of bang for the buck. Simply a motorcycle, does short rides, long rides and commutes all with finesse. The thing just works... gets better when broken in... maybe about 2000 miles. Would have another when this one gets tired.

The seat is good for about one hour before your bootie needs rest.

Faults:

Since purchased second-hand in 2003 from an individual, I have had issues with the carburetor. When I went to look at it, the bike would not start and run because of fuel flooding. I bought it anyway and tore down the carb, but found no obvious faults, so I can only assume it was trash in the float.

Just last year I found trash in the slow air jet inlet when it started a repeat performance of the flooding I experienced in 2003. My opinion is that the stock air filter is, even when cleaned and oiled regularly, a poor performer because it allows un-filtered air to bypass at the base. I HIGHLY recommend an after-market air filter as well as one or another air-box modifications, which allow more airflow.

Additional fuel filters are not recommended unless they are designed for gravity-fed small engines. Automotive fuel filters are designed to filter under pressure from the fuel pump. There are however some after-market right-angle filters that have received favorable remarks.

General Comments:

The KLR is NOT for those with short inseams (mine is 32"). Nor is it for beginners. It is an old design, with very few technological updates, but it is torquey and top-heavy.

It will pull a wheelie in first gear, and it will take itself and a 200 pound man 3-4' in the air if you care to jump it. It will drag the pegs in a turn, and not lose traction if you're not afraid to lean.

I love it and I'd recommend it for all sorts of riders (except as mentioned above) with a few warnings. The seat SUCKS! It's adequate when new, but as it ages the foam is useless. I've tried sitting on a Corbin flat seat and it seemed hard. Corbin does recommend allowing hundreds of miles of run-in before you will find it comfortable. I'm not sure it's worth the outlay yet.

If you're not used to a dirt bike (and top-heavy at that) you're gonna drop it, and the first thing that's gonna suffer is the radiator. Get a radiator guard FIRST. Then, get an IMS rally tank in your favorite color, and you won't have to worry about the lower tank covers anymore. Also if it spills, your swing arm is gonna get gouged by either the passenger peg bracket, or the kickstand. Just thought I'd warn you. There is a lot a great information and links at Big Cee's KLR FAQ page http://www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html

I have yet to have an issue with the cam chain tensioner (doohickey), and while I did change the brake lines to braided stainless steel, I've not seen a tremendous improvement, nor do I expect you could brake any harder without skidding.

The best advice I can offer is "Be Alert". You have to brake early and downshift appropriately to stop without taking off valuable rubber from those high dollar dual-sport tires.

Which leads me to the oft' asked question 'which tires...?'. Mine came with AVON Gripsters, which were great for the street, but absolutely useless anywhere else. The most recent purchase was a set of MAXXIS C6006 DOT knobbies and Heavy Duty inner-tubes that I am very happy with. Except for the initial break-in (both tire and rider), they bite better on the street, dirt and mud, but they are noisy. So I wear ear plugs.

Also, because I like to ride in cooler weather, I went up to an NGK DP7EA-9 plug. It keeps the engine temperature up in cool weather, and I haven't noticed any over-heating in hot weather yet.

All in all, it's a great bike. I ride it hard, but I try to give it all the attention it needs so it won't leave me stranded. I have called it every name you can think of (and some you can't) when it let's me down on a trail. But it always takes me home.