How many miles is a KLR 650 good for?

A '93 with 14,000 on it,properly maintained with maintenance records. Is this bike good for a few more miles before needing any engine work? How many miles are these bikes good for?

I had an 04 with 23k+ on it - no oil consumption, no issues at all...

I think you will find most folks will vouch for well into the 20k - 30k range before anything major. But its a KLR - there is nothing major in comparison to other machines because it is a simple machine :).

If you have most or all the records & it hasn't been beat on, that sounds pretty good! Make sure the 'doohicky' (ie - idler balance something something) has been swapped. That is a weak spot on that motor, but not too internal that most everyone can replace their own.

And the aftermarket support (parts & knowledge) is big

A 93 with only 14000 miles on it ? Its not even broke in yet.

More than most people can manage to ride.......

KLR's have issues but that's not one of them.

'06 - 15K miles My bike runs real smooth and is very comfortable to ride.

I know of owners who have over 100K... You take care of it and you can ride for a long time....

14,000 is Ok on KLR. It's good for quite a bit more before any major engine work is needed, except for the Doohicky.

I put a lot more miles than that on one last year. As far as longevity mileage wise, that's a hard call. Some of 'em do suck oil at high RPM's. "Properly maintained, with records", does not tell me much. There is a tad more to "proper maintenance" than changing the oil. Has the Doohickey been upgraded? If you can keep the Doohickey parts out of the balancer system, and clean oil in the engine, and don't flog it like a rented mule, you will get considerable mileage out of it. How many miles? Go down to Anathema's Crystal Ball and Fortune Telling, 6th and Main, I got nothing.
The engine is as stand up as a 4.0 Jeep engine. They are dependable as an SKS, and just about as many moving parts. Drop either in the mud, pick 'em up and they both will go like hell. Some of the SKS parts are interchangeable with the KLR....you can always tell a KLR that has SKS parts on it...the SKS uses better metals.

Kinda like asking how many licks does it take to get to the tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop.......

The world may never know......

I had a 95 that had 65,000km ish on it when I sold it. I did the valves twice in 40'000 km. The doohickey after it broke with my bike running. Other then that only ever did tires, brakes, chains and oil. No engine trouble at all.

My future Son-in-Law has a 2005 with 50,000 miles before a top end was done. I know this for a fact, I bought the bike for him. It is his first bike. Hey, he has to earn his way in! Right?

'01 with 65K miles and running strong, no oil burn (M1 15-50 non-moto synthetic).
Same clutch, same clutch cable.
Speedo died, odo works fine as does the tach.
Had to seal the tank due to a fuel weep at the rear frame mount welds.
Valves adjusted in my garage at 6K and checked every 10K but no further adjustment needed.
Sagebrush doohickey upgrade.
Sealed wheel bearings upgrade.
New cush drive.
Replaced rear shock with new OEM at 45K.
many chains and sprockets and many more tires
disabled the vacuum carb
removed the fuel cap air seals.
bypassed all safeties
Still getting 50 mpg.


Refuses to quit.

Maybe I should chime in here as a worse (but not worst) case scenario.

1997 model, I'm prolly the 4th owner, previously belonged to 2 inmates on this board before I wound up with it. 2nd speedo, so maybe around 29K to 35K miles. This bike has had regular oil changes, but by no stretch of the imagination can you say it has been babied. Couple trips from Houston to Copper Canyon, I think a couple more to Big Bend. Dirt roads on a regular basis, and since I've had it, a 6000+ rpm commute frequently. (That's about where the handling gets too flaky for me.)

Can't say for sure that the valves have been adjusted, but they're tappy, so prolly somewhere back down the line, yes.

With me riding, it goes through a half-quart of oil every 125 miles. And it has had a mysterious, intermittent starting problem for a while. Since before it was given to me. Left me stranded at, of all places, a Harley dealership. .

I went and talked to a machinist today about boring it for the 685 kit and we'll discuss some oversize valves when he sees the head. And then I'll inspect the KACR to see if my educated guess is right, and that's the cause of the starting problems.

I could prolly ease along below 5000 rpm where the oil consumption is quite a bit less, but I don't wanna. One of the previous owners was an LEO, so he didn't have to worry about tickets, and the inmate I got it from just doesn't worry about tickets.

Ridden in a sane fashion, the KLR should last for 50k at least, before needing rebore or valve work (other than adjustments.)

As with all things, YMMV.

I did the mod listed in this link, and my oil consumption went down by about 80%. My bike is a'95 with about 23,000 miles, and it used to burn about a quart every 300-400 miles at higher freeway speeds. The PCV mod is simple, cheap, and very effective, at least on my bike. And yes, YMMV.

http://klrworld.com/forums/index.php/topic,11110.0.html

Patman's write-ups are top shelf.

You going to WMRS this year BgrAl?

My '98 with 32,000 miles sounds tighter that the '03 I bought with 8,000 miles. Both times I checked the valves, they spot on, uses no oil between changes, loses no coolant. Original clutch, cables except for choke and speedo, original wheel bearings.
Don't know why one wouldn't run twice or three times this long.
Side note, local guy had a 250 Rebel with over 100,000 miles on the original engine. This bike doesn't even have an oil filter!

Yessir!! I wouldn't miss that one for the world. I'm hoping to do the Silver Canyon bit this year, as my hip is fully healed and ready to go. Plus, I'm guessing that Gillafunk will do it, and that's gotta be good for some laughs.
My wife rode her KLR250 all the way to WARP and back, a total of 883 miles, and she spent the entire weekend giving Kiel crap about him parking his truck at your place and riding in.oser

My '07 will turn 30k miles in a coupla days. Replaced the broken Doo and spring at 19k, no other problems.

Did the PCV mod awhile back. Haven't seen any real improvement.

Judging by my rear fender, I've got worn rings and cylinder issues.

I have seen some people report over 100,000 miles.

1988 with 11,000 original miles - runs strong, but it does smoke a bit on startup - maybe rings? valve guides? Had valves adjusted last year. Seems like it has good compression and makes good power. Has been rejetted.