Fix Day

The KLR650 has many pros but there are a few cons that come with any engineering design. The 2008-2009 KLR models have a well-documented oil consumption problem as they drink as much oil as the Irish drink beer. On some KLR models it is common to burn 1 litre every 2000kms which is why there is a cardinal rule for KLR owners to “CHECK YOUR OIL LEVELS WITH EVERY GAS FILL”. I unfortunately did not do this for the beginning of my trip and my engine ran dry for 10 minutes while pulling into Calgary. A few minutes of dry running is generally not enough time to cause serious damage but it’s always good to check.

The KLR is a pretty simple bike to take apart and put back together. With one metric socket set some plyers and a screwdriver you can strip it to the frame in about an hour.

Turning this

Into this

After stripping the engine I found out what happened. When engines run out of oil they get hot, as they heat up the metal will expand and the plastics will begin to melt which includes the thread lock holding all the screws inside the engine together and rubber gaskets. A sign of heat damage is purpling of the metal or oil discoloration. The areas of most concern are the cams and the piston which is why both need to be checked. When checking for discoloration also ensure all bolts are firmly fastened as the thread lock may have burned off and the expanding metal coupled with excess vibration may have shaken them loose.

In my case it’s the cams that got a bit too warm. This caused the cam unit to loosen up resulting in the spring dampener to hit the top end of the engine. After pulling the unit out and measuring the cams I was happy to find out that they are in great condition as they meet the operational specs in the service manual and all other parts look good. Its great since only top end work needs to be done which is the easiest work to do. If you have access to a shop with a compression gauge I recommend asking to use it as I is a great way to diagnose an engine. The KLR has a great service chart that applies to any engine,

One thing to note is the big gap where the cam chain is. This “cauldron of doom” is a great place for bolts washers and nuts to fall into resulting in a complete engine disassembly. Because of this I strongly suggest placing a clean rag to fill the gap preventing this. There is nothing worse than being ready to finish reassembling the engine and dropping a bolt to the bottom of the engine.

The photos below highlight the day and a few of the fixes that need to be made.