KLR head gasket NGC

[Chuck in Indiana]

A kid that sometimes works for me says he has a KLR located cheap  with a blown head gasket. He asked me how big a job that was.
I don't know. Sounds like simple nuts and bolts, but I've never even looked at one, much less worked on one. Is that all it is likely to be or is it a " Just needs the carbs cleaned and a battery and it'll be like new" thing?
TIA

[bettythebear]

I had a 2005 for five years and loved it. Pretty darn easy to do anything to it!

[RinkRat II]

 Hi Chuck,
   Like you say, nuts and bolts job. the only thing to be mindful of is the cam chain. As long as your careful and dont let it fall into the crankase no big deal.
    I'm curious as to the circumstances of the head gasket  as these thing are bulletproof.  I'm on my second one and as the weak link was the counerbalancer tensioner spring  known as the Doohickey bt thats an easy upgrade.  Good luck. Did he mention year? price?
     
        Paul B

[Chuck in Indiana]

Hi Chuck,
   Like you say, nuts and bolts job. the only thing to be mindful of is the cam chain. As long as your careful and dont let it fall into the crankase no big deal.
    I'm curious as to the circumstances of the head gasket  as these thing are bulletproof.  I'm on my second one and as the weak link was the cam chain tensioner spring  known as the Doohickey bt thats an easy upgrade.  Good luck. Did he mention year? price?
     
        Paul B

That was my first thought, too. Everyone says you can't kill one with a stick. I'll ask him year and price..

[Chuck in Indiana]

Just got a text from him and he said he was taking the truck to pick it up.  Ah, kids and their instant gratification thing..
He said $900, I didn't ask the year.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Humm. I think Austin did ok. He drug that KLR into the shop after work this evening and it looks pretty good. New tires. Trunk and luggage. (!) Manly shade of turquoise.. 
Here, he's using a calibrated pipe over breaker to loosen the head bolts.  Plans on having it running yet tonight. I'll be in bed.
2017-09-14_08-23-32 by Charles Stottlemyer, on Flickr
Kids and all their energy, anyway... grumble grumble.

[RinkRat II]

  That right there folks is affectionately known in the KLR world as The Barbie KLR. Nothing wrong with it just expect a lot of kidding about it.  Looks to be in good shape, hopefully he  gets off easy.

    Paul B

[steven c]

 Some times I think of selling off my little bike collection and going back to just having a KLR 650. Had a lot of fun on mine when I had it.

[Chuck in Indiana]

  That right there folks is affectionately known in the KLR world as The Barbie KLR. Nothing wrong with it just expect a lot of kidding about it.  Looks to be in good shape, hopefully he  gets off easy.

    Paul B

Doh! I told him not to drop a fastener down that cam chain tunnel..  He's going to learn a lot more about this engine now..
 2017-09-15_10-56-07 by Charles Stottlemyer, on Flickr
Everything looks to be in nice shape, though. So far.

[fotoguzzi]

  That right there folks is affectionately known in the KLR world as The Barbie KLR. Nothing wrong with it just expect a lot of kidding about it.  Looks to be in good shape, hopefully he  gets off easy.

    Paul B

I had a Barbie KLR,  had a for sale sign about the size of a postage stamp and when I come out from a store this guy all over me about it. I made a killing selling it to him, the color is what sold it.

Some times I think of selling off my little bike collection and going back to just having a KLR 650. Had a lot of fun on mine when I had it.

Consider a DR650 first, lighter, faster, air/oil cooled, cruises hwy speeds better.

[steven c]

 For most of my riding a DR would work. Of course today I rode the Uly for the first time in a while, Brakes! Torque! HP! Frame heat but oh what a fun bike.

[fotoguzzi]

For most of my riding a DR would work. Of course today I rode the Uly for the first time in a while, Brakes! Torque! HP! Frame heat but oh what a fun bike.

I remember the feeling, had an XB12XT.. always on the look out for a priced right XB9S now.

[Sheepdog]

KLR's are great for anything...except drag racing, I guess. The DR beats it off-road, but the fairing and large fuel tank make the Kawi better for everything else. Both of these bikes have a huge aftermarket...

[Lee Bruns]

KLR's are great for anything...except drag racing, I guess. The DR beats it off-road, but the fairing and large fuel tank make the Kawi better for everything else. Both of these bikes have a huge aftermarket...

I never had a radiator hose failure on a DR. Nor a counterbalance chain tensioner failure, nor a water pump failure, nor a damaged radiator. The lower weight of the DR makes it far better offroad, and for on road  touring mine ran 60 mpg all day long. What does the KLR do better than the DR? Bigger fuel tank is the only thing, and that is easy to fix.

[webmost]

The one unbeatable superiority which the KLR possesses is ubiquity. The sheer number of them results in innumerable available farkles and mods, as well as terrific deals on used ones. Plus, they are so effin ugly to start with that it's about impossible to rat one out. Bolt on anything you want, it still looks ugly. Drop it, so what? It's the kind of bike, you park it and leave the key in.

Other than that, they're so poorly designed that you get to have tons of fun wrenching at one.

[Sheepdog]

I never had a radiator hose failure on a DR. Nor a counterbalance chain tensioner failure, nor a water pump failure, nor a damaged radiator. The lower weight of the DR makes it far better offroad, and for on road  touring mine ran 60 mpg all day long. What does the KLR do better than the DR? Bigger fuel tank is the only thing, and that is easy to fix.

Dr. Gregory Frazier chose the KLR...

[Perazzimx14]

I never had a radiator hose failure on a DR. Nor a counterbalance chain tensioner failure, nor a water pump failure, nor a damaged radiator. The lower weight of the DR makes it far better offroad, and for on road  touring mine ran 60 mpg all day long. What does the KLR do better than the DR? Bigger fuel tank is the only thing, and that is easy to fix.

I don't think the small tank on the DR is a detraction. When riding dual sport stuff where I don't need extended range I put on the stock tank as it is pretty narrow. Hitting the road for a weekend tour on goes the Acerbis 5.3 in natural.

The DR is better on road and off road. The only thing the KLR beats the DR at is being heavier. Something like 40 lbs heavier.

[webmost]

I don't think the small tank on the DR is a detraction. When riding dual sport stuff where I don't need extended range I put on the stock tank as it is pretty narrow. Hitting the road for a weekend tour on goes the Acerbis 5.3 in natural.

The KLR comes with a 6.1. My EMS is a 7.5. They sell ten gallon tanks now.

The DR is better on road and off road. The only thing the KLR beats the DR at is being heavier. Something like 40 lbs heavier.

The pre-2008 KLR is 45 lbs lighter than the post 2007. Take off the funky fairing & you save about 50 lbs (most of that weight is in the framing of it). As an added plus, removing the fairing and windshield helps it track better in crosswind or passing trucks on the freeway.

[Lee Bruns]

Dr. Gregory Frazier chose the KLR...

Dr Frazier was paid. Hell, I'd ride one if it was free too. Got anything to actually show that it is a better choice to the DR? Honestly, if the DR didn't exist, I'd be right there, but the DR does exist and the ONLY reason to get a KLR over a DR is peer pressure.

[Lee Bruns]

The KLR comes with a 6.1. My EMS is a 7.5. They sell ten gallon tanks now.


The pre-2008 KLR is 45 lbs lighter than the post 2007. Take off the funky fairing & you save about 50 lbs (most of that weight is in the framing of it). As an added plus, removing the fairing and windshield helps it track better in crosswind or passing trucks on the freeway.

If all of the extra fragility and breakable things involved in the liquid cooling gave more reliability or more power than the air cooled DR there might be some justification for it. But it does not. Their engine outputs are identical. DR has far fewer things to potentially go wrong and weighs 40 lbs less than the KLR.

[Sheepdog]

Sounds like you got the right bike for you, Lee. By all accounts the big DR is a great machine.

[Perazzimx14]

Well just as a note.
I like liquid cooled over aircooled if possible. (99.9% of the vehicles on the road are such.).
I have not had any problems with the cooling system on my '01 KLR after about 25,000 hard miles mostly on dirt.
My KLR weighs 408 pounds w/6 gal (weighed by me).
The factory says a 14 sec 1/4 time and about 100 top, 'bout the same as the DR so performance is par and only 1 inch less travel in the suspension vs the DR. (KLR about 5 more HP)

I have a good friend I have gone on very long rides with and he rides a DR.
The KLR will match it on dirt and the road for all practical purposes.

Not pushing the KLR over the DR to each his on, but in my opinion its just as good and there is probably 3 times more after market farkels for the old Kaw single.
And I can get just about the same price for it today that I paid for it  10 years ago.

Its a winner

Actually the DR is cooled via Sachs oil/air cooling. Very effective and very simplistic.

[LowRyter]

Chuck  =  Nice Guy   

[Chuck in Indiana]

Chuck  =  Nice Guy   

Thanks, John.. but Austin is a very talented young mechanic. I would never have delved into the bowels of a double over head cam engine when I was his age. Like with Unkept, I'm just trying to give encouragement, and pass on a little hard earned knowledge..

[webmost]

You guys ever heard of FSSNOC? (pronounded fizz knock) Four Stroke Singles National Owners Club. Their motto is the four strokes: squeeze bang blow suck... or is it blow suck squeeze bang... works in any order. I joined long enough to attend one of their meetups at God's Thumb Print (Burke's Garden VA). All thumpers and tiddlers except for one Burgman and a Silverwing... and they asked those two to park across the street please. Some rode from Kansas and Texas and such. Six out of ten were KLRs. Next most common was the classic Homda 500 -- what was that called -- anyone remember?  Nice low key organization. Summa these tiddlers that run the back roads 800 miles to make a meetup and 800 back -- that's impressive.

[Chuck in Indiana]

So.. he went to an (ahem) BMW rally with his parents this weekend, and a guy there had all the KLR special tools he needed. When I went out to the shop after dinner, he already had the cams timed. (!) Here, he's explaining to me how that is done. 
2017-09-17_07-12-24 by Charles Stottlemyer, on Flickr
I had cheated and read the book <shrug> and he had it down cold. Just checkin..
Need I say I'm impressed?

[Chuck in Indiana]

You guys ever heard of FSSNOC? (pronounded fizz knock) Four Stroke Singles National Owners Club. Their motto is the four strokes: squeeze bang blow suck... or is it blow suck squeeze bang... works in any order. I joined long enough to attend one of their meetups at God's Thumb Print (Burke's Garden VA). All thumpers and tiddlers except for one Burgman and a Silverwing... and they asked those two to park across the street please. Some rode from Kansas and Texas and such. Six out of ten were KLRs. Next most common was the classic Homda 500 -- what was that called -- anyone remember?  Nice low key organization. Summa these tiddlers that run the back roads 800 miles to make a meetup and 800 back -- that's impressive.

Never have, but my MZ Skorpion qualifies, too. Thanks, I'll look it up.

[RinkRat II]

 Something to be said for youth and determination! Good on Him! Curious on the head gasket failure, old antifreeze attack it? Bad torque job?  Whattsit look like?   

        Paul B

[Lannis]

So.. he went to an (ahem) BMW rally with his parents this weekend, and a guy there had all the KLR special tools he needed. When I went out to the shop after dinner, he already had the cams timed. (!) Here, he's explaining to me how that is done. 
2017-09-17_07-12-24 by Charles Stottlemyer, on Flickr
I had cheated and read the book <shrug> and he had it down cold. Just checkin..
Need I say I'm impressed?

Not taking ONE THING away from his ambition, determination, and drive to learn ... he's a rare bird in these degenerate times .....

.....but when I was his age, I was working on my bikes in the dank back of an old garage, with 2 100 watt bulbs hanging from cords, no lifts, one vise, an old 3/8" drill motor, one hand-held box of partly Craftsman tools, minimal manuals, no Internet, and by myself.   

I'd have had a LOT more fun and wouldn't be such a hack mechanic today if I'd had you to help!   So carry on with that .... and let's hear that KLR fire up when it's back together so we can share that rare and happy feeling ....

Lannis

[Xlratr]

.....but when I was his age, I was working on my bikes in the dank back of an old garage, with 2 100 watt bulbs hanging from cords, no lifts, one vise, an old 3/8" drill motor, one hand-held box of partly Craftsman tools, minimal manuals, no Internet, and by myself.   

Luxury! I used to work under a tarp, in the dark![emoji16]

https://youtu.be/Xe1a1wHxTyo


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