Decided on getting a used 2008 KLR650, after searching and reading …. alot of reviews and other things it seems like the best decision. The only real downside is that some, like 10%?, have an oil consumption issue. Which stems from improper break-in and kawi using some 07′ parts in their new 08′ redesigns. After reading about the oil consumption I started to get a wee bit put off of buying a used 08 KLR, since without tearing apart the top end (oil burning stems from the cylinder/piston/seal seating) I wouldn’t be able to find out if it was a “defective” model. After that I started looking into buying a new 09 model instead, in which the manufactuers end of the problem seemed to be solved, but after playing with numbers and adding to the fact that I would have to break-in the bike while learning how to ride, I’ve come back to buying a used one.
’09 KLR650 OTD 4,900-5,200~ + some free gear
’08 Used KLR650 OTD 3,600~ + the cost of having to do a top end rebuild to solve the oil problem = 4,200~4,400 (from what i’ve read the best fix for the oil is to buy a 685 kit which costs about 375$~ add to it 4~hrs of labor and misc and that is where i’m getting this figure)
So after a few sleepless nights of deciding what to get I’ve decided to take a chance on the 08 KLR 650, which hopefully won’t have any Oil issues or otherwise, and learn how to do some wrenching if the bike does end up needing some work.
~hoppin along hoping to get on the road… or in a parking lot soon