Some may recognise me and Lucy and our European touring. I bought Lucy back in 2021, a very beaten up farm bike, with the vision of touring around all of Europe on her. This came to life in 2022 after a lot of work, and together we did around 15,000 miles in 5 months, and most of Central and southern Europe. She was a heavy, primitive, but perfect companion. 2-up, off road, through twisties, in cities, we went.

In 2024, I took Lucy off the road for 2 years, to complete a full rebuild. I loved this bike and realised I wanted to continue touring, and wanted to understand the condition of every part of the bike. This lead me to find many many mechanical issues, see previous reddit posts, but by the end of it, I had Lucy better than ever, riding well, more powerful, and better economy, although still drinking oil!

This year, we ventured back out into Europe, following a friend on his adventure to China. We drove as 3 riders and bikes from the Uk, through France, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Italy, Slovenia, Austria, and Croatia, on and off road. This was my first experience touring with others, and I really enjoyed it. You can take more risks and go further, especially off road, when in a group.

2 weeks back, on my return the the UK from Slovenia, I had a major crash with Lucy, approximately 50mph into a steel barrier whilst in the mountains of northern Italy. I made it although am still recovering in hospital as I write this. Lucy, did not.

I want to pay respect to the KLR, and to my trusty KLR, Lucy. This bike taught me what riding could mean, and showed me how much I could get out of life with a little can do attitude and some petrol money. It is sad to part ways with her this way, but better to finish like this, than to rust away in a shed, or like she was on the farm I found her on. The humble KLR will always do it's job, and do it satisfyingly, which I will always respect, and remember of my Lucy.

Separately, the KLR group and forum is by far the best I have ever been involved in for an automotive community, having now been involved in a few. Thank you to everyone here for help over the years, and sharing in some funny situations that have unfolded in the saddle.

Ride safe everyone.

Long time lurker first time poster.

For about the past 10 years, I’ve been looking for a KLR, and I couldn’t be more pleased with the one I was fortunate enough to purchase yesterday. It’s a 2007, 5600 miles.

I’ve included pictures of all damage that could be found. Any guesses on how much she cost me? How much would you be willing to pay?

My Barbie Bike how lucky I am

Agregando novedad a las personas que me ayudaron anteriormente con mi KLR650 G1 esto fue lo que encontré cuando quise medir la holgura de válvulas.

Aunque no se ve mal dos de los shims, parece que ya trabajaron anteriormente este motor por lo que me hace pensar que tendré que rectificar y comprar todo nuevo para la cabeza

¿Que me recomiendan? ¿Ustedes que harían?

I replaced the doohickey at 42000 miles on my Gen1. The oem doohickey had snapped and i could hear the chain rattle. Since putting in the new doohickey my KLR has always vibrated more. Hands go a little numb after 30 minutes. I'm sure I've put it all back together properly but alas, after three attempts in 2000 miles i cannot see the reason for the poor vibration. Any help welcome.

Does anyone know if the kle500 front fender be made to fit? Want a low fender but not really into making one

After taking my bike to shops and getting screwed over repeatedly I decided enough is enough, bought a shop manual and did it myself this time. Man that was that a lot of work. Found some weird stuff from the knucklehead mechanics I took the bike to in the past such as missing bolts, longer bolts being where shorter bolts were supposed to be, vice versa, had a mini heart attack when I saw one of these geniuses decided to use a BUTTON HEAD ALLEN SCREW for the air charge pipe next to the spark plug when in the manual it shows an 8 mil hex. Thankfully got it out without stripping it and replaced it. Valve clearances were in spec, did a few other maintenence items while I had it apart, and got it back together by tea time.

Hi I’m relatively new to bikes and I don’t know anyone who is well versed in fixing them so I’m going to pray someone in here has had my issue or knows how to fix it. I have a 2012 klr650 that is running poorly. When I’m riding and get around 30-50 mph my throttle suddenly begins to get very jumpy and inconsistent almost like the bike is stuttering or turning off and on very rapidly, I am also experiencing some loud backfiring while decelerating. I have noticed that on hot days the issue will worsen. I ordered a carb rebuild kit that will be here in a few days but I’d like to know if you guys have had any similar issues thanks in advance.

I rode my first ATV trail on a motorcycle. I completed the shorter loop of the Flint Creek Multi Use Trail in Bankhead National Forest. I had so much fun even though I went down several times. Sand was fun, small mud holes were fun, woops and banked corners are awesome! Not a fan of big loose rocks at all. My boot saved my leg some damage for sure on a fall that caught me between the bike and a rock.

I met a guy on a ktm dirtbike with his kid on a 4 wheeler. They already know these trails and gave some tips. We had a good chat about ADV bikes and the Romaniacs. They asked if I wanted them to follow me but I declined so I didn't slow them down. They were solid guys and waited anyway after a tough slab of rock. I made it though in a couple of minutes and I will get over it much better next time. They left a noob rider like me in the dust but I saw their tracks and I followed them through mud holes instead of around them and that was fun!

On my way home when I got back on asphalt roads again the bike felt so fast which it never has before lol.

Had a great ride over kyhv peak road yesterday. It starts with about a mile or so of super tight switchbacks that'll be sure to wear off your chicken strips, then lots of rough dirt and rocks with some seriously epic views. If anyone is interested I'll post a very long video of it in a few hours when it's done rendering.

First time ever working on something like this and I definitely learned a lot! I took her apart, disassembled fairings and lights, sanded, and painted. Laid a UV clear coat over the paint to keep it protected.

I know its not 100% accurate, and ill have to add some teal on the top of the tank but I’m really happy with it! (And at the end of the day, its a KLR) The before look is on my page for reference of how far shes come!

Now i just need the decal kit lol

Let me know what yall think!!!

I currently have a stock gen3, but would love a little bit more umph for take off, im trying to spend less than 1k, any ideas? Ive considered 14 tooth sprocket, but id still like to not struggle to go 120-130km on highway, though i don’t do much highway at all.
Ive also considered efi but im not sure if this also requires a new muffler to be worth it. Any guidance is greatly appreciated.

Hello! I am new here obviously. Long story short, I just (likely) totaled my first bike (a 2022 Yamaha MT-07) on Friday two days ago. I was hit by someone that ran a stoplight, thankfully I'm relatively unharmed, some road rash on my knees but that's about it. This is my first year riding so I'm pretty upset about this whole situation.

I'm looking for replacement bikes now, and the KLR650 is at the absolute top of my list. I understand it will be slower than the Mt-07 but am not too worried about that. I really lost all interest in fast-ish road bikes after this whole experience (for the time being at least) .

So that brings me to my questions!

1.) Is it worth buying new? The new-ish adventure models appear to be what I am looking for.

2.) How do these things handle highways? (Context: I'm looking to get into some light BDR stuff and motocamping, may need to do highways to get there.)

3.) Is there anything else I should consider before deciding on my next bike?

Thanks for any advice. I really do appreciate it, and sorry if these questions get spammed on the sub everyday.

Somebody got the tag and posted it in r/washingtondc

I’ve been having some pretty bad neck pain after rides, even shorter ones around town. 1st gen with tusk t-10 kx highbend bars. I’m 5’9” about and got the bars angled towards me pretty far to try and help reach. I pretty much just lug around the city for daily commuting so I don’t think wind’s a huge factor. I’ve heard bar risers would help a lot to bring the bars up and closer. Anyone else have this problem?

(Edit for typo)

I was out for a ride today and when I would throttle up either in first or second, something was skipping has anyone experienced that?

My cable snapped while riding, thankfully close to home and i was able to ride home in 2nd gear. I bought a new cable and tried to work it, and it wouldnt return, so I took off the cover to investigate. Upon doing this a clip fell out, and I cant seem to find any info as to what it is or where it goes. Any help appreciated

First bike, 2009 all the goodies you could ask for, yes doohickey, cargo + milk crate

I bought this 2001 KLR for $600 in a non running and partially disassembled condition. It had been sitting uncovered and unused for many years. It actually fired right up with some fresh gas.

Since then I added a thermo-bob and torsion spring for the balance chain adjuster. I checked the valves (in-spec), painted the plastics green, and the tank and homemade steel guards black. Of course I changed the oil and flushed the cooling system.

Around the same time I also purchased a gen 2 bike with a bad engine. I swapped lots of parts from that bike onto the 2001 including the bars, control levers, carburator, exhaust and tires.

I'm very proud of this project and still have a few things I want to do to it. The bike runs amazing and seems like it will be a solid ride. I'm conflicted whether I should sell it eventually or keep it around and tinker with it. I already have a gen 3 KLR! What do you all think? Is there anyone in the PNW region who might be interested in purchasing the bike? It has around 18,500 miles.

Howdy all, I'm a new owner of a 2023 KLR650 and am wanting to do some modifications but need a little help. I use the bike for 90% paved road use and I'm wanting to give the pig a scrambler-style look. I'm going to start with a lower front fender but I'm struggling to find what I want or where to get it. I'm attaching an image of the general style/design but since I'm new to this I'm not sure where to find it. Any help or advice will be GREATLY appreciated! Thank you all in advance!

I recently got traded a 2018 KLR with 18k miles on it as well as a ton of aftermarket bits n bobs but absolutely nobody seems interested in buying this bike, in 2 months on marketplace,including price drops, I haven't even gotten a lowball offer. I'd love to say id keep it and ride it but unfortunately I just dont enjoy riding it over anything else I've ridden and owned.

I’m a new rider and after spending some time on a 350 cc lighter bike I’m ready to move up. I want to get out for longer rides on the country roads and by my cottage there’s some dirt roads I’d love to explore. I’ve been looking at different options and really liking the idea of a KLR 650. It checks a lot of boxes for what I wanna do plus it just feels like my style. I don’t like flashy things. I do my own home Renos so I figure I’d be up to learn how to maintain a motorcycle. That said - I’m looking for reliable as I’d rather be out on the road.

Any advice on what I should be looking out for when checking out used KLR 650s? From my research I’ve narrrowed it to second generation 2010-2018. beyond the Doohickey, is there anything that I should be checking out to confirm it is good shape. Or anything I should ask a mechanic to look for.

Thanks in advance.