Who ever designed the KLR head needs..

Needs Bitch slapped !

i was checking timing on my 2001 KLR and adjusting valves and exhaust was way out of spec ..also noticed alot of bluing on cam lobes ..

once i pulled caps it was scored and outside cap was loose !

looks like it got hot when it got stolen ..

but too my amazement klr does not use any type of bearing in the caps for the cams at all ! in fact if its worn i am supposed to replace whole head !!

what fricken monkey makes you throw away whole head to replace a bearing ?? oh thats right there is no fricken bearing !!!

when the cam caps are worn there is no bearings to make it within spec ..the head and and caps are machined as one unit the part numbers are even the same ..

what a stupid throw away design .. just retarted .. i Have 2 heads now with same issue ... scored caps head side looks fine but cams and caps are hosed ..
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A lot (maybe most) bikes are built that way.

You can pay a good machinist to bore the head for insert bearings, but it would probably be cheaper to buy a new head.

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=552406

Thats why its important to keep your oil level set properly !!

His head examined?

:

Going way back, almost all bikes are made that way.
My TU250 is the only bike I ever had that has cam bearings.
Old Triumphs (push rods) had bushings...

its a piss poor design the motor could go for ever if it just had replaceable engine bearing rather than throw away ..

i dont care if everyone does it , dont make it right lol.. just expensive to fix ...I have 2 heads now same way ..

my bike was stolen and stripped and got it back much later .. Looks like they got it hot .. and i bought a another donor bike only to find it too had same damage .

Second head, same bike? Your oil pump is bad.

KLR engine certainly has some design issues but the head is certainly not one of them. Heat was not your problem...lack of oil was. Remember the KLR was designed mid 80's, however, time has marched on and manufactures still use same setup for specific reasons. If the bike is maintained properly its bearing surfaces will certainly outlive multiple owners. Sorry for your troubles but your complaint doesn't have much merit. Heads are cheap...replace it. Keep the oil level correct and you'll never have to think about it again.

Have read/heard setting idle rpm too low results in lower oil pressure which can result in scored/galled bearing caps. I suspect (degraded?) oil quality (long oil change interval related?), and perhaps letting oil level get too low in high heat conditions contributes to pooching the cam bearing surfaces too. I agree replaceable bearing surfaces would be nice... but you'd be paying more for it too, right? KLR is a budget bike, with the engine designed pretty similarly to other Japanese mc engines.

this why almost any industrial motor uses some sort of bearing right ? as well as any american motor ? they too must be wrong ... if i had a issue with oil starvation or heat i should be able to replace the bearing and not the entire head ,yes thats a design flaw it was designed to fail and be thrown away not repaired . You should be able to pop the caps and replace th e bearings not have the aluminum sit on the cam directly this is a cheap design period ..

yes you can get alot of miles out of the engines , Build it to be repaired, not replaced it could go even further ..

Its often done in cheap motors.
Lawn mower engines now use plastic cams.
I guess they figure if you keep oil in it, its never a problem until the entire motor is worn out, and when the valve guides and valve seats are shot, its time for a new head.
Some cylinders have plated bores, when they wear out you toss them.

From what I read, the klr's have more serious design issues.

a new complete head is about 750 minus shipping .. then you need new gaskets ,cams and fluids so your about 1000 bucks into it without your labor .. or you could have thrown in some plasti guage and new bearings in for 30 bucks ..

but as it sits right now ill also need new cams as well the exhaust especially since its scared and blued pretty bad ..

i was hoping to use the parts bike head but it was just as bad once i pulled valve cover ..

My wife keeps telling me just buy a another bike ,but im not letting this damn thing beat me now ... ive gone too far to go back ..:eek1

No its a kawasaki

OMG THAT WAS HILARIOUS!

well if anyone knows of a good cyl head complete ,please let me know so i can get the wife on the trail with me ! she missed out on a great trip this weekend ...

jump on it...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pre-07-Kawa...Parts_Accessories&hash=item257803e7f7&vxp=mtr

there are a couple more in the 400 range. the intake cam will be OK, the exhaust cam meby not.... look it over close.

the oil filter is full of aluminum. also the oil pick up screen (behind the clutch). pull the right side cover & water pump to clean the screen. don't change the water pump seals unless you have to and if you do be sure to get it square or it will squeel later in life. there is also an oil seal under the W/P seal

consider a 685/688 while it's apart...worth the trouble & $$

use the Kawi gaskets, the Comtec ones sometimes leak

while you are at it.... clean up the head while its off....


taper the metal behind the guides...


get rid of the big divider in the exhaust so it looks more like this...




as for head design.... pretty much all modern cars have the same as well bikes.

mebby ping Eagle Mike... he has stuff

Why... so you can roach another head?...:huh

A steel journal in an aluminium bearing is an excellent choice of bearing materials, and has been used longer than you've been breathing. It will NOT fail as long as it's fed a steady supply of clean oil. It will fail if you don't.

PS- if it's such a poor engineering idea, why does the AMG car in my garage have that design?.

For the same reason KLR does it was cheaper to build ... and yes its a piss poor design and until you have the misfortune to replace it ,im just preaching to the choir.

In days of everything needed to be recycled and saved yet here is a 15 lbs paper weight that needs to be scraped just because they didnt want to machine a true replaceable bearing surface .. It tool a 30 lbs block of aluminum to build that 15 lbs head ..

and if you could read you would know this is 2 different heads from 2 different heads .