Serious Oil Consumption on my KLR 650!!!

I just got home literally about an hour ago from a week and a half trip to Florida and back(central Kansas) for a friends wedding on my 2008 KLR 650. It ran flawlessly for 2541 miles roundtrip, except for one issue. Over the course of 2541 miles I had to add a little over 2 1/2 quarts of oil to the engine!!!!!!!!! I consistently rode the bike at 70-78 mph and never once ran the bike over 5000rpm. I know that KLR's, and especially 2008's use some oil but I think this much is just ridiculous. This isn't a new issue for the bike but it seems to be getting worse. Last July about 2 weeks after I got the bike I rode 1700 miles through Colorado and had to add roughly 12oz. of oil on that trip. I'm planning on calling the dealer where I got the bike tomorrow and seeing what they say. I only have a little over a month on the warranty left and to be honest I don't want a bike that I have to add oil to every 200 miles( literally thats what I was doing). What do you guys think, surely this isn't acceptable oil consumption is it?????

I think Kawasaki owes you a top end rebuild. I wouldn't let them touch it if it was mine, I'd go with a Schnitz 685 and fix it myself.

We'll see what the dealer says tomorrow. I was in a different dealer a couple weeks ago and I asked the service manager if he'd heard of this problem before(because I thought it was a well-known problem) and he said "he's never heard of that problem before and they sell a lot of KLR's". I think he just didn't want to admit there was a problem, but he's always been kind of an ass anyway.

When guys go thru "Service Manager" training...the students are forced to write on the blackboard one thousand times...... "We have never heard of this problem before"...

<<<<70-78 mph and never once ran the bike over 5000rpm.>>>>


Uh, I dunno, but I call bullshit. Unless the 08 klr is geared differently, I'm at 5000 at 70 on mine, (indicated, she actually read high)

So, If you ran 70-78, indicated, you ran 5-5400 IMO. (just being PITA)

at those rpms, my bike eats more oil then below that. If I ride conservative, I add 1/2 -1/3 qt per 1k maximum.


jaz

I've got a 08 that's in the dealership for new rings under warrenty right now. Used a quart and a half of oil in 400 miles of road riding. When they gave it a leakdown test, it failed. I'm suppossed to pick it up next week. It's got 2300 miles on it. You're right though. The first guy I talked to about it said they all do it. When I mentioned the lemon law , he got a little huffy , and said they'd try and call Kawasaki and see if they'd do anything. That's the story of the new KLR, so far.

I am hoping they will make a different oil ring for it. from what I hear getting them to rebuild it dosent help because there just using the same parts

KHI has shot themselves in the foot with their "new" KLR. One of the KLR's greatest attributes was it's bulletproof engine; now greatly suspect.

Hopefully KAW won't stonewall this like they did the doohickey.....but when they're selling every KLR they import, there's not much motivation until the inventory starts piling up from low sales.

With all their R&D assetts, ya gotta wonder why KAW got it so wrong, when Cary got it soooooo right.

I had a Tengai 650 and if i rode it fairly hard with full synthetic oil it would use a fair bit of oil.Maybe a viscosity thing but with normal oil it was fine.

From what I have read so far it seems to be the early editions of the 08 KLR with the problem...but 9 out of 10 of the complaints are from riders who run at 75 mph or higher for extended periods...others have ridden thousands of miles with no oil comsumption issues..be nice to get a hands on opinion from someone who has torn the top end down on a 08....maybe another cash cow for eagle mike...retro rings..

On my '04, I never changed out my 14t countersprocket for TDT III this past weekend, and I ended up riding about 500 miles total. Some of that was cruising in the 6K+ RPM range, and I never used a drop of oil. Why Kawi had to play with something that wasn't broken is beyond me... They should have just fixed the doo and left good enough alone!

Jazzman- I can't confirm the difference in gearing between our bikes but when I was running 78mph the tach read 4800rpm. Regardless of mph or rpm 2 1/2 quarts is ridiculous. I just got off the phone with the dealer where I bought the bike and I told him what happened. He said that the bike should use maybe 1-2 oz of oil per 10,000 miles. So I asked him what I should do and he said "take it to ANY kawi dealer and have them check it out before your warranty ends in July". It was really really obvious he wanted nothing to do with my bike and its problem and just wanted me to take it somewhere else. I've heard of kawasaki replacing the rings in these things for this issue but like Tagati said, they will be using the same parts. All I know is that whatever is gonna happen on it, I want it fixed before the warranty runs out and then I'm probably just gonna sell it and get something else. I have been a loyal Kawasaki customer (multiple bikes) for years but this is just disheartening that they even know of this problem with these bikes but produce the hell out of them anyway.

I've read alot about this problem on other KLR forums and was worried about it myself. My local Kawi dealer of course has never heard of the problem before either.

I've got 8500 miles on mine and do a combination of highway and also gravel/forest rd riding. I haven't noticed anything with oil consumption being more than any other bike I've owned.

I've also heard that Kawi has updated rings for it and some people still have the same problem after the new rings.

I have an 08, 1500 k's, drive every day at 130-140 k's per hour...doesn't use ANY oil (5000 rpm). Use about half a litre in the first 500 k's. I'm going on a 2100 kilometer trip mid June with a bunch of litre bikes so I will cruising at the sweet spot which is 128 kph which is the spot with the lowest vibration...I'll see what happens.

I changed the oil at 200 k's with 10-40 motorcycle oil (castrol from Canadian Tire). Changed it again along with the filter at 1000 kms and went and bought official Kawasaki mineral oil and made sure they noted that on the invoice so that if it does burn oil they can't blame it on my oil change.

I think people are not using the right oil. I'm not sold on Rotella, its for trucks, doesn't say its for bikes, and its too cheap. Dont care what you say or what Shell said...its not meant for my crankcase on my klr.

I'll keep you posted

Used oil analysis disagrees with you, and Shell has passed the JASO MA tests for both the 15W-40 and 5W-40 versions (see the rotella.com forums for the details).

Then put it on the label. Bottom line is...cheap oil means cheap performance. Bike owners always spend the money on the high quality stuff...jackets, helmets, pants, gloves, tires, bikes etc. Why would you put deisel truck oil at half the price into your bike? It uses 2.5 litres max.

Just my two cents....here comes the rants....

No, it doesn't. I have used oil analyses on Rotella and it consistently performs better than the expensive oils that are supposed to provide "expensive performance." Go check 'em out at bobistheoilguy.com.

Until you're able to quantitatively show that your expensive oils perform better, you might want to reconsider your comments.

Fair enough

my 06 doesn't seem to burn oil, but below the filler hold there is always a streak of oil. Right now it's got a big smathering of oil right below it. Of course a little goes a long way. haven't noticed any level difference however.



anyone else have a problem with a leak at the filler?

I call bullshit on you Your numbers sound more like my '06 geared down to a 14T countershaft sprocket.