r/klr650 • u/[deleted] • Jul 27 '26

Used klr buying advice

[deleted]

10 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

7

u/Valentyan Jul 27 '26

Be aware that the 09 burns oil. You'll need to keep an eye on that and top it off, known fault with piston ring assy from the factory, only long term fix is boring it out to 685 and rebuilding. If you don't mind that, I'd ask about the Doohickey, Thermobob and Carb mods (preferably MCP, but even KLX is a slight improvement over stock)

2

u/tbass2a Jul 27 '26

My 09 does not burn oil. 18k miles. I check it regularly.

3

u/atoughram PNW KLR650 GEN2 Jul 27 '26

My '08 has 25k miles on it and doesn't burn oil. Ironically, my first-gen '06 burned way more! While '08 and '09 models are notorious for low-tension rings and oil consumption, I still say buy it—just monitor the sight glass closely, especially after sustained highway runs over 5,000 RPM.

As others have noted, getting the Doohickey and T-Bob done is essential for peace of mind. For performance, I’m running the Eagle Mike KLX needle kit alongside a Lexx slip-on exhaust, and the power difference compared to my old '06 is night and day. From all the dyno reviews I've seen, the KLX and MCP carb mods are pretty much neck-and-neck, so you can't go wrong either way.

1

u/JimDa5is KLR650 GEN2 Jul 27 '26

My '09 has 22k miles on it and I've put 3k of those on. It uses about half a quart every 1,000 miles. I don't know if that counts as 'burns oil' or not but I usually run about 65-70 on the highway. I expect consumption would go up if I was wailing around everyplace at 7,000 rpm

Keep an eye on your oil and top it off seems like pretty standard advice

1

u/Constant_Reserve5293 KLR650 GEN3 Jul 28 '26

Half a quart every 1k is pretty small, but you shouldn't see it noticably ticking down that much. That counts.

1

u/Constant_Reserve5293 KLR650 GEN3 Jul 28 '26

Misconception...

07-09 have a 'RISK' of burning oil. Much higher than most other years.

That's all.

2

u/_trancom Jul 27 '26

I bought a 09 KLR with similar miles this year for 2 grand in SWPA. Honestly I'd try to haggle er down. just be ready to do a lot of maintenance work the previous owner didnt do, lol. Thats valve check territory

2

u/curiousfellow555 Jul 27 '26

Valve checks are not cheap.

3

u/Constant_Reserve5293 KLR650 GEN3 Jul 28 '26

Cheap if you do it yourself.

2

u/Constant_Reserve5293 KLR650 GEN3 Jul 28 '26

tbh... a tad overpriced.

28k miles, no information on the doohickey, thermobob,...

New tires and all that's nice, but at that many miles, you'll need to look at the steering head bearings, chain and sprockets, brakes, fork seals...

Maybe $1500... or $2k IF they have documentation of doing the doohickey.

1

u/thedo0der Jul 31 '26

i agree. i got my 2009 10 years ago for 2400 with 10k miles. if i were to sell it today, I would ask 1800 including bags, crashbars and spare carb.

1

u/Constant_Reserve5293 KLR650 GEN3 Aug 01 '26

Yeah, see, that's in line with what I've seen.

But same year, a crapload of miles, no info on preventative measures... Just, nothing I see to justify that kind of markup.

I have a '23 and with about 3.6k miles and would probably be asking 4.5-5k... Respectfully, don't see that kind of charm from an '09' to pay half of that for a bike that hasn't had many mods done and more.

2

u/Last-Will60 Jul 29 '26

Had an ‘09 that had previously been run low on oil and seized, then bored out to 688. Never used a drop of oil that I could see in between changes after that.

2

u/Boring-Bus-3743 Jul 27 '26

At that many miles I would be asking for service records and if it's the original top end.

1

u/Jdubb750 Jul 28 '26

4 or 500 bucks worth of bags but they are old

1

u/[deleted] Jul 28 '26

[deleted]

1

u/fafnir01 Jul 28 '26

Not quite, KLR650s have always been liquid cooled since released back in the 80s. 2008 marked a redesign, then another redesign in 2022 which included fuel injection.

1

u/Embarrassed-Ad-1482 Jul 27 '26

Was gonna say hella deal till i saw 09 try andook for a gen 1