I just got this KLR 650 2007 NEW from a Local Dealer ,Columbus Ohio . .I looked for months for a" Fare" or even close deal on a used one ,but most people as well as Dealers (dreamers) wanted a new price for their used and beat to death or dumped JUNK bikes and never looked at the NADA Blue or brown book.. So I broke down and over spent for new , If I had it to do over I would have went out of this state to get a better deal . The savings would have been worth it ! . And Dealer backing is meaningless ,At least in this aira (we are all hillbilly Republicans here and don't need consumer protection ).Read on!

 First item was the Dealer made the clam that they did some assembly ,implying that the bike was not shipped fully assembled ! And burned me for handling and assembly . When I took delivery of the machine ,I road it home in the rain with great care,slow Thank  GOD . It is the tallest bike I have ever had and it was a bit strange for the first time ride  ! I only liked it for design reasons . It is not fuel injected best of all " Fuel just runs out of the tank into the Carb no fuel pump to brake  ". Another item the book that came with the bike stated its ok to run it on part grain alcohol but you might need to re jet or adjust  the carb muck richer for E85 . I may build a still ! And the plastic will not bust into small peaces if dropped and it will happen sooner or later Murphy,s, law.As well as the KLR is what our military uses .but they are rebuilt by F1 engineering co. and some are multi fuel diesels  And all are some what simple to work on ,NO Computer to fail or adjust !But As far my bike I will never take it back to the Dealer that burned me ,for any repairs or buy any thing from them what so ever, no mater of how good the deal looks  . Or let some dumb Dealership kid screw up parts that my life depends on, they are not  real pros Just kids working a summer job to pay for school in the fall . And the following is why I say that !

 The Bike needed lowered ,I am 5 foot 10 inch tall and if I stopped over a low spot in the road or a hole in the ground I would be on my tip tows or maybe just drop the whole thing. Undeterred I knew I could lower it some how ! . Of course the dealer was no help at all with a lowering link kit when I made the deal and at least 2 dealer parts people acted real stupid as to what I was talking about . They said that they could not find one listed in their parts book . I found 6 different lowering link kits on the WEB ! Some steel others Stainless steel and most some sort of Aluminum and or Alloy of same .Went with one from Performance-Design. they are a very old maker of lowering links made of AL.Alloy.Powder coated black. One problem with Stainless Steel! I have seen, it work harden and crack and you life depends on that part.Stainless Alloy is soft work hardens and brakes .Aluminum, Alloys also do not hold up well, but most will bend a little before breakage  .Performance Design Alloy looked good $80,and they have made them for years and they lowered the bike something like 1 and 5/8 inch "I did the work myself instructions very good" . That works for Me . Side stand also needed lowered some thing like 1 and 1/4  inch .Cut and re weld your self or buy a shortened one $49. However the lowered ones you can buy may be a little over lowered.   Low and behold when I removed the bolts for the OEM links ONE bolt was almost just finger tight ,the other was 75 foot lbs or more .(Standard) . Now if  the bolt would have came out riding home I would have went down fast The loose bolt was the only thing holding up the rear end swing arm! The bolt was not nutted with a ni lock or lock tight or a cotter key and castle nut .THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS ! When I installed the lowering kit I pushed one set of needle bearings out the far side ,and to my surprise the bearings had no grease or oil on them at all ,Just a fine coat of shipping wax like  comes on all new bearing just out of the box and wrapper . So I removed the other set of bearings to check same . It was the same deal NO OIL or  GREASE ,more or less bone dry !  . Nice touch  Dealer and or Kawasaki ! Bolts replaced threads coated with Locktight 242 ,Blue! And bearing cavity filled with 90 synthetic wt. gear oil untill it ran on the floor as well as soaking bearings and seals with silicone grease .Hay the bearings could have had a grease nipple ,if you go through water often it would have been a nice touch, But you don't get Quality any more at any price ,do we !

 Seeing that I did not want to bet my life on the ROTTEN job the Dealer as well as Kawasaki did on assembly ,and at a real  high price at that !.I started looking at everything . This is what I found . Front head light faring screws finger tight . Wind screen not even finger tight (loose as a goose). Right side tank faring screws one tight ,ONE finger tight  . Left side Battery cover  side plastic Loose,ready to fall off . Dealer charged battery up ! Just before I rode it home ! What dose that tell you .That one was their falt for sure. Speedometer cable Loose at wheel (REAL LOOSE) and cable dry as a bone ,I coated it with cable moly lube .(dealer screwed up again! ) .Muffler bolts 2 out of three loose "And I got a recall letter on that one "Fixed that my self ,can't trust dealers .Muffler Drain bolts(plugs) needed  Anti Seize lube or just high heat grease of some kind (almost stripped them out removing them brand new! ) Re- Taped holes and replaced plugs with heat proof grease ! (Kawasaki did that one) .Drive Chain to rear wheel .not lubed at all "Bone dry" ,Thanks dealer nice touch ! O Ring chain  but outside will rust if not lubed .Brake and Clutch handles not lined up the same on handle bar fixed that to (dealers falt mabe) Handle bar nuts and bolts not real tight and no Locktight used  . Nice quality job ! Clutch not adjusted right . To much free play . Engine Oil level almost to low ,At bottom of sight glass with bike  level up right . "Thanks dealer" For checking that one two ! It(the oil) is supposed to be at the top of sight glass if you do a lot of off road work .I do ! Last thing !The light bulbs all of them did not have electric pin sealing grease ,"All cars from Japan do anymore". The spark plug boot also had no waterproof sealent . Almost All world cars have Sealent grese in the Spark plug boots now. And The battery terminals had no grease sealent to keep the oxcide from forming .Also one more time *Nice Job Kaw &Dealer for the little extria quality work you put into your ripem off the line fast stuff * JOB WELL DONE not realy.

 Moving on ,I installed a German made S&W crash Bar system from Twisted Throttle and by the way they are made real nice !NO problems with fit went right on  .That required removing the Gas tank. The gas line cheap wire retainer hard to get at and hard to remove I have 5 different snap ring pliers none worked (aircraft hose clamp much better cost 5cents more) .I found that the radiator was a little low on coolant ,but the over flow tank was off the scale low . The Crash bar bolts replace Kawasaki,s shorter bolts and are a better grade of bolt .OEM nuts and  Bolts had no locktight other then the center one main frame (was OK and tight !). Seat also removed to do this job . Seat rubbing on wire not located in good spot .Minor issue ! Since Seat was off I checked the foam air filter to the carb.This is a Oil coated OLD Green K&N type filter ,NO OIL DRY AS A BONE ! Nice ! (Kaws Falt, but dealer could have checked it for the outrageous set up price )

 Another thing. Two dealers told me NO center stand is or was  avaible for the KLR .What kind of crap is it now lots of bikes come with no center stand its hard to fix a flat tire with out a well balanced center stand !ANYHOW. I Found two different types on the Web also made in cut down versions for lowered bikes I would buy the S&W one made in Germany anyday . Another nice touch I got from the dealer was ,the KLR has a 6 gal gas tank and they could not even fill it up the first time. I made it home 20 miles and had to go to reserve ! The KLR should get 40 to 50 mpg or more ,so maybe I got 1 whole1/2 gal of gas from the cheap ass rip off dealer . All of that a side the worst thing wrong with the KLR 650 is ,If I shift from 2nd gear to neutral the green light comes on and I can still be in 2nd gear . Let out on the clutch and bang you kill the engine or you could end up out into traffic. It works OK so far if shifted to 1st gear first then up into neutral . I have not fixed this yet but always let the clutch out slow in neutral .Years ago I had a Moto Guzzi and the neutral light indicated nothing at all "you could be in any gear when the green light came on ". All it did is told you might be close to neutral or at least third gear . KLR,s have been built for years you would think that Kawasaki should have fixed problems better years ago . As well as the super cheap balancer chain tensioner that shatters (called the doohickey),I have seen photos of and been told of this on the web, KLR owner sights .After a few Thousand miles it should be changed out $99 kit not to hard to do your self(or dealer $250 labor)!

 In spite of the Rotten Kawasaki Workmanship and Fantastically Bad Dealer coverage , I do like the bike . Off road its a little heavy and needs lower gearing , But it will take me were I want to go and I has no problems hill climbing ,but you will need to do it fast ! Engine low rpm is 1500 and thats a bit high for first gear.To  fast off road in some places  .I have tried 1200 rpm but you can kill the engine in stop and go traffic . On the Road the extra seat height gives you a good view  and with the lowering kit the bike feels good around corners at high and low speed . I have been told that the brakes are a little weak , but some dumb BMW M5 richie owns the road driver did a un lawful u-turn right in front of me and stopping power seemed just fine ! Always remember all motorcycles are completly invisible to all other non motorcycle drivers and you will be fine playing with the cars if you keep that in mind .Only thing I would like to see is anti lock brakes , but then  Kawasaki and the dealers would really rip buyers off for maybe another $1500 or more for something that only cost a few dollars to add on .As well as workmanship would be so bad thet they would not work right anyhow.The KLR 650 only has something like 34 bhp and I would like it better if it had 40 plus bhp . I can up that after the thing gets broke in ,The Balancer chain doohickey will need replaced even before 3000 miles (or something like that ) to play things safe anyhow ,I have been told that part is quite unreliable . Saddle bags and or luggage is out their, but are well over priced for cheap plastic and nilon .And the Aluminum military looking boxes look tac-key at best and cost way to much for what thay are .A head light that turned with the forks would be nice or at least a turning bracket for  extra lights front fork mounted  . I am going to make one for it myself !  In my opinion the Dealers in my location really suck and sales people either just lie or don't know what the hell they are talking about .I am not even sure they ride their own stuff or just drive cars . I drive gravel roads all the time and the bike dose well . I have gone down in the gravel with something else 250 enduro  and its no fun . I use body Armor almost all the time .In the wet grass it digs in and fish tailed a little and if you brake at all you slide sideways . On soft clay with grass you dig a ditch and keep on going ,don't stop ! I have climbed large stone embankments fast at a scary angle with no problems . I took it over a curb that would have ripped the tire off a standard front wheel drive car or a big road bike ,no problems .Also I hit a high curb years ago with a BMW R50/5 just once at maybe 35 mph ,and in the impact I left the bike it flipped in mid air ,I was OK, helmet damaged by curb ,Bikes head light destroyed .I hit a few curbs with the KLR just to test things out (just in case) in my own parking lot . And slowly increased speeds . This thing has fine suspension ,only the rear shock rebound damper adjustment is cheap ,the cover "Its taped on?" How cheap can you get ! remove the cover and it will not stay on unless you tape it back like it was with new tape. The side stand foot is a bit small ,The bike fell over on soft black top at only 200miles still new ,But only scratched up the rear turn signal . I did not fix it ,it is a reminder to use a Big foot pad to keep it from sinking in on soft places . The BMW I once had ,had a huge side stand foot ,it never fell over from that .But the center stand wore thin and bent ,It fell over then ,only minor cylinder head damage .I did not replace the center stand ,I just welded a heavy hardened steel plates over the thin were-bent places ,never did that again !      Now  The Good Part! Sorry this is getting a bit long !

 If I had to do it all over again ,I would still get a KLR over a lot of other DP bikes (but,its my opinion I do not in any way recomend Motorsports of Columbus, Ohio as a place to buy anything as well as any of their affiliated dealers by that name ).WHY would I still have a KLR650 ? If you drop a BMW duel purpose KLR look alike single cylinder , you will turn into a Real big cry-baby replacing outrageous priced parts .The Triumph DP/ ie. Steve McQueen look a like ,900cc is way to heavy and parts hard to find and also not cheap .Its a OK road bike but weak off road , brake it and again you will turn into a  big cry baby and start drinking beer from down under to redeem your self .The Yamaha and Honda cost a lot more ,as well as the parts to.The Yamaha DP revs to high on the road at speed and you can't make any mistakes on the road or your down on your ass fast .And the Honda is hard to start and re start and re start and re start in the cold ! then the battery then goes dead ! then you push start it if you don't loose it when it finally fires up maybe the battery will recharge some day . . Honda,s with Carbs are not good  at cold starts. Been their, seen it ,done that . I have had no problems starting the KLR at 29 degrees so far all day out in the cold . I once had a 1998 Harley 883 Sportster Carb model modified to death and more (you need to be a real good sport to buy one of these Sportsters ,dam peices of junk ! ) Not start-able at any temp under 45 degrees unless you have a can of starter spray ,and still it might not start ! Real top heavy to ,and impossible to use as a DP bike no matter how much weight you strip off .Sorry HD lovers !HD just can't build or try to build a dualie ,Get a Ural with a driven side car and a set of chains and avoid lots of trees that you can't pass between with the side car ,KTM makes a Real nice machine but ,few dealers around and parts centers too and they cost more than a BMW boxer full dressed DP bike(and the BMW Boxer is one fine machine if you don't care about money and they "BMW importers" are quite particular as to what dealers sell them ,BMW has been known to stop dealings with repair scam artist dealers and stop their franchise . And thats good ! And they want their dealers to post suggested retail prices not salespersons lies,scams ,tricks,hidden cost as well as posting no prices at all ) If I had the cash I would have a BMW boxer road or sport bike no problem ! ,I know of a dealer that had his BMW franchise revoked for pulling scams on people! You could buy  3 standard KLR650 if you drive hard deals, for the kind of money you would spend for a BMW top of the line Boxer D P bike full dressed !If you want to spend a lot of cash on a DP bike check out the F1 Army/USMC. KLR 650 diesel . Its a real Tank of a bike and will get fantastic mpg on a lot of different fuels . If you ride a bike hard ,The standard KLR can get the job done .but go over every nut and bolt after you get it home or a few miles later things might get loose and start falling apart .I think they (Kaw)  don't inspect any thing and Dealers in my opinion are just rip off artist ! I will up date this when it hits the snow and real cold HITS !** UP DATE ** I added two extra side marker lights ,bike hard to see st night from side .I used marker lights that that came off a trailer ,not very big and soldered them into the licence plate light wire . The first time the bike set all day out in the cold rain the Head light and tail light fuse blew . I made it home in the dark used the turn blinker for light .Trip was off road . Number One fuse holder was full of water . Number 2 The fuse was only 10 amp! Most Automotive Wires are between 14 ga. to 10 ga. SAE j1128 .Battery cables are Number 1 ga.as well as 2 ga. in some cars . For some reason motorcycles have super light wires ,if I had to guess I would say 28 ga. wires ! Just large enought not to melt before the 10 amp fuse blowes, but of course this saves the manfacture millions NOT buying correct size copper wire .This kind of thinking causes things like 10 amp fuses for head and tail lights blow out in the rain further more the fuse box was under the seat .not EZ to get to in the dark,along the side of the road and cold rain coming down .I fixed the problem at home with good lighting and out of the rain .All Jap bikes as well as others use wires that are way to money saving small and put fuse boxes in imposable to hard to locate places and also do not use enough fuses for their systems . High beam and tail light need to be on their own fuse low beam and licence plate on another that would make good sence .but who cares about making sence today just Ripoff as much as you can and cheapen everything to the bottem of the barrel .  IF this Helps you vote yes ! OR you may send me comments also ,or send me a donation check or cash ! And may the Gods of bikers be with you .Always remember you are on a stealth machine to other drivers ,Alway think you are invisible ! ,be ready for anything .Go overland to avoid roads when possible .Drive along Railroad tracks "their are no trains any more in most places" ,Take fire Roads or dry river beds if you can .Look out for back woods hillegen,s with guns .Carry your own if need be .Get a gun permit to play it safe . Masking Tape pepper spray on handle bar for bike chasing dogs and shoot them as a last resort .Always shoot to kill .A lot of Pepper spray works on dogs as well as Bears to, otherwise you will need a 12 ga. shot gun,for the bears that is !Try to out run them first"The Bears top speeds are 35mph for a brown Bear not the football team " . Harder to stop than a dog or wolf or the foot ball guys .I have used the pepper spray it works good on most beast, mountain cats to and they are protected by law .Oh hell shoot them with a shot gun and argue it out in court later at least you will not spend all your hard earned cash on  AMA Union Doctors bills if you live through the attack !.A work friend I knew and I was following home biking was killed by a Dam bike chasing dog ,it hit the front wheel of his HD FLH  and he crashed into a guard rail he died before help came, and the dog was more or less un harmed . I killed the dog on the owners front porch "It was a real mess",This was before PETA people ! I did not enjoy the effort ,I like most dogs,Black Labs on top of list! Best of luck saving on your gas bill biking !  The KLR is a OK bike so far ! "Dealers" I will pass on next time around I will just go with a personal deal used and rebuild what ever it needs ( Scamer Dealers are worse than killer dogs)! Pepper spray a nice add on,Blue Masking tape to handle bar Great for dogs and cats and some Bears ! Hand gun with permit also Real good check local laws .Revolver with hammer on MT cylinder best in the out back ! 44mag will stop a bear at close range! S&W revolver 6inch heavy to carry but effective ! Your life first the law later !Last item their are two types of bikers .Those who have went down on their ass ,and those who are going to .Use Leathers and or Body Armor riders outfits .As well as high side boots .not sneakers . If you like this Vote yes if you want a re- wright vote no .Or send me a check or cash donation .I need a new computer to send this stuff out ! my Gateway is shot !God Help you all !AND MAY GOD save us from Big Oil CEO,s, And Stock Traders ,The Government ,and Liers at Motorcycle dealerships .Working people built this country not Lies ,Drifters ,CEOs and Big shots in High Treasonous Government that no longer backs us "WE the people" P.S. The rear end of the car is a 1976 TVR M car top speed ?(need salt flats) pegged speedo once on freeway will not tell you what State . Fuel milage 41mpg at 70 mph with water injection on ,1/4 mile 15.5 sec. on a good hot day . **UP DATE **ON the KLR , I had the bike fall over on the small footed kick stand and to my supprise nothing was bent scratched or broken or dented "Other than the paint on the SW crash bar ".I have seen Hundreds to over thousands in damage to many other bikes from a fall over like this one .Also I added a small spot light from Auto Zone and its wired to the battery with its own switch and fuse COST $20 and its better than the standard head light at night and it has its own fuse and wire system . And my last MPG check is at 53 mpg and I drive gravel roads a lot and never make it to 4 gear . Also I got a set of ,Toss over the seat saddle bags .First thing the salesman said they were leather and I got scammed they were not ,They are fake leather "Plastic" China junk and touched the pipe and melted in a spot .Leather can stand a lot of heat  ie. welding gloves "brushed leather", All Manufacturing meturals and country made in  marking tags had been removed by the dealer so look out ! Also they have rubbed on the Red side covers that are under the seat .The RED plastic parts are so soft that the Bags scratched the He!! out of red plastic covers  to the point that they are distroyed as far as looking good and if I remove the bags they will need covered up some how or replaced . I think soft Plastic is good ,it is hard to bust ,but if you want to keep up new bike looks *DO NOT Rubb* on them "or any of the Plastic Parts "with anything .Hose off dirt ,use a real soft paint bursh with a lot of soap and water and brush loose the dirt .DO NOT WIPE OFF DIRT WITH A CLOTH ! Just scrub off plastic trim with a lot of water and soap with a real soft brush ,maybe a big paint brush ,then coat with plastic trim treatment ( any brand you trust)now use a soft damp cloth And don't rubb hard ! And if you want saddle bags be sure their REAL leather with tags saying what they are made of and not made in China if possible with a internal heat shield if they get hot .Hot rod stores sell heat shield mats with tape backing .IT  workes good . 1,300 mile up date , when the KLR was in brake in mode ,it was not to be run over 5000 rpm untill reaching 1500 miles ,but a few times after 1200 miles I pushed it to 5500 rpm. on the Interstate ,I found that the OEM Dumblop also knowen as Dunglop,tires ride real bad at speeds over 70 miles per hour ! The front tire is so bad that one would think that the tire is not going to hold and may go to peaces soon . Very Scary ! If you are making a KLR deal make the seller or lier Dealer replace the OEM Dunglops with almost any other tire ."Pass on any China Tires". Pirelli MT90 A/T s and v rated look good on paper also Conti TKC 80 are rated real good for 50/50 on and off road . another good looking tire on paper is the MEFO 99 Explorer ,they are rated to 118 mph and the KLR can't go that fast .The Pirelli,s are made in South America and are almost always out of stock, The Contis come from Germeny as well as the MEFO .Mefo dealers hard to find ,Conti EZ and in stock most of the time . I will take South America and Europe for tires any day over China made tires and never have a Asia tube. I looked at a lot of tires and most do not say where they are made .If they are shamed by marking a tire as to who (country) made it ,you can bet its made in China by slave labor at gun point . Don't bet your life on Cheap Asia tires .Tires are not the place to save money . Bridgestone tires made in Japan seem to be made well ,but do check to be sure that you get a Japan made Tire not some subed out to China . Avon Tires are made in England ,I have no problem with British motorcycle stuff . The OEM $37 buck DUNGLOPs will need to be changed at or before 1400 miles ,OK off road but rotten at speeds on hot pavement . Also NOTE ,your NEW motorcycle's tires have no warrentee what so ever ,nice touch right ! Last word on tire issue . My front rim has side to side run out error of .030 and vertical error of .040 I think that is a bit much how ever the wheel is considered out at .080 Total (I got .070). A different local(low ball) Kaw dealer did not even have a  indecator set up to check this . I did and they took my word for it but refused to adjust this issue in any way .Just another nice touch from total incompetent as usual motorcycle dealers . They make any warrentee you might have worthless .Dealers should fight to make things right if they want your patronage down the road some day not just burn suckers for a one time shot quick sale. **Up Date **I added a welded on kickstand larger foot  that I found on E Bay ,My stick welding job looks a bit out of place but the extra large foot is great .The bike dose not even sink in on wet grass and soft clay .The part was water jet cut and fit with only a small gap that welded good filling in with AC  3/32 stick rod a few passes were made . Covered with lots of silver car paint from Auto Zone .I could grind the weld for looks but it is working for me . Also , A lot of dirt and mud can coat the shock and spring ,Arrow head sells a plastic swing arm splash guart that should stop a lot of stuff from reaching the shock & spring .also You can get a Shock & spring Sock cover with velcro ,but Their are 2 small holes at the bottom of the battery box & inside fender .I just attached a peace of thin intertube "not to long" as a mud flap to holes bottom of the cover the" slot were the fender stops ,"The roll of the tube is from top to bottem and faces the rear wheel attached with thin safty wire ,seems to work OK so far . If you change or add something be sure to check on the job from time to time or often ,check that its not in a bind ,loose ,tight or interfears with something else .Changes can be a safety issue . I ordered MEFO tires ,And will let you know how they do .I will change them my self in the driveway so if I ever need to do it on the road at least I have done the job myself . MEFO s came in and I changed them my self .Dunglops came off with ease , The MEFO front tire was not real hard to install with 3 tire spoons and rim guards ,the rear took everything I had to pry it on ,if the rear went flat I don't think it would even turn on the rim .I had the local Chopper shop check balance Front tire needed nothing ,rear tire 2 oz. MEFOs make some road noise ,but the engine makes more . At slow speeds they seem almost like pure road tires . At high speeds I have some felt vibrations over 70 then it gets better at 75 and is very slight at 80 Tires are not broken in yet ,right now traction on gravel is good ,driving on Grass is predictable .Mud and wet grass "I don't want to even think about it right now . When I had the wheels off I repacked the bearings ,They had grease but not much and it looked like poor quality grease light weight oil color .I used EM2 water proof high quality with moly . Up date later !