Ok, from now on I will not allow myself to look at craigslist. So the Concours is unrealistic for me at this point but this sweet gem of a bike was to cheap to pass up. I lost my indoor parking at the firehouse(moved to smaller house) so I was looking for an older bike that the hoodrats(inner city house) wouldn't bother too much. I've always wanted to try a dual sport and this came about on craigslist, a KLR 2007 with 2832 miles, with nary a scratch and all farkled out. The list goes, off the top of my head, engine guards, belly pan, highway bars, throttle lock, bar risers, Continental tires, 12v outlet, head light cover, after market seat, and Jesse luggage that the owner bought scratch and dent(but look pretty good overall), battery tender with lead, scott chain oiler, ss brake lines, and whatever else you can see that I can't, oh, it was lowered an inch but I might raise it back up. I rented a trailer and picked her up in miserable cold snowy, weather so the actual test ride will come later.















No plans on selling the Strom. If I like this I might keep it, otherwise it will be a commuter bike for a year or so, with a little gravel exploring in Southern Indiana for good measure. If I hate it you might see it on the for sale here.
It's going to be a long winter............
Be safe,
Kevin

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09 Wee with stuff

Enjoy the ride, Kevin.

My son has a KLR and it's a lot of fun.

Looks like it's even equipped with snow tires.

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Sent from my Hewlett-Packard 75C, using the Flying Merkel motorcycle app.

Stromin'Nroman NC28729, USA

DL650A K7 (Greywolf Moto Lab's R&D test mule) June 1, 2012 - present
DL650A K7 April 23, 2007 - January 6, 2012, RIP

"Look here brother, who you jivin' with that cosmik debris?" Frank Zappa, 1975

Nice bike!

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2004 BMW R1150RT

Alrighty......now you need to head over this way, and we can hit some proper roads on that machine!!!

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BRIAN

2008 WR250R 2008 CONCOURS 1400 "Dearly departed 2005 DL1000"

Are you going to share what the great deal was? I have been eyeing KLR's to be a stable mate with the RT. I would probably be looking at an older one, but curious what the going rate is.

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2004 BMW R1150RT

I checked KBB and they gave a value of suggested retail of $3555. I got the bike for $3000. I really know nothing about KLR's and the various additions but with panniers and everything that came with it I would venture around $800-1000 in extra's. I just wiped some of the road salt off from transporting it today and it really is like new. Maybe a few small scuffs from getting on/off. It also came with a few extra oil filters and a Clymer manual and a new battery as of two weeks ago. I thought it was a great deal and called the guy about fifteen minutes after it was posted. Dumb luck that he was only 5 blocks from where I was working on Saturday so I went over and knew that I needed to jump on it. If the bike doesn't work out for me I feel confident that I can sell it in the spring for exactly what I have in it.
I'll give it a shot and see what happens.

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09 Wee with stuff

Indy,

You're going to love it!! I had an '01 a few years ago and it was the most "fun bike" I've ever owned. I had mine set up in a similar fashion -- aluminum rear cases (the ones that are on my Wee) and some other items to make it a bit more road worthy. I rode it on two longer camping trips -- up into WI, across the UP and home and then down to MS and up the Natchez Trace Parkway to home.

Conceptually, it's very similar to the Wee except where the Wee is about an 80/20 (road/off-road) bike, the KLR is probably a 50/50 bike.

Have fun.

FYI -- I have a steel plate adapter that I made and used on my '01 KLR to replace the stock rear rack. It gives more area and strength for carrying stuff on the rear of the bike. It mounts in the existing holes but you may want/need to trim the sides a bit to clear your rear cases. Mine were Moto-Sport Panniers which may mount different than yours. Sometime when you are going to be near Columbus, let me know and I'll meet you and you can have it if you want.

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'12 Guzzi Stelvio NTX

'09 DL650 ABS (Sold)

Congrats on the purchase Indy. Have an 09 set-up for dirt that is major fun. Hope you enjoy yours.

Back when I was considering KLR (before getting an XR 650) the forums made a big deal about changing an internal chain tensioner (if memory serves) that was referred to as "the dohickey". It seems the stock part is substandard and prone to failure, at least in the minds of the forum members. If yours hasn't had that done, might want to consider it. Certainly the KLR is much more dirt-worthy than the 'Stroms, but highway performance can be a bit underwhelming, and some owners have indicated that hard (extra-legal speed) highway running can lead to excessive oil consumption. On the plus side, much better wind protection than my XR (which has almost none), and much friendlier to those who don't buy slacks in the tall section. If nothing else, the light weight (relative to the DL) will be a nice change.

I have had more KLR's than any other bikes. I still have two as I type. A 2006 and a 1999. As mentioned in earlier post, you should replace the balancer chain tension lever "doohicky" with one from Eaglemike if the PO didn't. I've seen OEM levers go 50k miles and I've seen em go out @ 3k causing catastrophic failure. Here's a pic of one of the doo's I've changed. The other piece of the doo was fished out of the case with a flex mag and the other piece of the spring was found behind the oil screen when replacing the water pump seal a year later.




Don't let the doohicky issue scare you. After it's resolved the KLR is a great bike for what it is. I have done some 300 mile days on mine but I feel every one of them at the end of the day.
A couple things that will make it better at road speeds is to remove/replace the stock hand guards (acerbis ralley pro's,my fav) and swap the front fender for a KTM style replacement. Don't be tempted to use the small supermoto fender unless you will never ride on a wet road. You'll get a face full.
Here's a pic of my 06 with above mentioned mods and my own mod which mounts the headlight and fairing to the forks that allows it to turn with the bars.

Oh and if it feels brakeless the 320mm EBC rotor up front will cure that.

Great bike, good companion to the DL. I'll never be without a KLR.

Any KLR questions, feel free to post or PM me.......Al