Which Generation burns the most oil?

2008, many of the '09's.


Most KLRs will burn a little when running sustained 5,000+ rpms.

Mine. (2008)

It is more a year model rather than a generation thing. The first year 2008 of the gen2 KLRs had a bit of an oil burning problem.

When my 2008 got to the point of using a quart/liter in 1,000 miles, life got easier for me. I never had to do an oil change. I just added oil when it got low. At a quart in 1,ooo miles I was adding 2 1/2 quarts every 2,500 miles. That is the same as a full oil change every 2,500 miles. All I had to do was change the oil filter every 5,000 miles and ride on.

This is handy when you ride long distances. You don't have to stop and find a place to change your oil or have it changed.

The ones usually that burned oil were as said above 08-09 but I have seen some 10's do it also......I still am not 100% sure what they did to stop it or if they slowed the boring proceedure down, which imho is what caused it mainly, which warped the cylinder bores resulting in the rings not being able to seat correctly...but that is only my theory which may or may not be correct?
All I tell people who are looking at an 08 for sure and some 09's is always add the cost of doing a 658 kit to the price of buying it unless it's already been done. IF you do not like that then either go down in years or up a couple.....it's an easy decission to make.
Just my opinion...nothing more..lol

Yep, Willy.

I heard it was an out of round sleeve issue.
Just a shot in the dark but the boring tool would be turning a perfect
circle leading to believe the jig that held it was too tight stressing the
sleeve during cutting, OR, no torque plate/ rigid holder under the bore-bit?

What went wrong? The heat of high speed boring theory holds water too.


PS Not a threadjack, but merely a fork in the typed dirt cyber road. LOL

Basically Gen1's were OK; a bit of oil burned at high rpms (above 5000, sustained) and of course, on high mileage or high wear engines. I'd suggest this is normal for a thumper.

2008's by far the worst, 2009's and some 2010's as well. Some changes to the rings sometime in 2010 seems to have helped according to the guys in the know.

....I'm in agreement with Willy's on this.

Dave

Though to be fair, not all 08's are oil burners. My 08 doesn't use oil unless I'm running it over 5000 rpm for sustained periods, like a highway trip or something. Even then, I wouldn't call it's use excessive for a big single.

I didn't find out that some of the 08's were oil burners until after I had already gotten mine or I probably would have went for a different year. Lol, that might have been kind of tricky though, because I horsetraded my minty Shadow ACE for it!

No regrets, if it did turn into a mega burner, oil is cheap! As long as it still ran well and didn't throw up a smokescreen I would just keep adding. If it bothered me enough I would do the 685 kit on it.

Guess I'll give my 2 cents worth.

In the first 2, 2009 oil burners which I repaired, we found the Primary Reason to be the #2 ring was mis-manufactured. And yes the cylinders were not Perfect. But regardless which way the #2 ring from either engine was turned or stroked in the cylinder bore there was visible daylight between about a 1 inch section of the ring and the cylinder surface. Some areas more than others.

The #2 ring is the final oil scrapper. It is sharpened like a scissor blade or lawn mower blade, ie one bevel only. With a non-concentric or 'not round area' or 'flat spot' allowing a thin layer of oil to be stroked up into the combustion chamber with every rotation of the engine.

This Most Common Issue or Defect was eventually confirmed by Wyman Winn and Normk on most of the 30 Saved examples of oil burning piston and rings sets which Wyman Winn had personally dealt with.
One can read about it over there,
http://www.klr650.net/forums/showthread.php?t=117088

Those 2, 2009 oil burners are the reason I joined these 2 forums, this one and .net on the same day back in 2009.

Interesting theories abounded during the height of the excessive oil consumption era (2008-09 model years).

First, "experts" declared the unacceptable oil use was a result of the lack of a Thermo-Bob radiator by-pass. The absence of a Thermo-Bob caused oval cylinder cross-section, so the knowledgeable ones said, resulting in excess oil pumping.

A parallel "cause" self-styled gurus identified: The lack of a PCV valve mod. Putting a check valve in the crankcase breather hose somehow cured/prevented excess oil consumption, along with additional benefits (increased power, etc.).

At the outset, few, if any, considered the possibility the re-designed (2008) rings and piston might be responsible.

Regardless, don't hear much about excessive KLR650 oil consumption from later models . . .