Hi all,
I'm living in Perth, Western Australia, and have just bought a 2015 KLR650 with 8300 klicks on its clock, so barely used really. Have ridden all manner of bikes over the last 38 years, including a Honda XR650R (since stollen) and a Husky 650 Terra (also stolen).
Because my preferred riding is going bush solo, and often out into the desert regions of Western Australia, I went with the KLR because it seems well rounded. I love the big tank as standard, the bikes height, and comfy seat.
Going to trawl the site now, as I have an ungodly noise appearing when "cruising", and quietens down when the throttle is rolled on, to determine if this is the infamous doohickey.
Keep ya knees in the breeze, and the smile onya dial.
Cragdweller, out.

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Hi @Muddyboy, and welcome to the forum.

A four-year-old bike with 300Km on it has not seen much use, but have you checked the chain over very carefully for hidden rust and such like that? If it lived a hard life you may be hearing it protesting.

The balancer lever can be a tricky proposition because the easy answer is "Adjust it and see if the noise gets better". The problem with that is the spring on the Gen 2 bikes is known to run out of tension at anywhere from 8000Km to 16000Km. If it has run out of slack, and you loosen the bolt, there's a good chance that more slack will enter the system.

Best advice there is to remove the alternator cover, loosen the bolt, push that lever to the left, tighten the bolt, and replace the cover. Do that and you know it is properly tensioned and you are good to go for about another 10000Km.

Thanks Tom, I've got to go to an appointment first up today, but as soon as I return I'll get into the alternator cover, as the drive chain is lubed. Thanks again

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For ease of adjustment, it is a good idea (this technique is courtesy of @pdwestman) to set the engine to TDC. That puts the counterbalance weights at BDC. In this position, they cannot put any tension into the chain when the bolt is loosened. With the weights at BDC you'll find it easier to get all the slack out of the balancer chain, plus you'll be able to watch the lever as you loosen the bolt and see if the spring does anything to the lever.

Thanks Tom and, by extension pdwestman.

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Hi ya's, as it turns out, the awful slapping noise is in fact from the drive chain. I realised when I hit a couple dips and heard the tell tail sound of the chain links running over the slide on the top of the swing arm. Got it to my mates place and into the shed. There bloody well IS rust on some sections of the outside link faces, but the actual rollers are all good. Am about to drown each side of the chain to see if it I can quieten it down.
Thanks for the tips, and am enjoying tinkering and making adjustments/improvements, and just generally getting to know this machine and making it mine.

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