Congrats on your donkey.

Now the modding starts.

 

Absolutely, that's one of the reasons I chose it. I'll have a lot fun perusing the forums to discover all the tips, tricks and traps 😁

 

Welcome to The KLRForum & your new KLR.
Here is some required reading, if you haven't already.

DPelletier's common new KLR owner mistakes to avoid

Here is my list of "common new KLR owner mistakes to avoid" 1) Oil drain plug overtightening: it is relatively common for people to overtighten the oil drain plug.....usually to stop a leak after the gasket/washer has inadvertently fallen into the used oil or left stuck to the bottom of the...

www.klrforum.com

Ignore #3 because your bike reads off the engine sprocket & you could put off #7 until about 7,500-10,000km.
But you might ought to confirm that the locking bolt is snug, some have been left loose from the factory.

 

Thanks! I already had read this page quickly but didn't realize #7 could be a day 1 issue, I'll check it's snug.

 

On the Gen 3 bikes with their longer swingarms, 3mm of space may be acceptable. Have a friend test for some chain slack with most of your weight on the bike.

 

I ended up giving more slack (it was in fact more than 3mm) as there really not much left with my weight on it.
Also, the wheel was misaligned, the steering was a bit funny and I wrongly attributed it to the factory tyres.
Hopefully I didn't damage anything, i did 300 km in this state, I feel bad about it but it's done...

 

Welcome to the forum. You have came to a great place for information and suggestions from KLR owners.
Some other well suggested items to check and correct sooner rather than later that I learned from the great postings on this forum are:
Check your valve clearance. I had 2900 miles on mine and decided to check while I had the tank off running accessory wiring. My left exhaust was way out of spec on the tight side, while the other three were right at the bottom of spec.
At the same time, I pulled my shock linkage and swing arm apart thanks to advice in these postings and found that there was very little to no grease on any of these pivot points.
Enjoy the ride and wrenching.

 

Thank you so much for the tips!
I'll have to remove the tank to install the heating grips so I'll do this at the same time.