I just bought a 1995 KLR650 with 18,500 miles on it. The bike seems to run and shift great. The majority of its use was in the back country trail riding. I am not familiar with the bike so what should I look for maintenance wise? The seals on the front shocks looked nice, rotors felt a little warped, it didnt leak just basic chain oil. I have heard the Doo goes in them, is this something I should look into, how will I know if it needs to be changed (not taking it apart, any symptoms?) , and should a valve adjustment be done? Any Advice on what to look for most common problems anything like that would be great. Any advice on upgrades and what parts to buy for a North America to the tip of South America trip would be great too. Dont have much money trying to do this on a shoe string budget, so any low cost parts or, knowledge, just any advice would be great.
Thanks A Lot.

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keep your front wheel ahead of your rear wheel
www.mototheworld.com

Did it come with a service guide (i.e how often to change oil etc), check those things and match them with any work receipts that came with the bike to see how long ago they were done

Hey Pockethead,
Do you have a KLR? I just read your website about motorcycling to south america, when do you plan on heading out?

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keep your front wheel ahead of your rear wheel
www.mototheworld.com

Hi Cruthas,
I don't own a KLR just yet, planning to buy one upon arrival in the states, which will be sometime after October this year

To save a few bucks when doing valve clearance adjusts go besides Kawasaki, to Yamaha,Suzuki and Honda dealers. All these brands have or had models which use the same diameter valve shims , sized in the same thickness increments. There are also probably automobiles which use similar shims , and all are perfactly good to interchange. You may be able to buy the sizes you need from their stock of used exchanged shims at a consederable discount. Also before trading or buying new be sure the shim you remove from one location is or is not a possible fit for another valve in your motor.
Check valve clearance at about 15000km intervals, but you may not even need adjusts.
To change shims as per shop manual you need to remove the cams. But I have heard there is a way or tool which lets you leave them in.
If you do remove cams do STUFF A RAG in the camchain tunnel because one of the bolts holding the oil splash deflctor is real short and has a tendency to get dropped. No fun spending an hour or two fishing it out with a magnet. Done it.

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http://advrider.com/index.php?thread....207964/page-5 then scroll down to post #93

I allways change the oils in any secondhand bike I get. When I get it - ... start that the front and work to the back - fork oil, coolant, engine oil .. etc. Look at the oil that comes out .. it will sy a lot about the bikes history.

If your going on a longer trip - have the rear shock serviced, they don't have much oil in there and it does a lot of work (serviceing will tell you if it is near worn out).

The doohicky? No tell tail sign I know of. It just fails. Should be some stuff on advrider .. with picys on doing the doohicky. Should be easy to look inside for it.

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Regards Frank Warner
motorcycles BMW R80 G/S 1981, BMW K11LT 1993, BMW K75 G/S