How to break-in your 2008 KLR650

[Glenn]

This method was developed based on the moto-tune type break-in.
Except it is tailored for a KLR. You see, the KLR650 uses an older design cast iron cylinder, therefore it should be broken in with short rides and multiple heat cycles. These heat cycles work harden the bore.

I suggest you limit the initial rides to no more than 5 miles and give it a good while to cool down between each.

[Rain]

I see.. Well out here where I live if I was to only travel 5 miles, I'd still be 5 miles from nowhere. I guess I'll just have to take it as it comes. The initial ride home was 47 miles. Work is 72. Nearest town is 13.

[AxelKLR]

I bought my 09 KLR used so I have no idea how the previous treated it during the break-in period? The bike had 2,450 on it when I took ownership. I changed the oil the following day and I now have approximately 3,500 miles on the bike. Planning to change the oil today when I get home from work. I was considering changing oil at 1,000 mile intervals until it has over 5K. On the previous oil change I used Castrol Actevo 10w40 synthetic blend.

What intervals, oil type and viscosity do you folks recommend for my bike based on the information I have provided?

[Skeefoo]

Originally Posted by KLRVABeach

Thanks Jon. My brother has a 2008 KLR650 and my nephew has a XR650L. Gearing up for the Transamerican in June. Lots of farkles planned..

If your nephew plans on going with you on the Transamerican,hes gonna have to do a lot of prep work on the XR to keep up with 2 KLRS,first thing hes GONNA need is a new fuel tank,stock is like 2,6 gallons,gives it about a 125 mile range,and thats a modest guess,My last road trip netted me 276 miles on a tank,and still didnt hit reserve,these were EVERY bit hiway miles,around town,or short trips,the mileage varys a little.Hes gonna need a better luggage system as well.Theres nothing wrong with XRs,Ive had them all my life,untill I got my KLR.

[KLRVABeach]

Originally Posted by Skeefoo

If your nephew plans on going with you on the Transamerican,hes gonna have to do a lot of prep work on the XR to keep up with 2 KLRS,first thing hes GONNA need is a new fuel tank,stock is like 2,6 gallons,gives it about a 125 mile range,and thats a modest guess,My last road trip netted me 276 miles on a tank,and still didnt hit reserve,these were EVERY bit hiway miles,around town,or short trips,the mileage varys a little.Hes gonna need a better luggage system as well.Theres nothing wrong with XRs,Ive had them all my life,untill I got my KLR.

Thanks for the input Skeefoo. We are going to try and take care of that by each of us carrying an extra gallon each. We are going to beef his XR a little with a little luggage system.

On another note. Just did two 5 mile rides and a 15 mile ride over three days on my 2010 KLR650. Cooled completely over night between each ride. Going to change the oil and post a few photo of what a find. Plan to carry on with short rides till I reach 200 miles and then another oil change. 15-40 Rotella T.....

[kayaker23]

Got a new 2012 KLR last week and rode it home 50 miles. Ran the first tank of gas down and filled up at 200 miles, for a 50 mpg average.
[nonsense deleted]

Cheers from Colorado!

[phillybob]

Thanks for all the good info for a good engine break-in. My 2012 KLR is the first 'new' bike I have ever owned. She has 87 miles to date. Been rainy here lately. I'm not a big fan of riding in the rain to begin with but definetly wouldn't with new tires that still have the slippery mold release stuff on them.

My "first day" ride home from the dealership was about 5 miles of stop and go with no highway. I ran it to work twice since. Just under 40 miles round trip and only 12 miles each way being highway. I'm keeping it under 4000 RPM. The next rain free day I get I will be doing the shorter trips as explained earlier in the thread to help seat the rings. First oil change is happening sunday.

I plan on keeping this bike for a while. There's a 150,000 acre forest near by that has a bunch of bike trails i'd like to thoroughly explore. Wharton State Forest (AKA:Pine Barrens) in NJ.

[phillybob]

First chance to change the oil was today at 135 miles. I'm pleased to see and report there were barely any metal shavings. I used a stock Kawi filter and Rotella T 15w40. Did another 5 mile trip after the oil change tonight. It might have been my imagination but the motor seemed a little smoother with the new oil. Been doing short break-in trips whenever possible.

[jtwodogs]

Well 100 miles on it before I could get to do my first oil change. Have been taking short trips rolling on the throttle and engine braking as much as possible. Minimal metal specs, more blue and red gasket material. One little point when I put the new filter in, it took a little peck to finally get the everything to seat. I used Rotella 15w 40, and a Kawa filter.

[kayaker23]

Got 500 miles on my 2012 scoot. Been riding it hard on the mtn roads where I live, and not babying it, but keeping RPM's mostly below 5000 when possible. Filled up with gas yesterday and got 59 mpg - not bad for a new machine! Changed oil at 300 miles and the filter was pretty clean with no chunks visible. The scoot runs well at higher elevations - 8000 ft, so I guess the stealership was right and don't have to do any carb adjustments at this time. Only complaint so far is the annoying balancer chain noise at higher RPMs - sounds like I may be doing the doohicky in the near future.
Cheers from Colorado.

[jtwodogs]

Originally Posted by jtwodogs

Well 100 miles on it before I could get to do my first oil change. Have been taking short trips rolling on the throttle and engine braking as much as possible. Minimal metal specs, more blue and red gasket material. One little point when I put the new filter in, it took a little peck to finally get the everything to seat. I used Rotella 15w 40, and a Kawa filter.

Well the fact that I had to give it a little bump to get it to seat the last 1/2 inch is bothering me, can I take the cover back off the filter and check it and make sure everything is alright without draining the new oil out?
Thanks

[crank ear]

Hey!

Just did the first oil change on my 2012 KLR at 518 km's today. Warmed her up, took the plug out, and watched dark"honey" colored oil drain out. Certainly not the black horror that some speak about. Two very small metal shards in the pan and nothing else other than the usual metal powder in suspension that you get on the first few oil changes of anything with a petrol donk.

Only just read the break in procedure outlined here. Mine was done quite similar without meaning to. First ride was about 5 k's up the road to the petrol station after having to become familiar in a hurry with the reserve position of the petcock. Must remember to write to the dealer and thank them for the 500 mill's of fuel they delivered the bike with!

First fill was 21.8 litres. Bloke at the servo reckons he's never seen a bike take so much. I said: "mate that ain't just any bike..." No really.... Then a mate rolled up, so we parked and had a coffee while we poke and prodded the new toy.

Then rode home through the hills. Being used to a road bike, was ringing it harder than I realised. Very easy to hit 6k or so revs before a change without feeling like anything is being punished too hard.

The sun was out so took it up Arthur's Seat, through Main Ridge, (which is all through the hills), through Cape Schanck, and home via winding back roads. Constantly rolling on and off. Just need a better pipe for a bit of crackle on over-run and I'd be in sensory heaven.

Second ride was much the same, but down the Great Ocean Rd, and back through the Otways. Only difference being it was raining, bloody cold, and I was glad to put the bike back in the garage and get 'me butt inside in front of the fire. So I reckon you've guessed it's Winter over here right now.

Looking forward to the next ride. A new set of more aggressive tyres and we're off into the high country. Which means snow, mud, rain, whisky, open fires, and a fair bit of BS about how well we rode through it all.

[Farmer Jon]

Hey Crankbear, welcome to the family! Congrats on the new KLR. It sounds like you know how to break in a new motor.

I'm a bit jealous of the beautiful riding country ya'll have down under. Mountains, deserts, ocean. You've got it all. I hope to make it down to see for myself some day.

Enjoy & ride safe!

[Reddirt23]

Just got my 2012 a few weeks back. After reading up a lot on break in the best description I found was "Ride it like you stole it".
Where I live here provides some nice short break in routes to take thru various areas with lots of stops and hills.
I dumpoed the oil (and filters) at 20 then 200 miles. I shied away from Rottella; what they had at the auto store IIRC sounded like synthetic and just got some traditional Vavoline 10/40. That's what's in it now at almost 400. I was originally going to switch to full synthetic before I take off on a summer cruise (was thinking Mobile 1 20/50) but have since started to reconsider this and am leaning more towards something like the Shell. The reason I run Mobile 1 in my big Twin V-Star is because it is supposed to have excellent shear and viscosity longevity, and that bike has big straight cut gears). On the other hand, I've read a number of places where some folks think the full synthetic doesn't work so good in a motor like the KLR, has a tendency to pass a lot of oil. While I don't tend to worry about some of the old synthetic arguments that is the one real concern I have.
Now I am thinking to run something like Rotella and just change the oil somewhere during my trip as the last two were both 2,500 miles each.
Need to read more about the Shell I guess.
Am also wondering at what point should I feel confident running the KLR at highway speeds for extended periods like getting out of town and to the hills I crave? It is about 250 miles for me thru Mohave Desert.

[mrcolin2u]

I just tipped the 1k mark on the odometer so I'm considering my 2011 broken in.
I changed oil for Rotella @ 20.200 and 800 mile intervals. Almost all my rides have been short 20-30 mile up and down hills in the Ranch Santa Fe area of San Diego Rolling throttle ond off.
Farkles so far:
Thermo Bob
Barkbusters
Rental FatBar
SWM Bash plate

Upcoming jobs planned
Install SWM center stand, SWM crash bars and subframe bolt upgrade
Check valve clearances.

Further down the road jobs.....
Front and rear suspension
Steel braided brake hoses
The DOO
Cheers
Colin

[OKlr]

Is it safe to run the rotella in a bike with 8k miles? Or should I switch to synthetic?

[Glenn]

It is safe to run Rotella at any mileage.
Rotella is JASO MA rated, is a very sheer stable oil, it will even reduce oil consumption in bikes with higher mileage.
Whether you have 5 miles or 50,000 it is a safe bet.

[OKlr]

thanks, i was curious since i see alot of people swap away from it after break in. Its cheaper than most motorcycle oils.

[Glenn]

People usually change from Rotella because they want a synthetic.
I would run Rotella for the first 3000 miles or so then switch to 15w50 Mobil 1.

[Reddirt23]

Hi Glen,
Why not M1 20/50 V-Twin oil?
I run it in my V-Star 1300. The reason being in the test results I have been able to find it consistently rates in the top tier. Along with that is it has good viscosity and shear stability, and the big 1300 motor has straight cut trans gears etc. It's a big noisy motor.
Basically two KLR 650 motors on one crank.
Besides my other comments above, I switched to synthetic in that bike because synthetic has better lubricating characteristics thru a much wider range than dino oil. Meaning better cold cranking, esspecially after sitting for a while, and better lubing when really hot (supposedly).
I also switched my VW bus motor over to the 15/50 M1 and in that 1866cc air cooled hard to start when it's cold and persnickity when it's really hot out, made a big noticeable difference.
Since neither of those bigger motors have blown up yet, and with the good reputation and test results from the M1 products, it is now in my KLR, and I can't come with a good reason to wait until I have 3000 miles to put a seemingly good product in it.
I don't buy into the part where they suggest synthetic is too slippery. Isn't that the idea? The way I read it is it stays slippery thru a wider range of temps and over a longer period of time.
I did, as best I could, the quick ring seal break in, changed oil at 20, 200, with basic Valvoline 10/40. But it's getting hot now so at 500 I'm just going M1 and call it done. I have not noted that my oil level went down at all during that time. But I will certainly keep an eye on it always. If I note any major loss I will probably switch to Retella or Delo but I somehow doubt it.
But if everyone thinks I made a mistake I can switch it back imediately as I don't ride much anyway, so probably wont do any harm.
Stephen