Stumbling around this site with a cup of coffee in hand found me at this thread. I about laughed the coffee right out my nose when I saw Joe-Joe's post -
"Basicly highway speeds after 75 MPH it would consume oil. Deserves it IMO.
Tuck down from wind noise at interstate speeds & listen to that one piston screaming.
That oil blow by is prolly saving the motor, lol
I can't blow the thing up. I rev it to redline through every gear for years. I run 90mph indicated for years.
Just add some oil next time I flog it. Not bad like some make it out to be.
I did the doo long ago & adjusted the valves loose side once. It's had 4 batteries in ten years, a speedo cable, clutch cable, wheel bearings, fork seals, One broke rear brake bracket, & broken stock shifter. Bike don't owe me a dime. Bought it for 3 grand back in 05' & it was like new. I can still prolly get 2 grand for it after 8 years of beating the chit out of it."
I wholeheartedly agree!!! I have an '05 KLR that I bought for $3k in 2007 and have farkled her mercilessly over the last 15k miles. For almost 6 years she was my only bike and I made her do everything from the 45 mile roundtrip commute to the hospital on the slab to being thrashed about in the Appalachian backcountry in a manner only befitting a 200lb 2-stroker woods bike. Even before I got my S10, I looked at my KLR as a nearly disposable toy and was more than willing to huck her into situations that might mean some repair time. But those repairs were few and far between and were typically easy to do myself and parts were cheap and easily found. Now that I have the S10 around for more of the street oriented applications, the trusty old KLR is gonna get stripped of the HappyTrail boxes and everything else that smacks of riding hardpack and I am gonna fully dirt her out (she just got D606 rear!) to make her into the truly indestructible (and maybe even disposable) off road dualsport bike for my exploration of the WV backcountry. Doubtful that I'll ever get rid of her as she is a sentimental and favorite, a dependable workhorse, and now can be available as my guest bike.
I am excited about getting confident on the bigger and heavier S10 so that I can take it offroad but I will always have the KLR ready to really go get after it! Here she is!