The place where I purchased my bike is charging me $300 for an oil change and inspection. I am definitly getting the oil change, but was just wondering if paying the extra for the inspection.

 

In my experience, the inspection is to check for any loose fasteners, cables, etc., to be sure the bike is safe to ride.
Are you comfortable with a wrench? Can you do your own oil change? Do you have a service manual?

 

Do you have the tools, knowledge and ability to do your own maintenance? The KLR is an ancient design (lots of stuff is pretty marginal to begin with) and motorcycles in general lack car like reliability. Things stretch, loosen etc. I would expect to need to set the drive chain tension and reset the cam chain tensioner at a minimum. I would also check for loose fasteners all over the bike.

Also those things that look like Philips head (cross-point) screws are actually JIS and require different drivers if you don't want to strip them out.


Another thing is don't believe the service interval on valve clearance adjustment either. Kawasaki used to recommended valve clearance checks every 6000 miles for KLR650 engines. Kawasaki did nothing to change the engine when they extended this to 15K miles. I have checked valve clearances on approximately 30 different KLR650 engines and all of them were reaching or had exceeded the limits after 6000 miles. Let that go too far and you will cook a valve and possible ruin the head. I would definitely check the valve clearances at 600 miles just to know where I was starting from.

One more thing about KLR650s. Check your oil level every time you buy gas. Ignore the molded lines near the sight glass. The proper oil fill level is with just the slightest bubble of air visible at the top of the sight glass. Running a KLR650 on low oil is very likely going to ruin your head when the rightmost exhaust cam journal runs dry. Like this one did on my 2007.

 

Some thoughts...

We used to tell people to stop in more like around 1000 miles, especially if valves were to be checked. Gives a bit more time for the valves to seat in, which decreases valve clearance. In addition NO WAY I'd run 15,000 miles before valve clearance check and adjustment if needed. I burned the valves in my KLX 650 running around 13,000 before doing them. Big mistake, never again on a new engine for sure. After several thousand miles they have seated in and will hold much longer before needing reshimmed. Besides, as easy as it is to check valves why not check at 1000 and again around 7000.

If a shop has to do the work ask if you can save money by stripping the bodywork and tank off yourself. Most shops have test tanks for fuel.

 

Well I followed my own advice. Had the dealer do the 600 mile check (early at 460 miles). All service from now on is on me. Time to change the oil and filter today at 1200 miles. I am switching to Royal Purple 10X40 MaxCycle full synthetic oil. Not sure what mileage interval I should follow from now on. 80% of my riding is my daily commute to work on city streets (~50 MPH indicated), 10% on freeways (80 MPH indicated), and 10% on dirt. I ride in Phoenix AZ so it gets blistering hot in the summer and I ride year round.

I also don't believe the oil change recommendations in the owners manual are in my best interests. I used to ride a KLR650 and changed the oil (Rotella T3) every 3K miles with an oil filter every other oil change. I am thinking due to the reduced case capacity and higher rev limits of the KLX250 I need to shorten this, but I am also using higher quality oil now which makes me a bit puzzled what to do.

My gut instinct is that a 2000 mile oil change and filter change every other oil change is a good interval. Curious what other riders think about this. I can't imagine this is going to increase engine wear significantly (Royal Purple is pretty incredible oil), and I am not cheap so the cost of using it at that interval is acceptable to me.

Just to stir up every possible troll, I am also installing a set of Shinko 705 tires since most of my riding is on pavement. I plan on switching to MT21 front and a D606 rear for wetter riding in the fall (Northern AZ). I got great service from Shinko 705s on my KLR650 and trust them to do what I need on dry road/dirt and to be useless in mud. Luckily, mud is not something I have to deal with here unless I seek it out.

-Edit-

The MT21/D606 combo has worked great for me on heavier adventure bikes. Is it a good combo for the KLX250, are there better ones? This is my first lightweight Dual Sport so I confess to not being particularly knowledgeable about good tire choices for these smaller bikes. I do want DOT tires since I ride on pavement.

 

I don't know what to recommend for Royal Purple oil change intervals, but if you really want to know, send samples to Blackstone Labs for Used Oil Analysis.

 

I have never tried that. I will look into it.