Reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers, shown in full
Data refreshed
Our database holds 19 NHTSA owner-reported complaints for the 2001 Kawasaki KLR650. Each one is a report filed by an owner or driver and published by NHTSA without most of them being verified. A complaint is not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. Narratives are shown exactly as filed.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
Showing 1–19 of 19
CAM CHAIN ADJUSTER OTHERWISE KNOW AS A DOOHICKEY. IF IT FAILS IT MAY CAUSE THE ENGINE TO SEIZE UP WITHOUT WARNING, I CHANGE MINE AFTER IT BROKE BUT DID NOT CAUSE MASSIVE INTERNAL DAMAGE I WAS UNAWARE THAT MINE HAD FAILED I DID THE CHANGE AS PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE THIS PROBLEM HAS BEEN KNOWN TO THE KLR COMMUNITY FOR MANY YEARS BUT KAWASAKI REFUSES TO RECOGNIZE IT, DO A GOOGLE SEARCH ON DOOHICKEY FOR MORE INFO
THE IDLER SHAFT LEVER (AKA "DOOHICKEY") BROKE IN HALF AND THE PIECES OF IT WERE FLOATING AROUND IN THE CRANK CASED. THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS BECAUSE IF A PIECE OF THE IDLER SHAFT LEVER GETS CAUGHT IN THE COUNTERBALANCE CHAIN OR CAUSES A CRANK BEARING FAILURE THE ENGINE COULD LOCK UP AT SPEED CAUSING A CRASH. I REPLACED THE IDLER SHAFT LEVER WITH A STRONGER AFTERMARKET COMPONENT. *TR
THE IDLE SHAFT LEVER IN MY 2001 KAWASAKI KLR650 HAD COMPLETELY BROKEN INTO 2 PIECES. I DISCOVERED THIS WHEN UPGRADING THE PART. IT COULD HAVE CAUSED CATASTROPHIC ENGINE FAILURE. *TR
AFTER 14,000 MILES OF USE I AM THE SECOND OWNER OF THE MOTORCYCLE THE IDLE SHAFT LEVER FAILED. WITH THE FREQUENCY OF THIS FAILURE BEING REPORTED, THERE SHOULD BE A TSB ISSUED. *TR
WHEN I TORE INTO MY 2001 KLR 650 TO INSPECT AND REPLACE THE FAULTY "DOOHICKEY". I FOUND THE FACTORY ONE BROKE. BOTH THE SPRING AND BALANCER WERE BROKE AND I DID NOT FIND EITHER PART IN THE MOTOR. THEY ARE STILL FLOATING AROUND IN THE MOTOR SOMEWHERE. THERE WAS SCARING ON THE PARTS INSIDE THE MOTOR WHERE YOU COULD TELL IT HAD HUNG UP ON OTHER MOVING PARTS AND LUCKILY DID NOT LOCK UP THE MOTOR. I REPLACED THE "DOOHICKEY" WITH AN AFTERMARKET BETTER PRODUCT AND HOPE THE LOOSE PIECES DO NOT FLOAT INTO MOVING PARTS TO TEAR UP MY MOTOR. *JB
DOOHICKEY AND SPRING ON THE COUNTER BALANCER OF THE ENGINE WITH 14000 MILES WAS BROKEN DURING MOTORCYCLE USAGE. THIS IS A SUGGEST REPLACEMENT PART THAT IS RECOGNIZED BY OWNERS OF KAWASAKI KLR 650 , SO WHEN I TOOK MIND APART TO REPLACE IT, IT WAS BROKEN AND THE SPRING WAS ALSO MISSING INTO THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT THAT COULD CAUSE THE MOTOR TO LOCK UP. *JB
VEHICLE WAS A 2001 KAWASAKI KLR 650 MOTORCYCLE. DISMANTLED ENGINE CASE AND FOUND BALANCER CHAIN TENSIONER BROKEN INTO THREE PIECES. HAD TO RUMMAGE THROUGH THE CRANKCASE TO FIND TWO OF THE PIECES. THE TENSIONER SPRING WAS ALSO BROKEN. PIECE OF SPRING NOT FOUND. *NM
1)POOR PERFORAMANCE SEEMED LIKE CARBURATER PROBLEM. 2)SUDDEN LOUD KNOCK AND ENGINE STALLED AT 40MPH. UPON INTERNAL INSPECTION, BALANCER SHAFT ADJUSTER FAILED (BROKE INTO 4 PIECES) CIRCULATED PIECES THROUGHOUT CRANKCASE AND SNAPPED BALANCER CHAIN. MAY BE ADDITIONAL DAMAGE TO INTERNAL ENGINE PARTS. AFTER RESEARCH, LEARNED THAT FAILURE COULD HAVE BEEN CATASTROPHIC AND RESULTED IN ENGINE SIEZING AT HIGH SPEED. 3)REPLACING BALANCER SHAFT ADJUSTER WITH SUPERIOR AFTERMARKET PART, REPLACING BALANCER CHAIN, STILL INSPECTING ENGINE FOR ADDITIONAL DAMAGE.
CHANGED OIL AND DISCOVERED PIECES OF METAL IN CRANKCASE. HAD A BROKEN IDLER SHAFT LEVER THAT SPLIT IN TWO. LUCKILY IT DID NOT GIVE WAY WHILE I WAS RUNNING AND SEIZE THE ENGINE. DESIGN FLAW IN THE IDLER SHAFT LEVER WELD RESULTED IN FAILURE. *NM
BALANCER SHAFT FAILURE ON A 2001 KAWASAKI KLR 650 MOTORCYCLE. *AK
IDLER SHAFT LEVER RETAINER CAME APART INSIDE ENGINE, CAUSED SPRING TO FAIL EARLY WHICH ALSO CAME APART INSIDE ENGINE. THIS IS A KNOWN PROBLEM WITH THESE MACHINES SO I DID A CHECK TO SEE AND DISCOVERED THIS. I FOUND ALL THE LITTLE PIECES READY TO BE SUCKED UP INTO THE OIL PUMP WHICH WOULD HAVE CAUSED THE ENGINE TO SEIZE. *JB
I HAVE NOTICED RATTLE IN ENGINE ALMOST SINCE NEW. AT 21000 MILES I OPENED UP THE L SIDE ENGINE CASE. THERE WAS A BROKEN ENGINE BALANCER CHAIN ADJUSTER AND MANY CHUNKS OF METAL IN CRANKCASE. I CHECKED THE INTERNET AND APPARENTLY THIS IS VERY COMMON. I BELIEVE THIS FAILURE COULD CAUSE A REAL WHEEL LOCKUP/SEIZED ENGINE AND CONSEQUENT LOSS OF CONTROL WITH DEVISTATING CONSEQUENCES. BOTH MY DEALER AND KAWASAKI USA INDICATE THEY HAVE NEVER HEARD OF SUCH A PROBLEM. THIS IS A WELL KNOWN DEFECT IN ALL KLR650'S BUILT SINCE 1986!*AK
COUNTER BALANCER ADJUSTER FAILURE. *NLM
BROKEN BALANCER CHAIN TENSIONER ON A 2001 KAWASAKI KLR650 MOTORCYCLE.
FAILURE OF COUNTERBALANCE ADJUSTER. PART SHATTERED INTO THREE PIECES. ONE PIECE LOST IN CRANKCASE, REQUIRING FURTHER DIASSAMBLY OF ENGINE TO RECOVER
BALANCER IDLER SHAFT, TENSIONER LEVER FAILURE ON A 2001 KAWASAKI KLR 650 MOTORCYCLE, RESULTING IN PIECES OF STEEL ENTERING OIL SUMP, CRANKCASE AND TRANSMISSION OF ENGINE.
KAWASAKI KLR650 BALANCER TENSIONER AND CAM SPRING ON MOTORCYCLE LESS THAN ONE YEAR OLD WITH LOW MILEAGE. AFTER READING OF SIMILAR FAILURES IN OTHER MOTORCYCLES SOME OF WHICH REPORTEDLY RESULTED IN INJURY, I DECIDED TO OPEN THE ENGINE HOUSING TO INVESTIGATE. BOTH COMPONENTS HAD SHATTERED RESULTING IN METALIC FRAGMENTATION RESIDUE DRAWN INTO THE OIL PUMP MECHANISM (BUT STOPPED BY OIL PUMP METALIC SCREENING).
CONSUMER HAD NOTICED THE SWING ARM BOLTS HAD BEEN COMING APART FROM MOTORCYCLE FRAME, WHICH WAS ATTACHED TO SUSPENSION, AND COULD CAUSE DRIVER TO LOSE CONTROL OF MOTORCYCLE. DEALER HAD BEEN CONTACTED. *AK CONSUMER STATED THAT THE PIVOT SHAFT BOLTS WITH COTTER PINS HAVE BEEN REFITTED SO THEY WILL NOT COME APART FROM MOTORCYCLE.*YD
WHILE DRIVING AND WHEN HOLDING CLUTCH IT SUDDENLY ENGAGED, CAUSING UNWANTED AND UNEXPECTED ACCELERATION WHICH COULD HAVE CAUSED A CRASH. ALSO, CLUTCH PLATE MAY HAVE BEEN INSTALLED INCORRECTLY. CONSUMER HAS CONTACTED DEALER, DEALER HAS YET TO DETERMINE CAUSE. *AK THE DEFECT WAS DETERMINED TO BE AN UNDERSIZED BUSHING IN THE CLUTCH HUB. THE DEALER CHOSE TO REPLACE THE MOTORCYCLE SINCE IT WAS DEFECTIVE. *YH
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own
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