Is the Kawasaki KLR 650 Doohickey ACTUALLY a Big Deal? I Asked a Veteran Kawasaki Mechanic.
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 19 май 2022
- If you buy a Kawasaki KLR 650, the first thing you'll hear from a lot of other owners is "make sure you fix the KLR 650 doohickey right away!" It's a common believe among KLR 650 owners that the KLR doohickey (another name for the counterbalancer chain tensioner) will eventually wear out and fail, causing your KLR to die. The belief in the Kawasaki KLR 650 doohickey problem is so widespread that many people actually replace their KLR doohickey immediately after buying a brand new bike.
I've gotten a ton of KLR doohickey questions since I bought my 2022 KLR 650 Adventure last year, and I wanted to cut through the rumor and hearsay and go right to an expert on the subject. Mike at Power Motorsports, a veteran Kawasaki mechanic with 25 years experience, was kind enough to come on camera and talk about his experiences over the years fixing KLR doohickeys.
His answer might surprise you. Mike has never seen a doohickey fail, nor has he ever opened up a KLR and found a doohickey on the verge of failure. He's installed a ton of KLR doohickey kits at customer request over the years, but he's never had to do one as a result of a failure.
Properly maintained, KLRs will run forever, at least according to Mike.
Big thanks to Matt and Mike at Power Motorsports for being in the video. Check out Power's website here: www.powermotorsports.com
-SUBSCRIBE for more adventures, how-tos, gear reviews, and moto shenanigans!
bit.ly/dorkintheroad
Check out www.dorkintheroad.com for all your dorky motorcycling needs!
Want early access to videos and other perks? Become a channel member: / @dorkintheroad
Merch Store: teespring.com/stores/dork-in-...
Instagram: / adorkintheroad
Twitter: / adorkintheroad
Support me on Patreon: www.patreon.com/user?u=26709234
Want to support the channel when you buy your dual sport or ADV gear and mods? Please consider using these affiliate links:
Rocky Mountain ATV/MC: bit.ly/3tYzpXq
Amazon: amzn.to/3aDkk4z
Revzilla: imp.i104546.net/4eMdJZ
MotoCamp Nerd: motocampnerd.com/?ref=dork
DitR Storefront on Amazon: www.amazon.com/shop/dorkinthe...
Save 20% on Gaia GPS Premium with this link: www.gaiagps.com/discounts/?fp...
Dork in the Road’s Riding Gear Picks on RMATV/MC: bit.ly/3t8fgOC
Dork in the Road’s Dual Sport Mods on RMATV/MC: bit.ly/3yzVuws
Dork in the Road’s Adventure Bike Mods on RMATV/MC: bit.ly/3zGFHxg
Select music courtesy of Epidemic Sound. Use this link to get a free 30-day trial: www.epidemicsound.com/referra...
Adventure Riding Gear:
Klim Krios Helmet: bit.ly/2U8kYmn
Klim Traverse Jacket: bit.ly/3v6Cju1
Klim Traverse Pants: bit.ly/2X5CIjP
Klim Marrakesh Jacket: imp.i104546.net/jWa1jM
Klim Marrakesh Pants: imp.i104546.net/kjAR10
Klim Inferno Jacket: bit.ly/3Ax4PWN
Klim Inferno Pants: bit.ly/3lweKYy
Klim PowerXross Gloves: imp.i104546.net/9WqejE
Rev-it Sand 3 Gloves: imp.i104546.net/dorRqW
Camelbak M.U.L.E.: amzn.to/3iXdewN
Garmin InReach Mini: bit.ly/3v6D2vf
Giant Loop Tracker Packer (Mount for InReach): bit.ly/3ayYFel
Alpinestars Corozal Boots: bit.ly/3mNXEEY
Giant Loop Neck Buff: www.giantloopmoto.com/product...
Trail Riding Gear:
Fox Racing Raptor Vest CE: bit.ly/3BDUgmn
Alpinestars Tech 7 MX Boots: bit.ly/3v6bFkU
Klim Dakar Gloves: bit.ly/3BHkqEw
Klim Dakar In The Boot Pants: bit.ly/2YOSWPf
Klim XC Lite Jersey: bit.ly/3vgeYX2
Klim Viper Goggles: bit.ly/3lEe2so
Fox Titan Race Elbow Pads: bit.ly/3FLOocU
Filming Gear:
GoPro Hero 9: amzn.to/3ByMolX
Battery Pack for Helmet Cam: amzn.to/2YJFfRc
GoPro Hero 9 Media Mod: amzn.to/3awIj5J
DJI Osmo Action: amzn.to/3ADixaK
DJI Osmo Action Mic Adapter: amzn.to/3BDsTIR
Mini Tripod w/Ring Light: bit.ly/3FLrVg8
Helmet Mic: amzn.to/3mRPE5S 
Авто/Мото
Want to support the channel when you buy your dual sport or ADV gear and mods? Please consider using these affiliate links:
Rocky Mountain ATV/MC: bit.ly/3tYzpXq
Amazon: amzn.to/3aDkk4z
Revzilla: imp.i104546.net/4eMdJZ
MotoCamp Nerd: motocampnerd.com/?ref=dork
DitR Storefront on Amazon: www.amazon.com/shop/dorkintheroad
Save 20% on Gaia GPS Premium with this link: www.gaiagps.com/discounts/?fp_ref=dork
Dork in the Road’s Riding Gear Picks on RMATV/MC: bit.ly/3t8fgOC
Dork in the Road’s Dual Sport Mods on RMATV/MC: bit.ly/3yzVuws
Dork in the Road’s Adventure Bike Mods on RMATV/MC: bit.ly/3zGFHxg
First and foremost support your local dealer or small independent shop, as they are your lifeline in times of need.
Mr. Dork how can I contact this so called Veteran Kawasaki Mechanic? the E-Mike dohicky is machined from a solid piece of metal sir.
That mechanic is lying to you lol.
The eagle Mike mod is “piece of mind”as this mechanic said for good reason.
I’ve owned KLRs since when they were first introduced, I am a maintenance stickler, I’ve had plenty of springs go limp before doohickeys were introduced. I would never let this muppet touch my bike, well I never let anyone touch my bikes anyways.
It must be nice to have an dual sport / ADV bike that's so reliable that people make up problems to fix. Race Ready KTM should be so lucky.
Anything that gets “raced” is going to require more attention.
Yeah but, I heard from a guy whose brother knew a guy whose sister dated a guy who said he saw one break on a brand new bike and the engine failed so bad he flew over the bars like superman... or something.
Save Ferris!
haha this sounds just like people talking about Rev Tech evo style engines. I had one for over 15 years and 45K miles and never any problems, but the internet commenters say they are junk and they all fail.
😂😂😂
I heard the same thing but forth person. From his nephews older brothers, sisters best friends grandpa. Basically replace the doohickey or you could die.
I did two doohickey upgrades at the same time several years ago. My bike 2004 with about 8000 miles was fine when I pulled the cover. My friends bike with 3500 miles on the odometer (2006) had a broken doohickey spring. I didn't hear this from my brothers sisters uncles cousin, I witnessed this first hand.
The “mod” does not make the “tightening” of the cam chain any “easier.” The process is exactly the same. Loosen the bolt on the side of the case, let the spring take up slack, tighten the bolt back down. The difference is Eagle Mike’s torsion spring works where I’ve seen more than one spring on a Gen 2 be out of tension before 10,000 miles. If you’ve taken both bikes apart (Gen 1 and Gen 2, or 3 at this point), it is clear that the lever itself is better in Gen 2/3 and unlikely to fail. But if you’ve taken more than a few apart, you also know the stock spring can run out of adjustment way too soon.
Yes, he is obviously clueless. It's so hard to find a competent mechanic these days
My KLR had 33000Km and I got my local Kawasaki dealer to install an Eagle Mike kit. The mechanic said that the spring had lost its tension and it was not working correctly as a result. Nobody would purchase a replacement OEM part so that explains why Kawasaki never have to sell them.
If he done hid own work he'd know that the doohickey is a Kawasaki part and has bern remachined by Kawasaki because several times to eliminate the weaknesses. The spring adjustment system is aftermarket and way way better than Kawasaki's
Eagle Mike's wallet is very happy whit that kind of person as you are.
@@PP-wz7mp I am unsure of what you are saying. Have I done wrong?
@@drewiliffe4855 nothing wrong , only your wallet will suffer...
@@PP-wz7mp I know your type. A know it all who never does anything. You may have noticed I said that the spring had lost its tension. Without a functioning spring the system is non-operational. Only a fool would ignore a potential problem so I guess that makes you the fool. The job didn't cost much, it sounded different after the job was completed and I know that I can ride the bike with complete confidence that it is 100% reliable. You might be tight with money and think that you are so clever by not replacing a known problem part but my guess is your KLR is poorly maintained.
Weird because my 18 with 3000 miles the spring was eating the case. I have pictures and all. They DO go bad and they DO fail. This is misinformation man. I live in PA. The spring had ZERO tension and maintenance has always been done.
Yep. Tensioner spring broke on my 2018 at less than 2k miles. And it destroyed the engine.
I had the same experience with my 2017.
Bullfuck
Spent 16 years in a Kawi dealership. Never saw one fail that the owner hadn't been dicking with... That said, only three failures, owner self-inflicted....
@@allanwyatt9683 funny...I never dicked with it and it was loose so pictures and mileage is proof don't you say.
Three things you will hear from Most dealers accross the board is . “I have never seen that, They all do that or That’s normal”. Must be in the training manuals to memorize that before you go work at a dealer.
At 8000 miles I pulled the cover and checked mine on my 2014,spring had no tensioning ability and was loose………eagle mike is the man of truth here
So before you checked it how many times had the oil been changed? and how often was it seviced? my mech checked the doo on my 2012 wich has 21000ks on it the doo was as new ,, bike has an oil change every 2000ks
I have owned 7 KLRs since 1997. Old and new, never once did I do the doohickey and have never had a problem outside basic maintenance. I have always believed it to be an overexaggerated problem.
the internet tends to over exaggerate things in general lol
You are a lucky guy, between 97 and 2023 then the 7 bikes lowered your risk of having breakages!!, I have a 2013 so ten years, ownership Doohickey torsion spring kit done at 17,000 KMs, faultless ever since, peace of mind intact.😊
It's a dealership talking about a long term problem though. They mostly get warranty work.
Most people are gonna fix it themselves or take it to a local shop by the time the doohickey does go bad.
Sounds like a stock answer from a Kawasaki dealership mechanic. I was at a local dealership looking at the new KLRs when they brought them back out and asked if Kawasaki had done anything about the doohickey. The salesman pretended to not know what the doohickey was until i asked the sales manager the same question, and he acknowledged that the doohickey was a problem, then all of the sudden, the original salesman knew all about the doohickey issue. Now, my experience with the doohickey. I’m 65 years old and have been riding and working on motorcycles since i was 10, even worked as a mechanic at a local Yamaha dealership starting when i was 14. I have owned motorcycles continuously since i was 12, and always do all of my own wrenching on them. I have a 2006 KLR 650 that I bought new. When it had 11,000 miles on it, I decided to do a doohickey upgrade with the Eagle Mike kit and opted for the torsion spring fix. As I began the upgrade, I pulled the left side cover from the engine, and found that I was not doing an upgrade, but instead, I was doing a doohickey repair as the spring had long since broken and the adjuster was already set at full travel, from the factory. The spring had broken so far in the past that the nub end of it had worn a groove in the bottom of the case, I was very lucky that the tag end that had broken off had apparently came out with an earlier oil change and somehow didn’t do any damage. I finished my repair/upgrade, and all of the sudden the engine was much quieter, possibly even quieter than when it was new. I still have this bike today and still enjoy going both on and off road with it. The stock KLR doohickey is beyond question a problem and to say otherwise is just laughable.
Been saying this for years...people overreact about the doohickey. If you want to swap it out, take the opportunity when you have the bike opened up, otherwise don't sweat it.
Mike would agree with you
I never had a problem with mine. It all ways started and went wherever I pointed it. Thanks for sharing
So I used to work at a car dealership and let me tell you if you want the honest truth about the reliability of a vehicle you have to make sure the tech is anonymous. The manufacturer of the vehicle will come at the dealership if they said anything bad about the vehicles. Notice he said nothing about parts failing it was all due to poor maintenance. Every vehicle has some sort of defect that wasn't made or engineered well because human error is impossible to avoid. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with Kawasaki in particular, I'm just saying if there was and the tech talked about it he'd probably loose his job.
Exactly.
I was thinking the same thing, you can’t roll into a dealership for said franchise and get 100% unbiased opinion, with his boss right there.
Doesn’t matter the brand they will tell you they have never heard of the problem or never seen it. Or if it is something obvious they will tell you they all do that.
I'm a member of a local Pittsburgh Pa area dual sport club and I've installed 6 Doo-hicky upgrades. Of the 6, not one OEM spring was actively providing tension. Each of them was was found with the coils at rest and the tensioner lever laying limp. That was 4 Gen 2 and 2 Gen 1 KLR650 engines.
I'll be doing the doo on my 2022 because I'm my first hand experience, 0 for 6 survived in working condition because the spring is too long and stops working early in life.
Is that because of material failure or a lack of maintenance? I am just diving into the KLR world, but it is my understanding that every oil change the doohickey should be checked/adjusted? Wondering if failing on adjusting the doohickey in the first place leads to the spring falling off?
@hendrik8861 maintenance has nothing to do with it. You can't really make it break. It's just a bad design. The Eagle Mike doo and torsion spring completely remove the failure mechanism and allow a lifetime of adjustable range. You loosening the pinch bolt and re-tightening have no influence at all on breaking the hook off of the spring that's too long to begin with not does it break the doo plate off of the center hub. Those things break just because they are bad designs.
Have had 5 different KLR 650s. I had a 2003 that I bought it in 2003. I pulled it apart to do the Doohickey upgrade and my tensioner spring and tensioner had failed with 5500 original miles on the bike and I had been religiously maintained. So yes it did happen to me and it is a cheap simple insurance to upgrade.
I JUST did my doohickey yesterday on my 2002 KLR. i had a 31 year retired Kawasaki and big block race mechanic come over and do the work with me. he has done dozens and dozens of doohickeys and he has personally showed me the bag of 20+ broken doohickeys and springs that he had. when we cracked my bike open after we noticed that the adjuster wasn't doing anything. what did we find? A BROKEN DOOHICKEY SPRING. just sitting there doing nothing. the welded style doohickey oem was perfectly but the spring giving it tension was snapped off. we did the torsion spring and Emike doohickey and I'm very happy i did or it could have been very bad. my doohickey spring 100% failed.
Impossible... That Kaw tech said it never happens
@@chrishoesing5455 "INCONCEIVABLE!" LMAO
I've owned 6 KLRs over the years. I did the doohickey mod on 4 of them. Of those 4, three of them had slack springs with no tension left. None of those three had cracked or broken doohicky's, but they did have grooved cases from where the spring was digging into them. They also had chaffing marks on every one of the springs from the chain. The one klr of the 4 that I did the mod on, had no spring when I opened the case and a piece of the doohicky was missing. I fished almost all of those parts out of the sump hole with a flexible magnet. You can call it a myth all day long, but every one of those bikes would have eventually succumbed to engine failure in the future. My last KLR a '22 model, I sold before it was time for a second oil change, so I didn't open the case on that one.
The next time you attempted a balancer chain tension adjustment with a slack spring, you'd have increased the slack an opened up the potential for huge problems. What the mechanic failed to mention is that about 90% of the bikes he's worked on won't see more than 7500 to 10,000 miles in their lifetimes.
@@timrlang159 Really? Because I cannot find hardly any klr's in my area for sale with under 10,000 miles. Most range between 20k-40,000 miles. And they still want 5 grand for em.
@@KLRJUNE This comment needs to be pinned!
@@KLRJUNE Rubbish, the spring tension is what sets the chain, if it"s broken it can"t do that, it will eat your Gen3 guides too!!, derail the chain , lockup, bend some valves, it"s not the guides job to hold the tension, it's the useless stock spring and the lockbolt!!
@@KLRJUNE I suggest you take some advice from someone who has owned and maintained machines for forty plus years, yes my KLR has the Eagle Mike Torsion spring Doohickey fitted, it is the only solution to the substandard original part, have a nice day.
I had 14,400 miles on the original tensioner of my ‘08 Gen II when I sold it, but it was getting louder and the new owner stated that he was going to DOO it, straight away. Now I have 300 miles on my ’22 Gen III. I definitely feel less concerned with the Doo, than I did before watching this video. Thanks again for such GREAT content Dork, you ROCK!
My 2007 KLR's Doo spring was missing after less than 5000 miles when we opened it for the Doo. If I had done the routine maintenance procedure prescribed by Kawasaki, I would have destroyed my engine. The guy who did the Doo for me showed me a bowl of more than 30-40 broken doohickeys. The original Gen1 had bad welds and the Eagle Mike Doo has more adjustment in it (for when the rubbers on the sprockets wear). The Kawasaki dealer where I bought mine (with 3000 miles on the clock) also denied that the Doo is an issue. The bigger issue is the rubbers on the balancer chain sprockets that wear out.
I've done 10 doo hickeys 6 were broken or broken springs. The lowest was a 7 year old bike but it only had 15k km on it.
Wow! yes, that's what I've also heard from local KLR experts (one of them has done 50 big bore kits, so he knows the engine well)...@@jeffp366 I suspect Kawa did the calcs and found it was not worth it admitting there's an issue and spending to fix it.
@@GreaseAndGravel I suspect the cracked doo's aren't actually kawasaki fault its only meant to be tightened to 8ftlbs most people crank it down not wanting it to come loose. My personal bike had 30k km on it when I bought it spring was broken and there was a crack in the doo itself, I suspect it was user error of previous owner. For the cost of a case of good beer I replaced it and did the torsion spring upgrade, now at 105k km I still just loosen and tighten it every of change without worry 😀.
Note: I own a part time bike shop in Alberta Canada and focus on older metric bikes, although I've bought and sold hundreds of bikes I always come back to my klr.
What routine prescribed maintenance are you referring to ,? The loosening the bolt and tapping the case and then re torking to proper ft lbs ? Only asking because I just got a 2014 that was not very well maintained and am all paranoid now about the doohickey ! Was going to do the loosen and tap and retorque until I read the " might ruin the engine" part of your comment .
@@1stofer I had a 2003 A-model and did that procedure without any issues (i.e. lay bike slightly over to other side, loosen bolt, tap, tighten). No worries. Then I bought a 2007 and learned about the Doo, so I was too scared. Took it to a KLR expert in Cape Town who's done 100s of KLRs. He opened it up with me watching... spring was missing. The lever was intact. But... if I had loosened the bolt, the lever would have gone the wrong way and the chain would have been totally slack.
There is a pretty good chance you'll be okay... but I would not have been. Good luck. I hate these situations!
The dude standing on the right, who appears to be of some importance at the dealership, has a look on his face that sort of indicates "Mike, if you say something bad about the KLR, you will be looking for another job".
Yeah that's Matt. If he looks sketched out it's because I was not technically supposed to be in the shop cuz insurance reasons. ;)
I have done four "Doohickey" upgrades, with new levers and torsion springs. Two 2011s, one 2012 and one 2022. All less than 5K miles. All three Gen II bikes had no tension in the stock coil spring. the Gen III bike still had some tension, not much. All of the levers were intact, no issues, but not as robust as the EM unit. The biggest issues I have found on KLRs is lack of grease in the suspension linkage, swingarm bearings, Unitrac axle and steering head.
When I bought my brand new, zero kilometres, 2018 KLR650 from the dealership in the spring of 2019 I asked the service manager about the doohickey.
He said the exact same thing as this mechanic with the caveat that most KLR owners do their own maintenance and repairs and he had never personally worked on one.
At my first oil change at 935 kms (580 miles) I bought the Eagle Mike kit and decided to look into this controversy. BEFORE adjusting the doohickey the linear spring had almost no tension. There was less than 0.005" of gap between each coil. And when I loosened the bolt to the doohickey there was zero tension on the spring and it basically slid off the boss on the engine casting. So there is that.
Totally anecdotal, but I feel happier I did mine.
Doo what you want to doo.
Well I have an 09 I bought with 13K miles, when I checked it the spring was intact but completly slack and there was no way it was able to adjust the chain. I'm not disputing the mechanic's comments but I've seen enough pictures of broken / slack springs to justify doing the DooHickey. I will say I am a freak about maintenance on all my toys, but in 40+ yrs of riding and racing motorcycles I can't remember ever having a breakdown due to a maintenance problem.
Did mine at 12k miles and there was no more tension on the spring, it was just laying there and rubbing on the case.
Sure. I had about twenty thousand miles on my 06 and I asked my Kawasaki Mechanic about the doohickey. He backed up what your mechanic said. At 22,000 + miles cruising a state away at 70 MPH, the engine made a funny sound and locked up. I have a broken doo hickey sample, a broken spring' two bent intake valves and a cracked piston. Needless to say, my local kawasaki Dealer wasn't my choice for a solution. A 685 kit and aftermarket doohickey made me very happy again. At 31,000 miles now.
Curious, how long were you riding at 70mph and what was the condition of the bike/doohickey prior to the failure?
I read the proper cruising speed would be around 55mph for this bike, especially for heavy set riders.
@@Turco949 I often ride my 06 model at or above 70 on the freeway, (it uses way more fuel at 75 than it does at 70). and yes, I am a fat old fart, so, heavy rider. My doohickey had long since failed when i did my upgrade/repair at 11,000 miles, but fortunately didn't do any damage to the engine. See my earlier post here for the story of my doohickey experience.
With time the spring can break, but the damage to the doo hickey is caused by over torquing the retaining nut causing the doo hickey to get deformed. I have nearly 300,000 miles on KLR and I have had 1 spring break on an engine with 140,000 miles.
Ps the same mc wow or
People can think what they want but I can’t fault this guy for just telling us what he has personally experienced. Thats his experience and deserves respect for just that. Good interview Dork, thanks for that.
I agree with the mechanic's and your statement 100%.
Yup.
The question that was not asked was “did the spring have any tension to do it’s job?”
That’s the real issue after 2007.
The sales manager is standing at his shoulder, you can see the discomfort on his face!!
what was the mechanic going to say with his boss standing over him?
He can't even keep the balancer chain and the cam chain apart. (After about a minute) And the dealer principal is standing next to him making sure he does not say anything wrong? If he really has never seen a failed doohickey: I have worked on KLR650s a lot for the last 22 years and I have a pickle jar full of them.
I replaced doohickey on my 2009 with 8000 mi. using your excellent tutorial a few years ago. While the doohickey wasn't broken, the tension spring was doing nothing. I installed the new doo and torsion spring and the bike ran much smoother. Thanks!
Thanks, Mr Dork in the Road. Very informative. I won't worry so much about my doohickey. Manufacturer-recommended maintenance is always a good rule of thumb. I have over 100,000 miles on my Harley Electra Glide and it still purrs like a kitten. That equates to 40 oil changes with a new filter every change. Wow! - that's about 160 quarts of 20W-50 motor oil! It's been with every penny!
Doohickey was broken on my 2007 at maybe 6,000 miles when I decided to check and do the door. Half in the crankcase, half still under the adjusting bolt. Bought new, adjusted per manual.
Just bought a 2017 KLR immaculately maintained w/ 10k miles. Doohickey mod never done, but
Maintrnance records
galore came with bike.
So happy I found this video! Thanks DORK! I really like your content. This was super helpful.
Just did mine on a 45k bike. The doohickey was good. Spring was broken. Glad I did it. I upgraded to torsion spring.
The doo does break, I've seen it several times. I've never seen it destroy anything, always found in the oil.
Yeah mine was just broken in two on the weld. It was hanging out in the case. I'm not comfortable with chunks of stray steel just chilling in my motor though, lol.
All KLR650 owners know that it's real and a real problem. He wants you to think he is a dork for believing a Kawasaki paid mechanic, but like a manipulative female it's just for the comments to his page.
🙄
I have seen numerous KLR's with over 70k miles on them still running well. They all had the doohickey replaced. It's mostly done by people that seriously ride the bike, not your average sell it or trade by 15k miles guy. What you won't find is a KLR out there with 70k miles still running with the original doohickey parts because they fail ! Seems to be alot of comments on here acknowledging the springs with no tension, wears marks in the case, etc. So why say it's not a problem or that someone found a way to sell gimmick parts. Just ain't so fellas.
Regular maintainance is to adjust the balancer every few thousand miles or less if you have the time.
But yourself a torque wrench that is in INCH pounds.
Not foot pounds.
Then take the rubber cap off the adjusting bolt way down by the shift lever.
Unscrew the bolt counter clockwise two full turns and no more than that.
Take a rubber hammer, or a block of wood and use a hammer to give the case a few hard taps.
This will reenter the balancer.
Retighten the bolt to
78 INCH pounds.
Good to go.
Good information. Thank you for sharing this.
I heard this same story from every Kawasaki mechanic I spoke to. So I didn't really worry about the chain tensioner breaking. Finally after 50,000 miles I opened the crankcase up and both the lever and the coil spring were broken. What the dealer mechanics are saying sounds like fake news.
NOTICE TO FELLOW KLR650 OWNERS!!
BEFORE you just order in/replace your replacement/upgraded 'Doohicky' setup... CHECK your BOTH your balance chain guides!! WORN/DESTROYED guides WILL give the same symptoms of a knackered tensioner spring/'Doohickey' part.
RUclipsr - Shaun Murray did a 2 part video on this and IT IS WORTH checking out!!
Video title - '!BEWARE ! Kawasaki KLR 650 , another doohickey video . Part 1.'
There is a part 2 to this with the conclusions of findings.
I'm GLAD I saw this video as when I ordered a replacement Balance Chain Tensioner, I ALSO ordered a new chain AND both chain guides too, and yes, one of the guides also showed signs of concerning wear! So PLEASE, don't just think just an upgraded 'Doohickey' part will solve your problems and/or potential future worries! Be aware of associated parts too!
Ride safe ride free peeps! 👍 😎🇬🇧
Interesting counterpoint to the Big Rock Moto vids featuring Eagle Mike. Thanks Dork for the fun content. I love Ryan from Fortnine "the cheapest thing on a KLR... is the rider." 🤣🤣🤣 keep the rubber side down. 👍
Always good to hear multiple viewpoints if you can!
Eagle Mike makes his living off his "upgrade." As someone who has owned two KLRs, both of which have seen north of 20,000 miles, I can tell you with confidence that the doohickey is a myth. Both of my bikes have had no issues and when my former MX sponsor went to adjust them he found that they didn't even need adjustment. Again, we're talking bikes with over 20,000 miles on them that have been ridden like they were in baja by a former MX/hare scramble racer so I'd say the doohickey is far more solid than people claim
Can they run just fine without the doohickey? Yes! My bike had a broken spring at 7000 miles. Every bike I’ve replaced the doohickey on has had a broken spring or doohickey. The only reason someone typically pulls that side case is to change the doohickey so it’s not surprising that a mechanic doesn’t see them break. I’m very surprised that he hasn’t seen broken springs and at least a few cracked doohickeys
At 16k miles on my 2017 I opened it up to just check it. The Doohickey was fine, the spring was properly attached, but there was no tension left in the spring. I did not think the spring was in danger of slipping off but it was a little loose. I suspect it was still tight in the bike until I loosened the adjuster to get the cover off, but I do not have a way of knowing that. I changed my oil every 1000 miles and adjusted the tensioner independent of the oil change about every 3000 miles (5 times total), but I felt like nothing happened the last time and maybe the time before. With it open, I thought about just running to the hardware store and getting a shorter spring, but instead I went ahead and installed the Eagle Mike torsion spring. What I noticed is the torsion spring puts way more tension on the balancer chain than the factory original, and I wonder if that will wear out the balancer chain or chain guides prematurely. When all was finished, I want to say the engine seems to produce less vibration in the nasty 3.9-4.4k rpm range, but I am not 100% sure if that is real or my imagination.
I know this is a year old, but I noticed the same on my bike. It is now way smoother than before. At 55mph, i can hardly feel any vibrations. I thought I was alone in this, but apparently not.
I'm glad I held out for the 2023 KLR as I will now get my pearl solar yellow color. I honestly didn't think Kawasaki would bring it back so soon.
A Kawasaki mechanic saying that the Doohicky is not a big deal. SORRY BUT THAT IS A CONFLICT OF INTEREST. He is not going to shit on his shop or brand for good reason. From what I have seen myself, they do fail and Kawasaki have mad a few changes on the new model but they are still failing at low KM's
the 1993-96 KLX-650 was an upgraded KLR engine (no doohickey tensioner) with a modern perimeter frame and suspension, but it didn't sell well at the time
Love the mythbusting! Had 25k on my klr zero issues.
comment back here when you do your mod and find the spring or worse failed.
Fair play to you mate, but I honestly don’t regard 25,000 miles as being that thorough of a test.
Not a myth. You can find plenty of examples on forums
There seems to be little mention of the maintenance required for "Doo hickey"
We.re from AUS and like you,ve done Dork, I,ve checked with any number of long term Kwaka mechanics and most noteworthy with twenty + experience.
They all advise that nil Doo Hickey problems have been presented to their workshops over many years- here in OZ.
My understanding of Doo Hickey adjustment, is to undo the the bolt at the very bottom of the left side sump, then hit the sump casing with a rubber mallet to loosen and allow adjustment
of the
Doo hickey spring, then re tighten. I,ve been advised that if this is done at service intervals (6000 kms) you should be OK. They also advise that should you hear any untoward noises,
in day to day riding seek advice!
My 2018 KLR has done near 40k and nil issues/noises thus far- Doo hickey not upgraded..
One recent mechanic pointed out that USA KLR yearly sales collectively are more than collective total yearly motor cycle sales in OZ!!!.
I have a 2018 also. I removed the ridiculous California emissions that make them run dangerously lean over long term. Every oil change (I judge by when it gets difficult to see the slotted shiny metal in the sight glass) I do the tension adjustment. It takes seconds to do and I think people running across states and not doing the tension adjustment are lots of the problems. They aren't really designed for sustained highway travel. I switched to a 16 tooth counter sprocket to drop the revs as I do lots of blacktop travel.
@@tomservo5347 I also have the 2018. It has over 70,000 kms and no doo hickey replacement. The engine has not exploded!!!! and runs sweet like the day it was bought.
I also do the adjustments at recommended intervals. Australian mechanics who service many long range KLR,s suggest that replacement is not required nor sought.
Katherine is right! My Mechanic suggests that even if the doo hickey were to fail, the chain guides within the motor can likely cope without major catastrophe. The guides may wear in time , granted but my motor is running well. I,m not replacing mine and saving some cash and time.
@@Mikethebike-ov1yp I think it's the companies selling the aftermarket parts putting out the propaganda. I really doubt Japanese engineers would leave a 'flaw' after 30 years of production.
I’m glad you went to the source with this. I haven’t been too concerned but I’ve been really curious and this was very informative
I bought the Eagle Mike doohickey kit and asked a motorcycle mechanic to fit it to my Gen 2 Kawasaki KLR650. The original doohickey was not worn or about to fracture, but was replaced anyway. The mechanic remarked that the original spring had no tension, so he replaced it with the shorter EM spring. My bike had covered 25,000 Kms.
25,000km before or after your mod?
@@ianmackenzie686 25,000 KMs before the mod.
My stock cam broke on my 1999 KLR 650 at 18,000 miles. It sheared at both ends of the slot in the cam. The spring broke free and was cut in half. I had three large pieces of metal in the bottom of my oil sump that I fished out with a magnet. I always followed recommended maintenance on adjustment of the cam tensioner. I installed the after market cam and have not had a problem since. The bike now has 45,000 miles.
Thank you. I think it was an excellent idea to ask a technician that has been around these a while this question. It makes since that Kawasaki wouldn't fix this all these years now.
It sounds like good peace of mind to change it if you ride hard and maybe neglect perfect maintenance. If you are riding like most owners and doing your maintenance on time, don't worry about it.
The USMC diesel conversion performed by Hayes technologies removed the counterbalancer mechanism in it's entirety (the spring,chain and tensioner/aka doohickey). The counterbalancer was designed to "soften" the vibration that big single cylinders are known for. This conversation did have "shakes" but if the parts aren't there they ain't gonna fail. The Gen 2 had a strengthen adjuster and after 2008 the adjuster (aka doohickey) was much less prone to break.
pulled mine apart and the thing was broken in half, 38k miles on a 06, had to fish around in the bottom case and find half of doo
Thanks! I’m about to buy a 2014. Great help…
Good info. Thanks dork.
I have replaced two with Eagle Mike’s do hickeys. One was ok and the other one was cracked at the slot. The material is thin and it’s work hardened because the two piece design is welded.
You do what you want.
I own a 1st gen KLR, bought the Doohickie, replaced it at 2200 miles. THE FACTORY SPRING WAS BROKEN!!! 2200 miles!!!
You dont have a clue until you open it up. By all means, do it!!!
Mine cracked in half when I loosened it to check it. The spring was broken. 23000 miles when I bought it and checked.
Would love to hear about the thermobob as well!
I can also confirm this as a technician. We’ve had bikes in for top end rebuilds with 50k miles and the chain and tensioner are fine. Also, Kawasaki is one of the best for warranty work. I’ve seen them goodwill replace so many things that they felt were on them it’s nuts. I personally don’t own a Kawasaki, but they have stellar ethics. So if it were a real problem I believe it would have been resolved.
Well, I am a life long Kawasaki owner/fan. I have had different experiences than you with Momma Kaw warranty, specifically with a well known issue with the bags/panniers (Concours 14) simply flying off the bike when you hit a pretty hard bump. On the forum, people said all the time that this was happening, I wrote it off as someone not latching or locking the bag properly, not so! It happened to me in Wisconsin on a group ride with witnesses. Kawasaki never addressed the issue, the fix is to drill through the lower mounting bracket and "ears" on the bottom of the bag and pin it...problem solved! Only issue is, it was about $1,000.00 to replace a bag if you weren't lucky enough to see it come off or someone else didn't see it. On the forum, I had to eat crow, listen to others! Moving on to the KLR, just picked up a used 2022 with 4,500 miles on it, I AM doing the modification because it is a known failure, you don't just make this stuff up and I plan on putting MANY miles on this bike as I do all of my bikes, I am a 33 year journeyman mechanic and wont ignore those that have had this issue. Change the SOB and move on!
Mine broke at 4300 miles on my 2006 on the way home from Walmart. No damage was done. Vibrated like hell limped home at 25 mph. Now at 4300 miles how much maintenance did I miss? According to him keep up on the maintenance and you'll be fine. Changed the oil at 500 and 2500 miles, yes filter also. Even checked the valve clearances in that time. Also replaced the factory rear tire since it was wore out and lubed and tensioned the drive chain. Adjusted the throttle and clutch cables. Nearly 46k miles on the aftermarket "doohickey" replacement. So again at 4300 miles how much maintenance did I miss?
I had the tensioner spring break on my 2018 at
It is helpful hearing the objective experience of a mechanic who does not have the inherent bias of skin in the game (selling Doo Hickey mods).
Still, nothing wrong with modding it. I wouldn’t mod it before the warranty runs out though.
Best advice: Maintain your bike properly and at least according to spec.
No diggity.
I've got a 1999 Gen 1. I've too never have a proble.. we r currently riding all over ALABAMA and no issues. I've got 9 motorcycles. Everything from harly,s yamaha,s suzuki,s . Triumph. If I had to keep one bike. My klr would be it. It does everything I want. Your channel is awesome and I just subscribed. Thanks DORK
So hundreds probably thousands of KLR owners that have dug springs and parts out of thier engine covers must just be making it up because one mechanic hasn't seen many.
Got mine from Power! Rode it home in a freak snow-storm. Need to get the fuel pump replaced as per Recall. Commenter down below in another thread said, it's not the Dohickey, its the chain wear bars that wear out and cause the slack. The mod only adds more tension to said chain.
Been hearing about this doohickey for decades, but no one ever talks about the manual adjustment on it, underneath that plug. just heard about that the other day. thanks
Do you live under a rock or have no contact with the world?
I gotta say, I took my cover off and found the doohickey was fine but he spring was broken and had a groove worn in the side of the spring. Soooo glad I checked. REPLACE your Doohickey and install a torsion spring people.😁
I think this video was long overdue, you have answered my question and I must say thank you very much God blessings.
Thanks for watching
Ben you really are the perfect embodiment of a dork. In an internet world of self labeled "journalists" and "influencers" you have really found an authentic niche. Just be kind, humble, and dorky for the win!
Thanks man
Just about to buy a gen 1, doing research and all i could find is freakn doohickey!! Made me worry! Thanks for this video brother
I believe Eagle Mike.
At 17,000 miles my 2006 spring was broken. The gen-2's doo's don't break, but the springs are still an issue.
Gen 2 and newer, the lever its self isn't an issue, but the spring can't maintain pressure on the lever for long. My 09 had zero tension by 3500 miles. Older gen 1's had spring and lever issues.
11 klr /6k miles, no spring tension whatsoever. no amount of maintenance will overcome no tension on spring. facts.
I live in The Bahamas and owned 2 KLR’s 1994 and 2004 both had doohickey issues. We ride hard and it’s always hot here so that explains a lot.
Eagle Mike has collaborated making videos explaining exactly why and how these things fail. He has some examples of broken ones. I don't think it's very common but I guess it was common enough for him to see a niche to make his own.
He explains exactly why and how and it starts with the spring failing. I don't know why people make such a big deal about the damn doohickey because I'd rather do two of them than one rear tire. I don't see very many people making a big deal about changing a rear tire...some tho.
When I bought 2016 Concours 14 I was immediately greeted with friendly “recommendations”, like “you surely want to use an oversized cam sensor o-ring, cause OEM one leaks” or “you definitely have to pin the side cases, cause they tend to fly off”. Or complaining on buggy keyless FOB system.
Guess what? None of those concerns are valid any more. All that noise is coming from the folks parroting and old rumors of some teething problems in the first year bikes. And some of those problems are likely user-induced (people not attaching the luggage properly).
I have an OEM o-ring and no sign of leak. I’m very happy with how KIPASS works. And never had a problem with a luggage in 40k miles
Hats off to Mike from Beaverton Oregon.
I'm not going to worry about it. I have the shop manual and I'll do the required maintenance.
I'm about to pull the trigger and buy a KLR 650 Adventure and this makes me feel even better.
I've seen first gen units with broken doohickeys with my own eyes and I've only had maybe 8 apart. I haven't seen a second gen doo fail, but the springs have issues.
load of BS, they fail spectacularly on gen 1's, and gen 2's for sure stretch out the chain and make the tensioner useless until fixed
Thank you. I was wondering how someone with this much "experience " says theyve never seen one fail
They do fail and the springs run out of travel. seen it personaly. This dude's tripping.
i bought a klr that the previous had just changed the stock spring to a heavier spring which of course snapped the lever and grenaded inside the engine. It was still running with all the pieces inside the screen in the middle of the engine. I installed the eagle mike kit and it ran really well for about 4000 miles and then the counterbalance chain broke which was catastrophic engine failure. i ended up finding a klr for cheap that is running great bone stock and im gonna do the eagle mike kit right away on it and im sure it will run forever after that
Dork, I really do enjoy your content and approach so accept this feedback from a fan….. You did not ask him how many completely slack springs he has seen, no tension in the spring mean there is no tensioning function on the counterbalanced chain. As a former KLR owner I researched this issue extensively and my own tensioner spring was completely slack….. you asked how many tensioner broke…. It’s the springs that get slack fall apart or break as a result and get into the motor that is the bad part besides having an out of balance Counter balancer creating more vibration on the highway etc…. So the actual tensioner may be a crappy looking item and folks refer to the issue as the tensioner problem, tensioner breaking…. But it’s the shitty springs that have always been the issue… so it seems you may need to have another look at your understanding and then go back and ask the right questions, slack springs, broken springs and what happens when a spring breaks or what can happen? I do know however know several , maybe even “many” KLR owners who have never done the doohickey and seemed worry free and had no issues and so were blissfully unaware of their doohickey at all. So there is that. But again, the issues is not fracturing breaking doohickeys or tensioner it’s the spring that creates the tensioner that is the issue generally. I hope that makes sense.
at 2:07 I asked "and people say the springs wear out, lose their tension over time. Is that not something you see?" Is that not what you are talking about?
which makes me think this guy is a total liar or something. because its a massive problem. I just did mine and found the spring was totally snapped off.
@@DorkintheRoad When I pulled apart my klr the spring was completely out of adjustment and just loose in there. It's not that the spring wears out, it's that there is not enough range of adjustment in the stock setup the spring is a bit to long, so once there becomes enough slack in your chain that the spring comes all the way in. and it's just kind of shaking around in there doing nothing. then it can just vibrate around to the point were things start wearing through and coming apart. because there is no spring tension to hold the spring firmly in its place. I could definitely see a dealer trying to convince someone into thinking that it is from excessive chain wear and selling them a counter balancer chain replacement. Which is simply not the case. Just more dealership mentality BS. When I took mine apart to check it I was like Hmm I could literally just put a bit shorter spring in there and it would go for a long time again. But I had already purchased the eagle mikes kit. So another example that if you want to hear a total line of bs, go talk to a dealer.
@@DorkintheRoad - What you didn't ask him was what the mileage of the bikes he worked on was. The majority of motorcycles sold are used for puttering around town and brief weekend fun rides when the weather's nice. Most of those bikes won't see 10,000 miles in their lives. That means the doo' has only been adjusted once, and yeah, both it and the spring will probably survive that. The reason it's never been a warranty issue is that they'll survive till after the warranty runs out!
@@miraclo3 you must be very ignorant...
I had a 2004 and my doohicky broke at 3000 mls. The head needed to be completly rebuilt including all new valves. I used an Eagle Mike replacement and had no more problems. It was no longer an issue. Sold it at 58,000mls.
My klr650c 2001 tensioner had snapped. The bottom half was in the sump. Upgraded and now ok.
Thats good enough for me , Thanks for that guys.
Good to know man, by the way yesterday I went & bought a bran spanking new KLR from those folks. My only complaint with them they didn’t give up even a Kawasaki sticker. Asked about a hat or jersey & man nothing for free there😂. Serious tho good service & people & not to mention inventory. Wow there wasn’t anything that wasn’t already there
Do the doo.
I think that it has become such a widely known isue. Most people get the upgrade mod before it fails. So Kawasaki dealerships, and the manufacturer isn't seeing the problem. My 2014.5 has 18,000 miles on it. I have the parts to do it. Just hasn't made it to the top of my to do list yet.
I asked the guy at the KLR shop where I bought my bike new about the doo and he was really offended, saying 'that was fixed a long time ago' lol
7/27/23 My new KLR 650 S with 1300 miles was making loud ticking noise and I did timely oil changes and treated it like my baby. Kawasaki put in new cam tension assembly and new cam chain under warranty. I have had three previous KLR's over the last ten years with no problems but not this one.
I replaced mine today on my 2023 and it still had 3/4 inch left of travel but the factory spring was completely out of tension. It was collapsed 100%. Im not saying that the Eagle Mike solution is perfect, but it’s a lot better than having a useless tensioner.
I don't care what this guy says I did mine on my 2013 model with the break in oil change at 400 miles when I took it apart there was no tension on the spring so it cannot tension itself properly from the factory and will only get worse as time goes by factory techs usually don't see it as much as the other guys because it usually doesn't present itself until after the warranty is out the spring is too long and the older doohickies themselves did have a problem breaking the newer ones don't seem to fail in that manner anymore but they still aren't perfect
Never seen a doohickey fail?? Lolol. HOW? I just bought a '99 with 13,500 miles with a doohickey that was broken in two.
Having ordered and installed the eagle Mike replacement, it's a much more stout version.
I did my doohikey at 12k miles. Owned the bike since 500 miles and every oil change I adjusted the tension spring according to the manual. When I did the doo there was ZERO tension on the stock spring and it had been laying against the case rubbing on it. Do the doo.
I opened the side case on my 95 650 , the spring was attached on one end , the other end was no longer on the prong , the spring was too long by 1/4 inch , so it simply fell off the attach point on one end .
Good Source interview.
THANK YOU !!!!
2005 with 51,000 hard miles and completely original including the doohickey . Regular maintenance, Oil changes, adjusting valve clearances and using a torque wrench on fasteners.
My 2003 currently has 30,000 miles on it. Had 8000 miles when I purchased it in 2016. I was unaware that there was an adjustment on the balancer shaft chain and have bever done so. I change the oil and filter religiously at 2500 miles. It runs as well as when first purchased. Now I am wondering should I leave well enough alone or pull the case cover to take a look. My Kawasaki dealer which has sold many KLRs said that they have never had one come in with any issues as this. One customer has 89,000 miles on his and no issue. Please advise.