2001 Kawasaki KLR650 Engine cooling Problems
- Complaints
- 14about this part
- Share
- 74%of 19 total for the year
- Median mileage
- 13,500miles
- Trend
- Not enough dataFewer than 15 complaints, too few for a reliable trend.
NHTSA recorded 14 complaints about the engine cooling of the 2001 Kawasaki KLR650, 74% of the 19 complaints for this model year. Where a mileage was given, the median is 13,500 miles.
Fewer than 15 complaints name this part, so treat the figures as a rough indication only.
Example complaints
Selected from NHTSA records; personal details are removed. They are consumer reports, not findings.
“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.”
NHTSA complaint #10280637, filed 2009-08, 20,000 miles“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.”
NHTSA complaint #10454281, filed 2012-04, 12,800 miles“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.”
NHTSA complaint #10160719, filed 2006-06, 13,000 miles“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.”
NHTSA complaint #10149252, filed 2006-02, 21,000 miles“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).”
NHTSA complaint #10000072, filed 2002-12, 14,000 milesEngine cooling: other model years
Other parts of the 2001 Kawasaki KLR650
2 complaintsEngine
1 complaintsSuspension
1 complaintsTransmission and drivetrain
1 complaintsVehicle speed control
1 complaints
← All problems reported for the 2001 Kawasaki KLR650
About this data. Data from NHTSA (ODI) complaints, recalls, TSBs and investigations, updated Oct 29, 2026. Complaints are unverified consumer reports and may be duplicated or inaccurate.
To check a specific vehicle for open recalls, use its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls. Methodology