2001 Kawasaki Klr650 Recalls
No NHTSA recalls on record for the 2001 Kawasaki Klr650. That means NHTSA has no open safety campaign for this vehicle — it does not guarantee the absence of problems. Owners have filed 20 complaints with NHTSA, most often about the engine and engine cooling. Last updated July 5, 2026.
Complaints by component
What owners report
Verbatim reports filed with NHTSA, lightly edited for readability and with personal information removed.
“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 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…”
“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…”
“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…”
“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.…”
Recall, complaint, and investigation records from official NHTSA datasets (FLAT_RCL, FLAT_CMPL, FLAT_INV), synced weekly. Counts reflect NHTSA records for the 2001 Kawasaki Klr650 as of July 5, 2026. Complaint narratives are consumer-submitted and unverified. This page contains ads and affiliate links. Full methodology.