Wilsons Sandbox

I couldn't agree more with Ed here. DO NOT trust someone will take care of you. With today's pressure to make profit, unmotivated/untrained dealer mechanics (by all means not all of them) and merely take the money and run attitudes, you need to be actively managing the process and people involved. When I wasn't in the mood to do the top-end work myself or the research to find someone "reputable", I simply had my local dealer do it. What a mistake that was. I felt good talking to them so being new to the area, I decided to give them a go. Well, they're lazy, incompetent and short-sighted. Others agree, so I know it's not just me. Anyway, 5k frowns later and I'm doing it again this time with Schnitz doing the sub work (recommended by [respected] Jeff Saline). Like Ed suggests...I'm the lead mechanic this time and will check all of its work regardless of my trust. Rebuilds take a lot of time and effort and I don't want to be here (instead of riding) again. Finally for our own edification, do we know why this new machine ran out of oil? Did he check it before leaving? This is my biggest fear with KLR sometimes. I never had a problem before but after the latest bore and piston job, I find out mine starts burning oil at 5k rpm or higher on a trip far from home (not to mention outside the b/s 30-day warranty they offer...during winter!). More than once I'd get to my off-road destination and stop to check oil only to see the !#$ker is mid level. I never had this problem before and it's unacceptable. I spent $1,100. I just assume junk the bike before dealing with critical oil burning issues. This could leave me stranded waaaaaay out of bounds and in trouble with a problem I already knew about...bad juju. Then again, I don't want to be paranoid and worried about my oil level all day anymore than I want to carry quarts of oil. Brian

Buy an ebay engine and just swap engines.