nklr bike hauling and tie down question

[duglessleer]

I have ridden my 06 KLR650 from California to the bottom of Argentina.I have had a few problems.Broken upper subframe bolts,engine stopping and not starting(I now think it was bad gas a couple times),and now loosing oil.The last several days the bike has run good.But a week ago I took it to a Honda dealer because it was leaking oil.Puddles.We changed the counter shaft seal.I thought it was fixed.The next day I am low on oil again.Now 200 miles from anything except a gas station,I see part of the clutch case cover gasket sticking up.It is above the oil filter and about 1 1/2" long.I loosened the cover bolts and push it back into place,then re tighten the bolts.Finally fixed?No.The next 600 miles I used about 1 1/2 liters.And the cheap oil is $9 a liter.My chain and brake disc are not oily anymore though.And my exhaust does not appear to be oily.It is not blowing blue smoke that I can tell.It's a clear exhaust when I start it.I don't have puddles when I stop anymore.I have seen a few drips from the breather hose. The bleeding has slowed.Maybe because I have limited my speed to 60 MPH to see if it would help.But I would like to have some idea of what I am dealing with.I started the trip with 10,000 miles and now have 24,000 miles.I have had negligible oil usage until 1000 miles ago.And it started all at once. Below is my KLR forum thread crying about my other problems. http://www.klrforum.com/showthread.php?t=10146&page=2 And below here is my thread from ADVrider about my trip: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=641039

[cowgill.james]

Tried to respond a couple of times; can't find the responses! Oil external leak, and/or internal consumption (e.g., past piston rings or oil seals, etc.) cannot be diagnosed without hands-on examination. Since bike's running o.k., I suggest adding oil and riding on, 'til a higher level of maintenance can be reached. Don't want to insult your intelligence or condescend, but--oil must be checked with bike level, and only after a few minutes of engine shut-down drain time. Oil meniscus disappears immediately from the sight glass upon engine start-up, even with a full sump of oil. Good luck.

[Flower Jamie]

I started out just jamming my front wheel against the inside wall of the pickup bed, then noticed that my friend's front wall (same model pickup) was permanently bowed forwards from him doing that. One more reason for braces, chocks, whatever on the front wheel.