From: owner-klr650-digest@lists.xmission.com (klr650-digest) To: klr650-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: klr650-digest V1 #336 Reply-To: klr650@lists.xmission.com Sender: owner-klr650-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-klr650-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk klr650-digest Friday, October 30 1998 Volume 01 : Number 336 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 07:16:16 -0500 From: Todd Emsley Subject: Re: (klr650) Stuck on a hill Tony, The method you explained for getting turned around on a hill were exactly what I learned after many years of riding/racing. I was too lazy to type it myself, and I knew someone ambitious would jump in. The speed on the way down really does give you some stability, plus you get off that damn slope faster! The MAJOR RULE on a steep slope, keep your balance, move slowly and deliberately. If you slide, your in for a rough couple of seconds! Todd A11 Wilmington, Delaware ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 07:20:30 -0500 From: Todd Emsley Subject: Re: (klr650) Lower your bike?! I used to race a KX125 back in the days when "the more travel, the better". It had around 12-13" of travel front and rear. With about 18" of ground clearance. I would have to get the bike idling along in gear, then step up on the footpeg, stirrup style, and go. Not so good at stop signs, but great for riding over trees, etc. on the trail. Don't think I used the skidplate once. Todd A11 Wilmington, Delaware ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 14:26:51 +0200 From: "=?iso-8859-9?B?Qt1ST0wgU0FZ?=" Subject: (klr650) =?iso-8859-9?Q?=DDlt:_Summary_of_my_modifications?= Dear KLR Lovers, I have met my baby last year. She was my first motorcycle. I had deceived her only during the big disaster last spring (after an accident she stayed in hospital for 3 months). I've tried BMW F650 for a month and R1100GS thereafter. I've sold both. They were good bikes but can you imagine living with a partner who is always dressed, who knows everything and nobody knows more than everybody about (try GS mailing list and see). You can touch every part of this creature. This list helped me to become familiar with her. I know all the patrons. I'm an invasive cardiologist but also a biomedical engineer, amateur pilot (1982 T-67m Firefly), mountaineer, scuba diver, photographer etc. As I work for "Doctors Without Borders" and "Search&Rescue" societies, there had been many occasions (Afghanistan and Bosnia) I imagined to have a dual purpose motorcycle. This is it. Here we have six of them for the S&RS. Mine is different of course (she is the guinea pig of the group). The long and short of it I'm deep in debt to the listers. Well the remaining is the topographic&functional anatomy of my modifications (chronological classification would be a mess): 1. Lower front fender ( plastic OEM MuZ fender tightened to the lower part of front fork with gas pipe collars. I've added a small mousepad as an additional mudguard. The original one is still there. Looks like R1100GS) 2. Dunlopad front brake pads (they hold better but they are narrower than OEM -Toyo- ones. I'm afraid of uneven wear.) 3. Auxillary lights ( two fog projectors with 55 W H3 Halogen lamps on both sides of lower front fender. They were heavy for electrical system so I've added a relay works with city light circuit and a direct line from battery for main power. I've put the switch and the relay on the black plastic covering the backside of the headlight. The projectors are connected to each other serially so the total power became 27,5 watts otherwise you're easily out of battery. I had changed the 60/55 OEM headlight with 100/90 one but I don't use it anymore since the plug melted somewhat. I have installed two small cat's eye type, 5 W each tail lights on the rear fender and a long 30 W tube type brake light under the rear carrier. They are obligatory I think). 4. Headlight protector (Cut out of 3 mm thick plexiglass 1 cm larger than the headlight opening and mounted on the fairing with four screws on the corners. Thick plastic washers gives enough distance for cooling an cleaning purposes. Saved my glass from the pebbles two times). 5. Bolts and nuts exchange (I've replaced all the B&Ns with stainless steel or chrome covered Allens. Washers became stainless steel or brass. I hate Philips screws. No rust. No screws with just a hole in the middle. Easy access. No loosening with nylo-stop nuts). 6. Clock ( A small car-type, matchbox shaped, digital clock covered with 3M amalgamating tape and silicone for water resistance and sticked on a L shaped holder attached to the middle wind protector mounting bolt. Taken out the plastic nut and used a longer bolt "Allen of course" and nylo-stop nut). 7. Air in the forks ( I always keep 5 KPa of air pressure in the front forks. The equalizor "I'm not an egalitarian!" system is still under construction). 8. Handlebar (lead shots in the bar, screw-in bar end weights, mirror weights and gorgeous gel-grips. Skip's solution for mirrors is logical as usual but I live in Turkland an hardly any spare parts for her. I don't want welded mirror holders). 9. Fuel filter ( is a must especially after seeing the mud collected in it. It's exciting and assuring to see the blood flow). 10. Carburettor (Just screwed the air screw 3 turns out. Try it if you can bear to loosen the carburettor take it partly out, drill the plug annnnd place the little bas... back). 11. Fusebox ( replaced them with blade type ones and got rid of the old box. Stuffed the three "third is the auxillary line" in the old rubber holder, covered the mess with plastic bag. Spares are by them in a plastic drug bottle). 12. Airbox ( drilled 33 holes on the top edge and placed perfusion line hose pieces in them to keep water out of it. "They are about 1 cm in height so a splash of water won't get in easily" I feel it breathes easier. 13. Exhaust system ( Taken out the OEM completely and placed a pipe with small Toyota muffler instead. Used two stainless steel salad plates as heat protectors. Top end is a disappointment without regarding the noise. Low and middle range is better than OEM. Taken out but still working on it. Any websites about muffler engineering? 14. Oil ( use a mix of 1/5 Mobil 1 "0-40" and 4/5 Castrol "20-50" change it every 5000 km like my cars. For cables 140 grade gear oil with a high pressure PTCA syringe is good for summer and 0-40 Mobil 1 goes smoother for winter. Castrol chain lube and wax alternatingly is my choice for the chain. A trial of Molykote chain lube and grease (MoS2 type) is underway). 15. Luggage ( A 50 lt top case and soft saddle bags with a small tank-bag is all needed. Dainese back-pack with protectors went to my brother for school books) 16. Future plans ( Use an old endoscope to check out the hidden fuel reserve and improve Skip's ideas, design and construct leg protectors out of duraluminum) We are not trying to transform an innocent baby to a beast but mutants are more exciting and inspiring than naturals. This way we feel that we are the real proprietors of our property. This way they become extraordinary and not a mirror image of a factory template. This is the way we are. Aren't we? Birol Say, M.D. (Tried to tell my story short no adj., no adv.,no pronouns) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 09:13:56 -0600 From: cornell@lafayette.geoquest.slb.com (Cornell, Bob) Subject: (klr650) Being of abbreviated stature >length is required to keep the beast upright at a stop? I'm 5' 8" with a >32" inseam, do I qualify? Will I need to lower it? Also, is this a good Don't worry. I'm 5'5", have a 29" inseam and ride my KLR, my KDX, my XR and my Harley without being able to touch flat-flooted on any of them. It you just ride the SOB without worrying about all the crap you'll do just fine. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 10:13:24 -0500 From: James Naus Subject: RE: (klr650) Everything's relative.... Wow, you are the Man or that was a typo. James Tallahassee, Fl '95 KLX650C (still not runnin' but I finally got the fundin') > -----Original Message----- > From: Ian Ellison [SMTP:ie@grolier.co.uk] > Sent: Friday, October 30, 1998 4:39 AM > To: klr650@lists.xmission.com > Subject: (klr650) Everything's relative.... > > > I have been riding the Tengai for nearly 3 years and over 320,000 miles > now > so I have pretty much got used to it being "just so". > ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 09:22:54 -0600 From: "Polston, Doug" Subject: (klr650) Tengi vs. KLR > > > I have been riding the Tengai > Being new to offroading, can someone give me a brief summary of the difference the Tengai and a KLR? Doug Kansas ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 08:36:23 -0700 From: Roy Cope Subject: Re: (klr650) Everything's relative.... >From: Ian Ellison >I have been riding the Tengai for nearly 3 years and over 320,000 miles now >so I have pretty much got used to it being "just so". >Ian Ellison Wow!! Ian, I am impressed, 320,000 miles on a Tengai. That is a lot of miles! What sort of problems did you encounter while racking up that kind of miles? What sort of maintenance was required? Roy Cope ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 12:54:08 EST From: VFR754@aol.com Subject: Re: (klr650) Everything's relative 320,000 Mi.... << >From: Ian Ellison >I have been riding the Tengai for nearly 3 years and over 320,000 miles now >so I have pretty much got used to it being "just so". >> 320,000 MILES!!!??? Man, I wonder if I've racked up even half that kinda mileage on the 20 or so bikes I've owned through the years all combined. Much less on a KLR! Are ya sure it wasn't 32,000 miles. You put over 100,000 miles per year on a motorcycle (KLR) ?? That's gotta be some kinda record or some kinda mistake. Bill S. 98' A12 Montgomery, IL. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 12:29:07 -0500 From: grimone Subject: Re: (klr650) NKLR - outdated - or who cares? Im wondering if any one can help me diagnosis the problem I am having with my 92 klr. The clutch appears to be hard to pull especially after sitting. I have changed and oiled the cable but have had no improvements, I have been told that the cause could be in the engine. The bike does shift with no problems at all. My second problem, My bike had been sitting for a week or two and it had been raining, my choke then only would work when it was pulled all the way out, and once the bike is running, if the choke is pushed in even a little the bike stalls, however the bike does not stall once it is totally warmed up. I used to be able to start the bike with the choke on and jump on and ride but if I try it now and apply gas the bike stalls. I believe that it could be that the carb could need cleaning especially the jets. Any information that can elevate my problems and thus enhance both my bike and riding experience is greatly appreciated....john bruixot@rmi.net wrote: > > Economically, I like [the KLR] the way I liked the XS650 Yamaha: cheap, and > > pretty good, and they both give 50 mpg. The F650 pseudoBMW is half again the > > bike the KLR is, but at twice the price. > > ANS:>>>>>>>>>>>> Really, I think this guy loves his KLR and wishes Kawasaki > loved it enough to make him even more proud of it. In my opinion it is a > utilitarian machine. Built to be quite reasonable to use, reliable for the long > term, emminently worthy of upgrades. > > reply: > > All true!! He likes the KLR650 enough to own two of them. > > But they could be so much more right out of the crate with so little effort and > so little extra expense on the manufacturer's part! > > (I used to work for the U.S. Kawasaki distributor in California and in Akashi, > Japan). > > Dr Robert > (He's not a real doctor). ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 11:30:40 -0700 From: "Fred Hink" Subject: Re: (klr650) NKLR - outdated - or who cares? - -----Original Message----- From: grimone To: bruixot@rmi.net Cc: KLR List Date: Friday, October 30, 1998 11:11 AM Subject: Re: (klr650) NKLR - outdated - or who cares? >Im wondering if any one can help me diagnosis the problem I am having with my 92 >klr. The clutch appears to be hard to pull especially after sitting. I have changed >and oiled the cable but have had no improvements, I have been told that the cause >could be in the engine. The bike does shift with no problems at all. My second >problem, My bike had been sitting for a week or two and it had been raining, my >choke then only would work when it was pulled all the way out, and once the bike is >running, if the choke is pushed in even a little the bike stalls, however the bike >does not stall once it is totally warmed up. I used to be able to start the bike >with the choke on and jump on and ride but if I try it now and apply gas the bike >stalls. I believe that it could be that the carb could need cleaning especially the >jets. Any information that can elevate my problems and thus enhance both my bike >and riding experience is greatly appreciated....john > How many miles do you have on your bike? Sometimes the clutch basket will develop some grooves that make the clutch hard to dissengage. You might pull off the clutch cover and check your clutch plates and the clutch basket. The cheap way to fix this would be to file the grooves flat, but the only good way to repair this is to replace the clutch basket and maybe the clutch friction plates too. Your second problem might be because it is turning cooler. Cold air is more dense and so your fuel mixture is more lean. It wouldn't hurt to check your jets though. I wonder how many of you ever drained your float bowl? All the crud that ever gets in your gas tank will eventually end up in the float bowl and into the pilot jet or others. Fred ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 18:34:51 EST From: VFR754@aol.com Subject: (klr650) Freds parts list may need a decoder program... Hey everybody, I got Fred's parts list only to find that AOL could not read it without a MIME decoder program. When I tried to read it, it came up with mixed letters and numbers; like adklafhuirhgnj8943uitjiprev89j45j58yt89jhj89q. They (AOL) pointed me to a program called WINZIP70 which I downloaded, and everything worked fine. If anybody needs it, let me know; I can probably attach it to an e-mail for you (I communicated to Fred through e-mail, and he wasn't aware of the problem). Just trying to help, Bill Swindle A12 Montgomery, IL. E-mail VFR754@aol.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 19:01:17 -0800 From: nocoffee@juno.com Subject: (klr650) Cleaning headlight? The inside of my headlight lens is cloudy. Has anyone had any success on cleaning this and if so, how so? Thumpin' in Kentucky ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 19:33:30 -0700 From: Tony Subject: (klr650) Re: Dollars for Dialing - NKLR You got it straight, but you some times can be were you cant get out, like in a cave! Really, there are places that you will have some problems with VHF or UHF, but you can sup up a rig, like get a colapseable higain antenna. I have a set up where I leave one radio at my truck (link) and go hike to the bottom of the grand canyon to go fishing where I can talk to my brother inlaw while he is water skiing at Lake Powell. I do this with a small walke talkie, or in ham terms a Handi Talkie. I really havent found any places where I cant get out one way or another. However you can go HF and depending on the time of day and band conditions you can get out from any where, except caves! As far as telephone calls they are usuall in the metro areas, some are moutain top stations that will get you 100 mile out or so. Search out amature radio on the net, learn all about it and Im sure you will agree that its awesome. One time I was hunting on the north rim of the grand canyon and talked to my wife sitting at home in phoenix. Did this with a small hand held radio. Some other ham equip names are Kenwood, Yeasu, Icom, Standard, Alinco, there are others, check these all out on the web. Cloudhid@aol.com wrote: > alyef@juno.com and shilka@primenet.com wrote: snip > > >You could also try amateur radio. There is nowhere in the continental US > >that one can't access a 2 meter repeater if you have some elevation... > > >The iridium phone is about $1000 dollars, and the time is very > >expensive! > > > >Check out a 2 meter Handi Talki Ham radio like the Alinco DJ191T at... > > Thanks Alex and Tony. That unit looks good, but I was led to believe > that there are still areas where a signal might not get picked up. > Is that true? For me it's worth it to always be reasonably assured > of directly calling or receiving from anyone in the world. > > Iridium is a new service. They won't even have any competition > until sometime next year. My first cellular phone was so big it > wouldn't have fit on my klr and cost over $1000. Iridium is > comparable in size to todays cell phones, but I expect to see a > similar pricing curve for these hybrids and their service charges. > > Then again I've grown to hate getting calls on the road. > Maybe I'll have to consider hammin' it up. > > Redondo Ron (coming through the ether) ------------------------------ End of klr650-digest V1 #336 ****************************