From: owner-klr650-digest@lists.xmission.com (klr650-digest) To: klr650-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: klr650-digest V2 #723 Reply-To: klr650 Sender: owner-klr650-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-klr650-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk klr650-digest Monday, August 16 1999 Volume 02 : Number 723 Re: (klr650) What ever happened to......? (klr650) Dual Star problems Re: (klr650) Extra Lights, extra amps? (klr650) Acerbis brake rotor guard - why? Re: (klr650) Dual Star problems Re: (klr650) Dual Star problems Re: (klr650) Acerbis brake rotor guard - why? Re: (klr650) Dual Star problems Re: (klr650) Dual Star problems Re: (klr650) Acerbis brake rotor guard - why? Re: (klr650) Dual Star problems ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 16 Aug 1999 19:34:31 -0500 From: "James Leach" Subject: Re: (klr650) What ever happened to......? He's relocated to San Antonio. I talked with him a few weeks ago when he got back from visiting family. He rode his KLR up to San Antonio, TX from Panama. The story of his trip was awesome and talking with him was great. I'd assume that he's still getting things together - I know he was looking for a house and he had some moving-in to do. Hopefully he'll be back online soon. James - -----Original Message----- From: Don Roger To: Klr650 Mail List (E-mail) Date: Monday, August 16, 1999 6:46 PM Subject: (klr650) What ever happened to......? I've been off the list for a while; and wondered if anyone knows the whereabouts of Juan Villarreal; a one-time frequent contributor to the list, who left Panama to head for a posting in Texas. Juan - are you out there man? Anybody....? Visit the KLR650 archives at http://www.listquest.com/lq/search.html?ln=klr650 Subscribe to Dual Sport News...write to Editor@dualsport.org for info. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Aug 1999 17:49:34 -0700 From: Bill Bollenbacher Subject: (klr650) Dual Star problems I just got off the phone with Mike at Dual Star trying to find out what happened to my center stand that I ordered via Baja Designs last April. He was pretty upset that I was bothering him with my questions. Have others had trouble dealing with him? I placed the order for the center stand thru Baja Designs because they are giving me a 15% discount on my orders and because I plan on having them do other work for me and want to develop a good relationship with the shop (sound familiar?). I've called Dual Star over the last 4 months trying to get an idea when the stand might be shipped and was told many dates for expected shipment, but only last week was told it had gone out 8/6. When Baja Designs didn't get it I called Dual Star last Friday and was told by Kari that she would try to track it and call me back, but I never was told what had happened. Today I called Dual Star and got Mike. He seemed pretty angry about my calling and told me to deal with Baja Designs; that he was tired of my bothering Dual Star with something that Baja Designs was ordering. He gave me a UPS tracking # which doesn't work (the UPS person I got on their 800 number said she had never seen one like it) and Baja Designs has no idea where it is. I've been told by others that this is typical of Dual Star and in particular Mike. Anyone else have this experience with these folks? wc Bill Bollenbacher 619-677-0362 x104 Prisa Networks 619-677-9099 fax wcb@prisa.com www.prisa.com No witty quote comes to mind. (unknown) Visit the KLR650 archives at http://www.listquest.com/lq/search.html?ln=klr650 Subscribe to Dual Sport News...write to Editor@dualsport.org for info. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Aug 1999 18:57:28 PDT From: "James Chan" Subject: Re: (klr650) Extra Lights, extra amps? Dear Vik and Jeff, Thanks a lot for your thoughts, as they say, back to the drawing board... Cheers... JC ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com Visit the KLR650 archives at http://www.listquest.com/lq/search.html?ln=klr650 Subscribe to Dual Sport News...write to Editor@dualsport.org for info. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Aug 1999 22:26:12 -0700 From: "DobeMan" Subject: (klr650) Acerbis brake rotor guard - why? After looking at various pics of others bikes, I've seen more than a few that have the Acerbis front rotor guard on them. The obvious question is why? Is this to prevent something from attaching itself to the brakes or to prevent them from falling over damage or both? I'm more curious than anything. Thanks for the info! Karl Visit the KLR650 archives at http://www.listquest.com/lq/search.html?ln=klr650 Subscribe to Dual Sport News...write to Editor@dualsport.org for info. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Aug 1999 22:29:56 EDT From: MOTOBEEM@aol.com Subject: Re: (klr650) Dual Star problems In a message dated 8/16/99 8:51:34 PM Eastern Daylight Time, wcb@prisa.com writes: << I just got off the phone with Mike at Dual Star trying to find out what happened to my center stand that I ordered via Baja Designs last April. He was pretty upset that I was bothering him with my questions. Have others had trouble dealing with him? >> My experience with Mike has been basically positive. I received my center stand for my 99 KLR. It didn't work. I sent it back after talking with Mike. They figured out what they did wrong in their "slight redesign" and corrected it. The bad news it took about 3 months! Anyway they redid it and sent it back, I've installed it, and it works great. All of the ones ordered since May should be the redesigned ones. Mike was very pleasant with me on the phone and spent a lot of time telling me in detail what had happened. Richard Sanders Morgantown WV A13 Visit the KLR650 archives at http://www.listquest.com/lq/search.html?ln=klr650 Subscribe to Dual Sport News...write to Editor@dualsport.org for info. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Aug 1999 21:23:13 -0600 From: "Kurt Simpson" Subject: Re: (klr650) Dual Star problems >I just got off the phone with Mike at Dual Star trying to find out >what happened to my center stand that I ordered via Baja Designs >last April. He was pretty upset that I was bothering him with >my questions. Have others had trouble dealing with him? the list went through this pretty thoroughly about a year ago. The upshot is this. DualStar, Happy Trails, CycoActive, etc. are small outfits, while each is different, they are catering to a small market. In some cases they are bringing to market one-off products without comparison. If others do come with competition it may lead to even more problems with market share. DualStar has had difficulty in delivering product. Apparently Mike and Carrie have determined that their overhead is such that they just can't keep a supply of products on-hand. Earlier this year they announced that they were going to change and built products to have on-hand. Just about then, the Rider article hit and they were swamped with hundreds and hundreds of phone calls and email messages. They were swamped with orders. They have tried different remedies and I'm sure will continue to try others. Both are dedicated dual sport enthusiasts and have contributed in ways that few of us except people like Gino can truly understand. DualStar is their life...dual sporting is their passion. I for one can live with the upside and the downsides. If I were to order a centerstand from Mike I would hope it would arrive soon but if it didn't I would be content to wait knowing that it is a superbly designed product like everything the company builds. Finally, I would hazard a guess that if Mike was short it was because he is human and overwhelmed with the fatigue that Carrie and he face from their living on the edge but even more because he just lost his long-time riding buddy and best friend to a massive heart attack. He was less than 40 years old. With Mike's schedule I can't imagine that he has had the time to adequately grieve the loss... Kurt Visit the KLR650 archives at http://www.listquest.com/lq/search.html?ln=klr650 Subscribe to Dual Sport News...write to Editor@dualsport.org for info. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Aug 1999 00:01:11 EDT From: RUSIG1@aol.com Subject: Re: (klr650) Acerbis brake rotor guard - why? I put the guard on my bike to protect the disk from damage. My brother who has a new YZ400 had a rock hit his front disk bending it. I believe it was like 110 dollars to replace it. So the way I see it its cheap insurance against damage especially if you ride offroad a lot. I have no idea what a new disk would cost for a KLR but I am sure its not cheap. Dave Visit the KLR650 archives at http://www.listquest.com/lq/search.html?ln=klr650 Subscribe to Dual Sport News...write to Editor@dualsport.org for info. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Aug 1999 22:01:58 -0600 From: "Vik Banerjee" Subject: Re: (klr650) Dual Star problems - -----Original Message----- From: Kurt Simpson To: Bill Bollenbacher ; klr650@lists.xmission.com Date: Monday, August 16, 1999 9:24 PM Subject: Re: (klr650) Dual Star problems > > >>I just got off the phone with Mike at Dual Star trying to find out >>what happened to my center stand that I ordered via Baja Designs >>last April. He was pretty upset that I was bothering him with >>my questions. Have others had trouble dealing with him? > > >the list went through this pretty thoroughly about a year ago. The upshot is this. DualStar, Happy >Trails, CycoActive, etc. are small outfits, while each is different, they are catering to a small >market. In some cases they are bringing to market one-off products without comparison. If others do I agree largely with Kurt's view point on this issue. These are small companies and they face special challenges meeting the needs of a niche market. So I can live with having limited inventory or longer delivery times and higher costs than a similar product for a larger market. What I have a problem with is poor customer relations and I can't see any excuses for that regardless of the company size and market. I can accept that there may be production delays, but I can't accept a company not informing those customers who have paid for a product and expect it to be delivered in 4 weeks, that it will now be 8 weeks. If that customer has a trip in 6 weeks he needs to know early enough to make other plans. I also think competition would be really good for "us" the riders. If two guys are making quality centre stands and have to compete somebody will either come out with a better product or sell it cheaper or both. Ultimately I think what it comes down to is we need to respect the small companies making dualsport products and they need to respect their customers by keeping us informed about what is happening with our orders. Cheers, Vik Visit the KLR650 archives at http://www.listquest.com/lq/search.html?ln=klr650 Subscribe to Dual Sport News...write to Editor@dualsport.org for info. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Aug 1999 22:22:15 -0600 From: Mike Sonzini Subject: Re: (klr650) Dual Star problems > >I just got off the phone with Mike at Dual Star trying to find out > >what happened to my center stand that I ordered via Baja Designs > >last April. He was pretty upset that I was bothering him with > >my questions. Have others had trouble dealing with him? I kind of know the feeling of wanting to get a product from Dual-Star and not being able to. I've been waiting for one of the "Trickstand" products for about 3 years now. When I last talked to Mike in Moab last June, he said he was still working on the product, but wasn't going to release it until he felt it was at the point to where it worked like it should. As far as him maybe being a little upset, give him another chance. I first met Mike and Carrie 3-4 years ago at a dual sport event. He rode up on a friend of mine who broke down and in the process of starting major repairs on his bike, 50 miles from nowhere. Mike stopped, found the minor problem, fixed it, and helped reassemble the bike. He probably took 30-40 minutes to do so. Since then, I've been fortunate enough to bump into Mike and Carrie 1-2 times/year at different events. They have always been very generous with their time and products. I've seen them up late in the evening helping a rider with a broken bike so he could ride the next day (this was when everybody else was in bed). Myself and many others have Dual Star products that were donated as raffle prizes. I have the Dual Star catalog from 1997 on my desk. In it are some neat products, unfortunately, producing some of these items turned out to not be feasible. Fortunately for me, I have one-of samples of some of these. Mike and Carrie have a real dilemma on their hands. Do they spend all of their time in their office developing and shipping products or do they attend dual sport events and help promote the sport as well as their own products. Seems to be a very fine line somewhere in the middle that should be reached, but that is, in reality, very difficult to do. I need to order a couple of products from Dual Star. I'll hope to see them in the next week or two. If not, I'll just patiently wait. I've survived this long without them and there isn't anybody else out there that wants to make them for me. Mike Visit the KLR650 archives at http://www.listquest.com/lq/search.html?ln=klr650 Subscribe to Dual Sport News...write to Editor@dualsport.org for info. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Aug 1999 11:14:09 -0500 From: "=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Carlos_Y._Gonz=E1lez?=" Subject: Re: (klr650) Acerbis brake rotor guard - why? - ---------- > I put the guard on my bike to protect the disk from damage. My brother who > has a new YZ400 had a rock hit his front disk bending it. I believe it was > like 110 dollars to replace it. So the way I see it its cheap insurance > against damage especially if you ride offroad a lot. I have no idea what a > new disk would cost for a KLR but I am sure its not cheap. Dave > I know the rear rotor costs around 160 bucks from Kawasaki. I had to order one today because my current rotor, with 26,000 miles, seems to be warped as the rear brake pulsates badly under braking. Anybody else have problems with warping rotors? Carlos Visit the KLR650 archives at http://www.listquest.com/lq/search.html?ln=klr650 Subscribe to Dual Sport News...write to Editor@dualsport.org for info. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Aug 1999 00:23:03 -0400 From: "Rob Tayloe" Subject: Re: (klr650) Dual Star problems I ordered a center stand and muffler guard from Dual Star shortly after the article in Rider. At the time of the order, I was informed of the backlog and given an approximate time of delivery. The muffler guard arrived first and was of good quality. Subsequently I called Mike at Dual Star concerning my center stand order status. He was always helpful and let me know how things were progressing. My credit card was not charged until the product was shipped. The center stand arrived in the time period expected. After installing the center stand, I couldn't heft the bike up. I was using the left hand on the handlebar and right hand on rear passenger grip. Couldn't get the bike up. I called Mike and asked if I needed to eat my Wheaties or was there some trick. There is a trick. Mike said that you have to put your left hand on the front edge of the fuel tank and right on the passenger grip. Using the right foot on the center stand and a little body english, the bike lifted right up. Since the front edge of the fuel tank is not designed as a grip and is a bit painful on an ungloved hand, I glued a short length of 1/4-inch fuel line, slit lengthwise, on the front of the tank. Thus I now have a bit of a grip for getting the bike on the center stand. I'm well pleased with the center stand and feel that it was worth the wait and cost. Ride Safely, Rob Tayloe mailto:nukemoto@earthlink.net Columbus, Ohio - ----- Original Message ----- From: Bill Bollenbacher To: Sent: Monday, August 16, 1999 8:49 PM Subject: (klr650) Dual Star problems > I just got off the phone with Mike at Dual Star trying to find out > what happened to my center stand that I ordered via Baja Designs > last April. He was pretty upset that I was bothering him with > my questions. Have others had trouble dealing with him? > > I placed the order for the center stand thru Baja Designs because > they are giving me a 15% discount on my orders and because I plan > on having them do other work for me and want to develop a good > relationship with the shop (sound familiar?). > > I've called Dual Star over the last 4 months trying to get an > idea when the stand might be shipped and was told many dates for > expected shipment, but only last week was told it had gone out > 8/6. When Baja Designs didn't get it I called Dual Star last Friday > and was told by Kari that she would try to track it and call me > back, but I never was told what had happened. > > Today I called Dual Star and got Mike. He seemed pretty angry about > my calling and told me to deal with Baja Designs; that he was tired > of my bothering Dual Star with something that Baja Designs was > ordering. He gave me a UPS tracking # which doesn't work (the UPS > person I got on their 800 number said she had never seen one like it) > and Baja Designs has no idea where it is. > > I've been told by others that this is typical of Dual Star and in > particular Mike. Anyone else have this experience with these folks? > > > wc > > Bill Bollenbacher 619-677-0362 x104 > Prisa Networks 619-677-9099 fax > wcb@prisa.com www.prisa.com > > No witty quote comes to mind. (unknown) > > Visit the KLR650 archives at http://www.listquest.com/lq/search.html?ln=klr650 > Subscribe to Dual Sport News...write to Editor@dualsport.org for > info. > Visit the KLR650 archives at http://www.listquest.com/lq/search.html?ln=klr650 Subscribe to Dual Sport News...write to Editor@dualsport.org for info. ------------------------------ End of klr650-digest V2 #723 ****************************