dr350 for my wife nklr

[Kurt Simpson]

> When I went to get the bike Saturday it stalled every time I came > to a stoplight, idiots didn't reset the idle . Get home my gilrfreind > asks , what is that wire hanging there? Idiots didn't plug the fan > back in, good thing it was only 97 with 110% humidity ! ERRRRRRRRRRR. > So fellow KLR enthusiasts please take a lesson from me. The > knowledge gained from doing your own mechanical work far out weighs > the supposed time/aggrevation saved.

We've seen this time and time again on the list over the past 2 1/2 years. One lister seemed angry with me when I reported that the list archives reveal about a 30 to 1 bad to good dealer experience. I still think it is about right... Kurt

[Chuck Tanner]

The problem I have run into with my New KLR is that there seems to be some provision to the Warranty that an authorized Kawasaki mechanic must perform (or as I have learned sign-off on) the 500 mile and further maintenance for the life of the Warranty for it to remain valid.  In the Owners Manual there are * next to the maintenance items that must be done by such a mechanic.  So if I want to keep my warranty valid I have no choice.   Warranty says:   You must take your KL650A14 to be maintained by incompetence at an authorized Kawasaki dealer.  You must like it and you must pay premium for this lack of service.       A side question:  What weight Moble 1 Oil do you use in the KLR (South East region of US) for those of you that use it?  Same as the Kawa 10w40?   Thanks,   Chuck A14

----- Original Message ----- [b]From:[/b] garyot@... [b]To:[/b] DSN_klr650@egroups.com [b]Sent:[/b] Monday, July 31, 2000 10:19 AM [b]Subject:[/b] [DSN_klr650] Re: do your own valves you lazy %$#@! But Mike,     Aren't you now,enjoying the peace of mind that comes with knowing that your bike was worked on by a "professional"?     Or are you wondering, what else did he botch up that just hasn't shown up yet.     About now, I would be rechecking the valves to be sure he did that right. Gary (Had way too many bad experiences with "mechanics") Ott 69 XLH 73 T140 74 FXE 82 GS1100EZ A6 --- In DSN_klr650@egroups.com, "Mike  Awesome" wrote: >SNIP      So fellow KLR enthusiasts please take a lesson from me. The > knowledge gained from doing your own mechanical work far out weighs > the supposed time/aggrevation saved. > > Mike more angry than Awesome > A1 (running hot now ) > 1995 CBR F3 > > p.s if ever in Central fla DO NOT use St Pete Kawasaki Visit the KLR650 archives at http://www.listquest.com/lq/search.html?ln=klr650 Support Dual Sport News... dsneditor@... Let's keep this list SPAM free! Visit our site at http://www.egroups.com/group/DSN_klr650 To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: DSN_klr650-unsubscribe@egroups.com

[Rich Kickbush]

Kurt Simpson wrote:

> We've seen this time and time again on the list over the past 2 1/2 years. > One lister seemed angry with me when I reported that the list archives > reveal about a 30 to 1 bad to good dealer experience. I still think it is > about right... > > Kurt >

It is a crappy ratio for sure. Seems to be the nature of the beast. However, there must be some dealers out there who are doing ok, or even a good job. If someone has a normal experience, ie bike problem, bike gets fixed in reasonable amount of time, no nasty returns, I guess they would feel no need to chew up the bandwidth by posting - its what you should be able to expect after all, right? Now I'm all for doing the work yourself, but there's times when you can't. No garage, or no time, and esp. on tour. The Beautiful Money Wasters have a site where you can log your various experiences with dealers - maybe this is what we need. I feel like a jerk suggesting this, since I don't have the time at the moment to do this myself, but if anyone felt so inclined... Check it out at... http://www.sanfransysco.com/pub/experience.html Rich

[racing43rd@aol.com]

I had the good fortune to find a dealer (Golan's Honda In Warren Ohio) with a competent service department around 1981. In fact they still have the same service manager they had then. I still do the majority of my own work on my Hondas and all the work on the other bikes. I'm on several other lists and this 30 to 1 ratio seems pretty much universal, actually with the listers from the UK it might even be higher. Ed Windsor Oh 1990 Honda Transalp 1990 Honda VTR250 1977 Yamaha XS750 1972 Triumph Bonneville 1985 Kawasaki454LTD 1979 Honda CX500 Coming soon KLR650

[zootpatutie]

My wife is taking an interest in the fun I'm having without her. She's not interested in starting out as heavy as the KLR though and would like to do more offroad with some onroad. Am looking at DR350's for her and am interested in whether they had particular years to avoid such as the problems heard about the pre 96 DR650's. Thanks, Todd A9

[PRBKLR@cs.com]

I just had a similar experience. Took my bike to a "local bikeshop", from which I had ordered a new rear tire (Bridgestone TW22 if anyone is interested - $92). I mentioned to the guy about how I had seen them on the web for half the price. He proceeded to go on about supporting your local bike shop, online parts may be inferior, and how he's seen a lot of problems with online tire purchases. He said he would stand behind anything I ordered through him. Hey, I'm all for supporting my local bike shop. It's convenient, and reasonably priced, and the guy seemed nice enough. I'd like to think if I had a small business I would be able to develop a local group of loyal customers. So fine, I get the tire mounted there, ride home and it's just as smooth as silk! They balanced it perfectly, cleaned, lubed and adjusted the chain, everything seemed to work fine. The next day I look at the back tire and lo and behold!!!!!! The knuckle heads mounted the tire backwards!!!!!!!! Good Grief!! I took the bike back to them and showed them the problem. The guy says "Well, I don't think it really matters..." I cut him off and said, "Look, they put these directional arrows on the tires for a reason I figure, so I think it does matter and I would like it put on correctly." He agreed and fixed the problem. It was an honest mistake, all be it a careless one. Makes me wonder about my "local bikeshop". Paul Dallas A13