help - thanks!!!

[Ralph E. Hanson]

Collective, You have proved that the internet can be a helpful and nice place. I got lots of suggestions, mostly with very similar advice on bump starting. Which was really appreciated because I had no doubt of the 'right' way to do it. At lunch time today I had a friend give me a push. It took three tries, and then it lit up. (The middle try was in first gear; I figured I would try it because I have the taller gearing.) But the second try with the second gear start worked. The hardest part was timing the clutch pull-in so that the engine would catch, then warm up. Rode it home without incident. Lessons learned -- *The tools in the toolkit work, but are crap. I'm buying some new ones! *It's a lot easier to put side panels back when it's daytime, you have good tools, and you aren't pissed off. *Always, always check to make sure you have not turned on the parking lights when you lock your fork! I'll investigate the battery in the next day or two and see what shape it's in. My wife votes for just buying a maintenance free battery, which I may do (I know, it doesn't protect against being an idiot and leaving the lights on, but it is one less thing to worry about.) Does anyone know if Sears has one for the KLR? The screw that holds on my battery cover is absolutely frozen and the phillips head screw is mostly stripped. Someone suggested a day or two ago using an impact driver to solve this problem. Would that be along the lines of an air tool? Or would it just be the hammer type? Thanks again to everyone for your help. My wife and mother-in-law were impressed with you all, and with the fact that I got help all the way from Croatia. Comments on vibes: Mr. T may be on to something with his analysis of mirror vibrartion. Larry Continuing on the vibration thing -- The vibration is not as bad as with my old Honda CL350. I have found that the 16 tooth sprocket helps with vibration a lot on the highway, though that's not the biggest reason I got it (more because I kept reaching for a higher gear that's not there). Ralph Ralph E. Hanson 99 KRL 650 http://www.wvu.edu/~journal2

[daleb@a-znet.com]

Hi folks, I bought a 2001 KLR 650 & 250. The smaller is for my daughter. My question is concerning the 250. Both bikes pinged very loudly UNTIL I filled the bikes up with 93 octane fuel. Then the 650 sounds fine, but the 250 STILL pings like crazy. My daughter rides it and says that it only pings when she lugs it down, but if I drive it on the road, the thing pings until I get it up around 3500rpm. It is draggin my sorry butt around at 250lbs, but should it still ping like that? The service manager says that is typical of that engine, but what is the consensus of the group here? Thanks for any help. Dale PS: both bike have 250 miles on them now, most are off road and easy.