is there any other anything that has out lasted the klr?

[Eric L. Green]

On Sun, 19 Jun 2005, will gilmore wrote:

> Sorry to re-visit old topics but just how do you get rid of the front- > end wobble when behind a semi-truck at 70 mph? And will it be made > worse putting-on the taller windshield?

* Check your front tire pressure -- the higher the pressure, the smaller the contact patch becomes and the lighter the steering becomes, and the more likely you'll wobble. Stock pressure works fine in the front tire, generally. * Check your spring sag front and rear. My front end started wobbling because my front end started sagging. Adding some preload to the front end verified that this was the cause, and then I bought new springs. * Check the steering head bearing tension. If there's no drag at all,. tighten it up until it's just barely dragging. Note: You can get to the adjuster with standard channel-loks (no special tool required) if you slide the top triple tree upwards (have your bike up on a lift or stand, of course!). * Check your torques on all bolts related to the front end. * Balance your front tire. It's really easy, you can do it using the wheel's own bearings and axle and KLR's own forks, just remove the brake caliper and the speedo gear first. If you don't happen to have stick-on weights handy, pennies stuck on with duct tape can serve as a *temporary* expedient. You can also re-use the old stick-on weights, using 3M foam backed double-sided exterior tape (the real stuff, not some substitute) which seems to be the same rugged stuff on the weights to begin with, but do top with duct tape in that case to make sure your weights don't turn into bullets at highway speeds. * ADJUST YOUR EXPECTATIONS -- AND YOUR GRIP. In the turbulence behind a truck, in order to keep going straight, the front end of a KLR is going to have to hunt around like a pointer at a dove farm. Just plain physics, I discussed the physics of how a motorcycle responds to wind sometime earlier and the basic gist is that a well-set-up KLR will do the right thing without you having to wrassle it into submission. Let the KLR hunt for the straight line, add input only if the KLR is starting to drift in its lane, and add only a normal amount of input for that case. Best bet: Back off from behind the truck. Not only will there be less turbulence, but there will also be less chance of being struck by a rock or some other object thrown up by the truck's back tires. -E

[Michael Silverstein]

The Yamaha VMax was introduced in 1985. It is still for sale today, largely unchanged. Mike A18

> -----Original Message----- > From: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com > [mailto:DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of J Fortner > Sent: Sunday, June 19, 2005 10:15 AM > To: Chris > Cc: KLR 650 LIST > Subject: Re: [DSN_KLR650] Is there any other anything that > has out lasted the KLR? > > > Kawasaki Concours is pretty much the same and has about the > same amount of time on origional design as the KLR. Kawasaki > likes to get their money out of the tooling. > > On 6/19/05, Chris wrote: > > The CB750 Nighthawk, though I think it has even had more > changes than > > the KLR. >

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