mcn reviewing '08 klr

[Jeff Saline]

On Wed, 02 May 2007 14:51:36 -0000 "Yan" writes:

> Thanks! I actually went to the garage this morning to see the setup > and touched the locking nut of the steering head. Guess what, it > was > so loose it just moved! I will adjust the steering head bearings > tonight and will see, hopefully the play in the front axle is > nothing, > I can't believe both the steering head and the wheel bearings gone > bad, unless one problem caused the other.

<><><><><><><><><> <><><><><><><><><> Yan, I sure hope this goes well for you. I suspect that you may have damaged the steering head bearings since you've had the pounding going on for a few months. You can try to adjust them but you may have some notchy spots in the movement. If you do they'll probably need replacing. When you adjust the steering head bearings with the front end off the ground the wheel should just fall to one side or the other. If it flops over it's too loose and if it takes effort/help to get it to fall to the side it's too tight. Too loose will allow steering head shake around 30-40 mph when decelerating with only a light or no grip on the bars. Too tight will cause weaving as you have to work to apply useful steering corrections. Martin's advice to lube the steering head bearings while you're messing with them seems spot on to me. It will add a bit of time to the job but you probably won't have to mess with it again for a long time. Best, Jeff Saline ABC # 4412 South Dakota Airmarshal Airheads Beemer Club www.airheads.org The Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota 75 R90/6, 03 KLR650, 79 R100RT

[a14@att.net]

Just to add to what Jeff said if you do what he recommends and it feels good the bearings are most likely good. If you cannot get the adjustment right without it feeling right then the bearings could be bad or contaminated. Walt -------------- Original message from Jeff Saline : -------------- On Wed, 02 May 2007 14:51:36 -0000 "Yan" writes:

> > Thanks! I actually went to the garage this morning to see the setup > > and touched the locking nut of the steering head. Guess what, it > > was > > so loose it just moved! I will adjust the steering head bearings > > tonight and will see, hopefully the play in the front axle is > > nothing, > > I can't believe both the steering head and the wheel bearings gone > > bad, unless one problem caused the other. > <><><><><><><><><> > <><><><><><><><><> > > Yan, > > I sure hope this goes well for you. I suspect that you may have damaged > the steering head bearings since you've had the pounding going on for a > few months. You can try to adjust them but you may have some notchy > spots in the movement. If you do they'll probably need replacing. > > When you adjust the steering head bearings with the front end off the > ground the wheel should just fall to one side or the other. If it flops > over it's too loose and if it takes effort/help to get it to fall to the > side it's too tight. > > Too loose will allow steering head shake around 30-40 mph when > decelerating with only a light or no grip on the bars. Too tight will > cause weaving as you have to work to apply useful steering corrections. > > Martin's advice to lube the steering head bearings while you're messing > with them seems spot on to me. It will add a bit of time to the job but > you probably won't have to mess with it again for a long time. > > Best, > > Jeff Saline > ABC # 4412 South Dakota Airmarshal > Airheads Beemer Club www.airheads.org > The Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota > 75 R90/6, 03 KLR650, 79 R100RT >

[Yan Vinogradov]

Thanks Walt!

On 5/2/07, a14@... wrote: > Just to add to what Jeff said if you do what he recommends and it feels > good the bearings are most likely good. If you cannot get the > adjustment right without it feeling right then the bearings could be bad > or contaminated. > > Walt > > > -------------- Original message from Jeff Saline : -------------- > On Wed, 02 May 2007 14:51:36 -0000 "Yan" writes: > > > Thanks! I actually went to the garage this morning to see the setup > > > and touched the locking nut of the steering head. Guess what, it > > > was > > > so loose it just moved! I will adjust the steering head bearings > > > tonight and will see, hopefully the play in the front axle is > > > nothing, > > > I can't believe both the steering head and the wheel bearings gone > > > bad, unless one problem caused the other. > > <><><><><><><><><> > > <><><><><><><><><> > > > > Yan, > > > > I sure hope this goes well for you. I suspect that you may have damaged > > the steering head bearings since you've had the pounding going on for a > > few months. You can try to adjust them but you may have some notchy > > spots in the movement. If you do they'll probably need replacing. > > > > When you adjust the steering head bearings with the front end off the > > ground the wheel should just fall to one side or the other. If it flops > > over it's too loose and if it takes effort/help to get it to fall to the > > side it's too tight. > > > > Too loose will allow steering head shake around 30-40 mph when > > decelerating with only a light or no grip on the bars. Too tight will > > cause weaving as you have to work to apply useful steering corrections. > > > > Martin's advice to lube the steering head bearings while you're messing > > with them seems spot on to me. It will add a bit of time to the job but > > you probably won't have to mess with it again for a long time. > > > > Best, > > > > Jeff Saline > > ABC # 4412 South Dakota Airmarshal > > Airheads Beemer Club www.airheads.org > > The Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota > > 75 R90/6, 03 KLR650, 79 R100RT > > >

[Yan]

Thanks everybody! Tightened the adjustment screw with a screwdriver and a hammer. No knocking any more. One problem - I might have overtightened the nut - the one on top. Didn't notice the click of the torque wrench in all the excitement. Do you think it can be a problem or it's fine? Thanks.

[James W. Flower]

Hi all- I just got an email from Franke Santos, Associate Editor at Motorcycle Consumer News. He says the July issue will contain a review of the 2008 KLR. Should be very informative. --James of Humboldt [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Jeff Saline]

On Wed, 02 May 2007 17:37:26 -0000 "Yan" writes:

> Thanks everybody! Tightened the adjustment screw with a screwdriver > and a hammer. No knocking any more. One problem - I might have > overtightened the nut - the one on top. Didn't notice the click of > the > torque wrench in all the excitement. Do you think it can be a > problem > or it's fine? Thanks.

<><><><><><><><><> <><><><><><><><><> Yan, You'll probably be ok as long as you didn't grossly exceed the torque requirements. But this is a great example of how attention to detail is important on even simple tasks. Hopefully others will learn from your steering head bearing exploits and correct issues with their bikes when they first show up. My bike makes some strange noises and I don't worry about them. What I check out is when new noises show up or the regular noises go away. Then I investigate right away. Best, Jeff Saline ABC # 4412 South Dakota Airmarshal Airheads Beemer Club www.airheads.org The Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota 75 R90/6, 03 KLR650, 79 R100RT

[Yan Vinogradov]

Thanks Jeff, I think I will loosen the nut and torque it to the spec. The only question I have is whether that can be done with the wheel on and the bike on the kickstand or I have to actually put it on the jack and take the front wheel off? Thanks again, Yan

[Jeff Saline]

On Wed, 2 May 2007 15:48:45 -0400 "Yan Vinogradov" writes:

> Thanks Jeff, > > I think I will loosen the nut and torque it to the spec. The only > question I have is whether that can be done with the wheel on and > the > bike on the kickstand or I have to actually put it on the jack and > take the front wheel off? > > Thanks again, > Yan

<><><><><><><> <><><><><><><> Yan, You can do it with the wheel on the ground and the bike on the side stand. All you are doing is securing the adjustment that you made to the bearings by locking the "slotted" adjustment nut in place. Best, Jeff Saline ABC # 4412 South Dakota Airmarshal Airheads Beemer Club www.airheads.org The Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota 75 R90/6, 03 KLR650, 79 R100RT