klr650 :exhaust

[Arden Kysely]

Bob, It's been awhile since I put D606's on a KLR, but those on my DR-Z400 howl. It's unavoidable with a good knob. Even some 50/50 tires, like IRC GP-110s, put out some good sound. Got earplugs? One tire with tread similar to your KLX250's D603's is the Maxxis M6006. I haven't tried them, maybe someone else has... __Arden

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, LDHunter wrote: > > KLRistas, > > > > One more question and I'll quit plaguing y'all with dumb questions.... > > > > > Do the Dunlop 606's howl? The rear D603 on my KLX was "howling" at 50mph and > above, and that's why I bought the TKC-80's. I found it very uncomfortable > to add that howl to the wind turbulence that was already driving me crazy... > > > > > Yeah, yeah, yeah.... I know... I want my cake and eat it too... > > > > $bob$ > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] >

[Robert Waters]

Jeff Saline wrote:

>Have you checked all the front end fasteners to make sure nothing is

loose? If you have I'd go with a possible steering head bearing, rear shock preload or improper tire inflation pressure as possible causes. >

> I've used K270s exclusively for the last 23,800+ miles without issues. >

Jeff, I don't thank any of us have had an issue on this except when we exceed the safe speed and on certain terain. Do you always drive reasonable? A while back I reported on this list having a dangerour wobble when I was passing a car going down hill on pavement that was a bit rough--perhaps even grooved. I believe I hit 80mph. The wobble was pretty scary. At any rate, I tightend up the out side steering nut in the handle bars (it was finger loose) and thought it helped, but perhaps not. Yesterday I went over a hump and dip at about 60mph and got a little air. When landing the front tire did a little wobble. Is this telling me that I need to put some air in the shocks? I have none in the front. How much do I need to add? I don't know anything about how to add "preload" to the rear. Can you, or anyone, help? Robert Waters Huntsville, AR [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Jeff Saline]

On Mon, 1 Sep 2008 02:16:56 -0700 (PDT) Robert Waters writes:

> Jeff, > I don't thank any of us have had an issue on this except when we > exceed the safe speed and on certain terain. Do you always drive > reasonable? > > A while back I reported on this list having a dangerour wobble when > I was passing a car going down hill on pavement that was a bit > rough--perhaps even grooved. I believe I hit 80mph. The wobble was > pretty scary. At any rate, I tightend up the out side steering nut > in the handle bars (it was finger loose) and thought it helped, but > perhaps not. Yesterday I went over a hump and dip at about 60mph > and got a little air. When landing the front tire did a little > wobble. Is this telling me that I need to put some air in the > shocks? I have none in the front. How much do I need to add? I > don't know anything about how to add "preload" to the rear. Can > you, or anyone, help? > > Robert Waters > Huntsville, AR

<><><><><><><><><><><><><> <><><><><><><><><><><><><> Robert, I do try to always ride reasonable. Now don't get me wrong here. I think reasonable and the speed limit are often two different speeds. But I try really hard to not endanger myself or other road users. In off pavement situations I usually don't ride faster than I'm willing to fall off. On pavement I really pay attention to the feedback I receive from the bike. I like the Kenda K270s as I consider them a throttle limiting device on my bike. But they don't limit me very much. : ) Please remember my KLR is geared about 15% lower than the stock KLR gearing and my comfortable speed for hills riding is usually between 50 and 65 mph actual. Yesterday I missed a turkey at head height that was about 10 feet in front of my bike. I was slowed to about 20 mph when it decided to fly across the road in front of me. For your suspension question... I am still running a stock suspension system. I have cleaned my fork guts and replaced the oil with 10 weight BelRay fork oil. I'm on my 2nd stock rear shock and will probably install another one this winter. I seem to only get about 15,000 smiles from a rear shock before they seem played out. I don't run any air pressure over ambient in my forks. I've heard of guys running up to 20 psi in the forks and liking it. For those with an 08 you don't have valves to add air. On the pre 08s the valves are on the top of the fork caps. Just add air as you'd like and adjust. I don't but you do what you want. On the rear suspension if it's stock you have two adjustments. Preload is on the left side of the shock and looks like a 12mm bolt head. Turn it clockwise to adjust. There are 5 settings. One is lowest and 5 is highest. This is the compression of the spring. For rebound damping the adjustment is on the right side of the bike (shock) at the bottom. Remove the plastic cover on the bottom of the shock (it pulls off easily with your fingers). Then turn the wheel in only one direction. It has four settings. I is the lowest and IV is the highest. I weigh in around 180 lbs with my gear. I probably have another 20 lbs of gear I carry on the bike. I run preload at 3 on a new shock (I need to remember to turn it up on my worn shock) and III on the rebound damping. Hope this is helpful. 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 ____________________________________________________________ Free quote and debt consolidation information. Click Here. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/Ioyw6i3m2Xh9IWCbxzPlFBOR2rOf2hsUk1LPat0Jnf0ueJ2zfG5QSQ/

[Greg May]

Good morning Robert, just my opinion but by your description of your wobbles I think you are talking about two different types of wobbles...not sure if that is the proper way to word it or not. I see that you checked your steering head bearings, the other things I would look at if I thought it was a mechanical issue would in the following order, swingarm bearings, make sure that the front and rear wheels were aligned and lastly the wheel bearings. Something else that used to be an issue years ago when spoked wheels were the norm was loose spokes, but I've never seen that mentioned in any posts so I would guess this isn't a KLR problem. The latest issue you mention is probably nothing to be concerned about from a bike point of view assuming you've checked the stuff above, again just my opinion. If you manage to to get air and the front wheel isn't exactly straight when it touches down it will mostly shake the bars once or twice especially if you carried the the front end long enough for the wheel to slow down any amount. If you're getting air at 60 mph on a KLR you're riding pretty aggressive on what must be some pretty rough going, I run some pretty fast and in places rough mostly gravel roads at speeds between about 60kph and 130kph and while I've G'd out the suspension I can't say other then getting pretty light I've ever carried the front wheel any real distance. From my experience I've never found the KLR prone to wobble, I will say that I find that depending on the circumstance it can be less stable at the same speed. For example at 120 kph on a secondary road with less then smooth pavement but with a good lining of trees down both sides to block the side winds it feels stable and well planted, but at the same speed on a 4 lane divided highway with side winds and cars and trucks all around me it feels like it is moving around quite a bit. The fact that the KLR is susceptible to wind buffeting is well documented but everytime I go on a major highway I still notice how much different the bike reacts at the same speed just because there is more air disturbance around me. For myself 've noticed a major improvement to stability and control after I installed the Progressive front springs and 10w oil. Maybe you've already installed these or some of the other aftermarket springs, if not they are well worth the money, much better feel and for sure when you are braking much much less front end dive. The bike is set up with 3 inches of sag on both ends and I weigh about 210. Yesterday I was out playing on some pretty much deserted back roads, pretty crappy pavement in most places and the bike felt perfectly planted even during braking from 130kph to as slow as maybe 50kph quite often downhill, my highest indicated speed after i got home as measured on my GPS was 90mph and if it was where I'm pretty sure it was it was followed by braking down to about 80kph for a corner, pardon the mix of kph and mph but my spedo reads in kph and my GPS reads in mph. I'm pretty sure of the speds because I travel this route fairly often because there is no traffic and very little access from driveways. I'm not sure how the 270's effect stability as I haven't tried them yet, I do run Kenda 761's which I'm pretty happy with. I did run the OEM Dunlops and some Cheng Shien's before the 761's and while they did squirm more on road and perform better off road I haven't found any of the tires I tried so far to cause the bike to wobble. For comparison I run 32psi front and rear in all the tires I have tried, wear and handling have been what I expected so honestly I've been too lazy to experiment...Post is getting long so hope this is of some use have a great day...Greg

--- On Mon, 9/1/08, Robert Waters wrote: From: Robert Waters Subject: [DSN_KLR650] Re: GAK!!! Head Shake? Wobbles? New Tire Issue!!! To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com Received: Monday, September 1, 2008, 6:16 AM Jeff Saline wrote: >Have you checked all the front end fasteners to make sure nothing is loose? If you have I'd go with a possible steering head bearing, rear shock preload or improper tire inflation pressure as possible causes. > > I've used K270s exclusively for the last 23,800+ miles without issues. > Jeff, I don't thank any of us have had an issue on this except when we exceed the safe speed and on certain terain. Do you always drive reasonable? A while back I reported on this list having a dangerour wobble when I was passing a car going down hill on pavement that was a bit rough--perhaps even grooved. I believe I hit 80mph. The wobble was pretty scary. At any rate, I tightend up the out side steering nut in the handle bars (it was finger loose) and thought it helped, but perhaps not. Yesterday I went over a hump and dip at about 60mph and got a little air. When landing the front tire did a little wobble. Is this telling me that I need to put some air in the shocks? I have none in the front. How much do I need to add? I don't know anything about how to add "preload" to the rear. Can you, or anyone, help? Robert Waters Huntsville, AR [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] __________________________________________________________________ Instant Messaging, free SMS, sharing photos and more... Try the new Yahoo! Canada Messenger at http://ca.beta.messenger.yahoo.com/ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Jim Douglas]

Greg May wrote:

> > > Good morning Robert, just my opinion but by your description of your > wobbles I think you are talking about two different types of > wobbles...not sure if that is the proper way to word it or not. I see > that you checked your steering head bearings, the other things I would > look at if I thought it was a mechanical issue would in the following > order, swingarm bearings, make sure that the front and rear wheels > were aligned and lastly the wheel bearings. Something else that used > to be an issue years ago when spoked wheels were the norm was loose > spokes, but I've never seen that mentioned in any posts so I would > guess this isn't a KLR problem. > The latest issue you mention is probably nothing to be concerned > about from a bike point of view assuming you've checked the stuff > above, again just my opinion. If you manage to to get air and the > front wheel isn't exactly straight when it touches down it will mostly > shake the bars once or twice especially if you carried the the front > end long enough for the wheel to slow down any amount. If you're > getting air at 60 mph on a KLR you're riding pretty aggressive on what > must be some pretty rough going, I run some pretty fast and in places > rough mostly gravel roads at speeds between about 60kph and 130kph and > while I've G'd out the suspension I can't say other then getting > pretty light I've ever carried the front wheel any real distance. > From my experience I've never found the KLR prone to wobble, I will > say that I find that depending on the circumstance it can be less > stable at the same speed. For example at 120 kph on a secondary road > with less then smooth pavement but with a good lining of trees down > both sides to block the side winds it feels stable and well planted, > but at the same speed on a 4 lane divided highway with side winds and > cars and trucks all around me it feels like it is moving around quite > a bit. The fact that the KLR is susceptible to wind buffeting is well > documented but everytime I go on a major highway I still notice how > much different the bike reacts at the same speed just because there is > more air disturbance around me. > For myself 've noticed a major improvement to stability and control > after I installed the Progressive front springs and 10w oil. Maybe > you've already installed these or some of the other aftermarket > springs, if not they are well worth the money, much better feel and > for sure when you are braking much much less front end dive. The bike > is set up with 3 inches of sag on both ends and I weigh about 210. > Yesterday I was out playing on some pretty much deserted back > roads, pretty crappy pavement in most places and the bike felt > perfectly planted even during braking from 130kph to as slow as maybe > 50kph quite often downhill, my highest indicated speed after i got > home as measured on my GPS was 90mph and if it was where I'm pretty > sure it was it was followed by braking down to about 80kph for a > corner, pardon the mix of kph and mph but my spedo reads in kph and my > GPS reads in mph. I'm pretty sure of the speds because I travel this > route fairly often because there is no traffic and very little access > from driveways. > I'm not sure how the 270's effect stability as I haven't tried them > yet, I do run Kenda 761's which I'm pretty happy with. I did run the > OEM Dunlops and some Cheng Shien's before the 761's and while they did > squirm more on road and perform better off road I haven't found any of > the tires I tried so far to cause the bike to wobble. For comparison I > run 32psi front and rear in all the tires I have tried, wear and > handling have been what I expected so honestly I've been too lazy to > experiment...Post is getting long so hope this is of some use have a > great day...Greg > > > --- On Mon, 9/1/08, Robert Waters > wrote: > > From: Robert Waters > > Subject: [DSN_KLR650] Re: GAK!!! Head Shake? Wobbles? New Tire Issue!!! > To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com > Received: Monday, September 1, 2008, 6:16 AM > > Jeff Saline wrote: > >Have you checked all the front end fasteners to make sure nothing is > loose? If you have I'd go with a possible steering head bearing, rear > shock > preload or improper tire inflation pressure as possible causes. > > > > I've used K270s exclusively for the last 23,800+ miles without issues. > > > Jeff, > I don't thank any of us have had an issue on this except when we > exceed the safe speed and on certain terain. Do you always drive > reasonable? > > A while back I reported on this list having a dangerour wobble when I > was passing a car going down hill on pavement that was a bit > rough--perhaps even grooved. I believe I hit 80mph. The wobble was > pretty scary. At any rate, I tightend up the out side steering nut in > the handle bars (it was finger loose) and thought it helped, but > perhaps not. Yesterday I went over a hump and dip at about 60mph and > got a little air. When landing the front tire did a little wobble. > Is this telling me that I need to put some air in the shocks? I have > none in the front. How much do I need to add? I don't know anything > about how to add "preload" to the rear. Can you, or anyone, help? > > Robert Waters > Huntsville, AR > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > __________________________________________________________ > Instant Messaging, free SMS, sharing photos and more... Try the new > Yahoo! Canada Messenger at http://ca.beta.messenger.yahoo.com/ > http://ca.beta.messenger.yahoo.com/> > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > >

My #2 KLR was nick named wobbly bitch! Actually wobbly bitch at high speed but most of the time just wobbly bitch!

[dooden]

Wow this thread took on a new life. Adding air to forks, is done on top of the tubes, but, do not just hook up a aircompressor and add air. Simple way, remove caps, lift bike as high as you can, using the kickstand to get forks as long as you can, then push the valve centers, on both forks to allow the air to equal out with outside air. When the forks are back down to normal position, that little bit of travel will increase pressure in the tube. Dealer added 10 psi to each fork, when I dropped my bike off long ago, when I had steering bearing issues right after delivery, and even told me that it should improve the ride, believe sticker the back of my forks say to add air, but until recently did'nt have a accurate (read as trustable) Low pressure gauge, so I went low tech by adjusting for the ride I want. Rear preload is adjusted at the rear shock, look at shock from the shifter side of the bike, you can see a bolt at the top of the shock, 12mm I think, it turns CLOCKWISE only, and should be some lines with numbers on the shock body, turn bolt one click at a time till its where you want it, 1 is softer (little preload) 5 is stiffer (more preload) when it gets to 5 and you want back to 1, turn only clockwise, it will make a pretty good clunk going back to one. The bolt basically turns a cam at the top of the shock. Hope that helps some. Dooden A15 Green Ape --- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, Robert Waters wrote:

> > Jeff Saline wrote: > >Have you checked all the front end fasteners to make sure nothing

is

> loose? If you have I'd go with a possible steering head bearing,

rear shock

> preload or improper tire inflation pressure as possible causes. > > > > I've used K270s exclusively for the last 23,800+ miles without

issues. >

> > Jeff, > I don't thank any of us have had an issue on this except when we

exceed the safe speed and on certain terain. Do you always drive reasonable?

> > A while back I reported on this list having a dangerour wobble when

I was passing a car going down hill on pavement that was a bit rough-- perhaps even grooved. I believe I hit 80mph. The wobble was pretty scary. At any rate, I tightend up the out side steering nut in the handle bars (it was finger loose) and thought it helped, but perhaps not. Yesterday I went over a hump and dip at about 60mph and got a little air. When landing the front tire did a little wobble. Is this telling me that I need to put some air in the shocks? I have none in the front. How much do I need to add? I don't know anything about how to add "preload" to the rear. Can you, or anyone, help?

> > Robert Waters > Huntsville, AR > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] >

[smthng else]

On Tue, Sep 2, 2008 at 7:44 AM, Dooden wrote:

> Rear preload is adjusted at the rear shock, look at shock from the > shifter side of the bike, you can see a bolt at the top of the shock, > 12mm I think, it turns CLOCKWISE only, and should be some lines with > numbers on the shock body, turn bolt one click at a time till its > where you want it, 1 is softer (little preload) 5 is stiffer (more > preload) when it gets to 5 and you want back to 1, turn only > clockwise, it will make a pretty good clunk going back to one. > The bolt basically turns a cam at the top of the shock.

Just another two cents to toss in to this one and drag this thread a little more off course... It helps a lot if you can get the rear tire in the air. There have been a lot of reports of folks breaking this bolt (or the cam that it's attached to). Getting the weight off the suspension while you make the adjustment makes this a LOT easier on the mechanism. This applies to '08s as well. --Jonathan "smthng" Kalmes Springfield, VA 2005 Yamaha FJR1300ABS - "Blue Bayou" 2006 Jeep Unlimited Rubicon - "Teflon" 2008 Kawasaki KLR 650 - It's here, but it hasn't earned a name yet. http://smthng.info "If I'd known it was harmless, I would have killed it myself."

[Luc Legrain]

Just what I needed, Thanks.

--- On Sat, 9/20/08, Ed Dobson wrote: From: Ed Dobson Subject: [DSN_KLR650] Re: klr650 :exhaust To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com Date: Saturday, September 20, 2008, 12:37 PM --- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogro ups.com, Luc Legrain wrote: > > Hey Guys, > Where can I find a diagram or cut out of the stock exhaust on the 650 ? > I want to know what's inside before I tinker with it .. > Thanks I googled "KLR650 muffler cutaway" and found this at advrider: http://www.advrider .com/forums/ showthread. php?t=176286 http://www.ravensha dow.com/KLR650/ mods/index. html http://web.archive org/web/20031025 062037/http: //www.ravenshado w.com/KLR650/ mods/exhaust/ exhaust.html I also googled "KLR650 muffler cross-section" and didn't find anything. More exhaustive searching using other terms may turn up something else. ED [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]