Wilsons Sandbox

At 6:31 AM +0000 6/1/2000, cehighli@... wrote:

>I have noticed on my 88 KLR as well as others that the head pipe >has a tendency to discolor over time. I've tried repainting with >a variety of high temp paints without much success. The pipe >apparently is a stainless steel unit, which is beyond me why >Kawasaki would paint this. It should be like the KLX pipe, >unpainted SS. Is there any way to fix this problem? Would a >KLX head pipe fit?

Is this bike a showpiece or a dualsport? I personally wouldn't sweat it, but I think that stripping the remaining paint and polishing it would be a cheap, easy and effective solution. Mark B2 A2

> Dear, dear List, > Removing the upper bracket of the coolant reserve tank, I have managed

to

> strip the threads in the frame mounting hole. There seems to have been

lots

> of upwards pressure on the bracket, because as I was removing the bolt

with a

> socket wrench, it didn't come out straight, but rather at an upwards angle

(I

> thought that the removal torque required was a bit high, and it was

getting

> dark, so I didn't see the impending doom). > I think that I could bend the bracket downwards to realign with the > mounting hole for reassembly, but what to do with the stripped threads in

the

> frame? > Distraught in Colorado, > Eric

All is not lost. Determine what size (metric standard) the bolt is, then purchase a tap of the same size and possibly the next larger size, along with a new bolt. Try to clean up the threads of the hole with the tap, using plenty of oil or liquid wrench cutting fluid on the tap. If the threads are too far gone to accept the replacement bolt of the same size, then sigh deeply and use the tap that is the next larger size, remembering to turn a 1/4 at a time, back off to remove the metal chips and use plenty of oil. Then just use the next larger size bolt. Jeff