[dsn_klr650] side panel melted, was "yikes!!!!"

[Jim Hyman]

I spoke with Steven van Twuyver tonight.  He's 4000+ miles into his trip to Alaska, and is experiencing 1st hand what adventure touring is all about.  His stock KLR charging system is working fine since he removed the Electrex stator/regulator/rectifier shortly after starting his trip.  As of tonight (friday) he is about 500 miles north of the Washington state border. Steven has encountered numerous rainy & snowy days, with temperatures near freezing.  Minor problems like blown fuses & no spark when your 50 - 100 miles from nowhere ( and the temperature is 36 degrees) give new meaning to the term 'shade tree mechanic'.  He traced the no spark problem to a wet ignition coil.  Traffic on the roads up north is few & far between, but he managed to help a BMW rider whose bike had no spark (dirty ignition points).

His most serious problem is with his new front brake pads.  One of the pads (EBC brand, he thinks) decided to shed its braking material.  With his heavily loaded KLR traveling on mile after mile of rough roads, he didn't notice the brake problem until only half of the pad's backing plate remained.  Needless to say, his front rotor doesn't look good on one side.  The other brake pad shows almost no wear.  There's something to be said for visually inspecting your bike daily before taking off, especially on a long trip in the boonies.  His major concern right now is the nonexistent front brake & meeting up with deer or other animals on the road. It's not easy to find replacement parts in the hinterlands.  Of course he'll hit Vancouver, B.C. on sunday & most Seattle m/c shops are closed on mondays.

I told him about the Swiftwater rally next week and he may detour through Idaho on his way home.

Hopefully Steven will provide us with a detailed trip description after he gets home.  We wish him well.

Professor    A9    Federal Way, WA. [USA]    

[Joe Percival]

I just took the bike and luggage in yesterday. The dealer said they are going to try to get luggage and panel replaced. We'll see what happens... I will post results when I get the bike back. BTW, on the way back I put the saddle bags as far forward as I could without interfering with my legs. In this position, the plastic panels actually stick out a little past the back end of the bags. I rode over 600 miles in one day 8 hours of which was over 100 deg. F. I had no further problems with melting or scourching. I suspect that this is how the bags are supposed to be mounted though nothing in the material from Kaw suggested that there might be a problem with other mounting positions. Joe -----Original Message----- From: D.J. Rogers [SMTP:djrogers@...] Sent: Saturday, August 19, 2000 8:29 AM To: DSN_klr650@egroups.com Subject: [DSN_klr650] Side Panel Melted, was "Yikes!!!!" Joe, I just got back from a 3 week trip, again, the right side panel was melted through and the Kawi bag was scorched. I opted for the peice of junk Kawi calls a guard to keep the bag away from the muffler, but of course it didn't work. Anyway, what I would like to know is if you got the bags replaced, as well as the side panel, under warranty. the "heat sheild" on my bag has a large peice of green plastic melted into it now. My view is that both items were damaged as a result of Kawi's poor design, even with the use of their guard. I was at Happy Trails a couple of days ago on my way through. I guess I should have bought the side racks, because I can see this is going to be a reoccurring problem. Cheers, D. GBG eh14 Visit the KLR650 archives at http://www.listquest.com/lq/search.html?ln=klr650 Support Dual Sport News... dsneditor@... Let's keep this list SPAM free! Visit our site at http://www.egroups.com/group/DSN_klr650 To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: DSN_klr650-unsubscribe@egroups.com