Wilsons Sandbox

For what its worth, I just got back from a 4 day, 1200+ mile trip on my '89 KLR650. I went to a rally in McComb, MS from Knoxville, TN. We did the first 600 mile journey in one day and then split up the second into a McComb-Birmingham and Birmingham-Knoxville couple of days. We stopped at a new motorcycle-only campground called 29Dreams (www.29dreams.com) outside of Birmingham. Really nice place, fiendly, and the roads are actually hilly and twisty. Back to the post... The KLR had a few of the normal modifications to make it road-worthy: 16tooth front sprocket: Wish it was 17teeth. I was turning around 5000rpm at an indicated 80mph. It caused my gas mileage to go from the usual 50+mpg to 40mpg average. I was going on reserve right around 200 miles. 4" taller windscreen: major improvement once I angled the fairing back slightly to keep the windblast aimed at the top of my shoulders instead of into my facescreen. It was a lot quieter. It took some trial and error, but it was definately worth it. Seat Foam: I am cheap. I untacked the seat cover and put a 1/2" thick piece of higher density foam between the original foam and the pan. Much better. Still a little narrow for distance work, but better than bottoming your butt against the pan. Tires: I have Bridgestone Trailwings (18 & 19?). They actually don't show much wear and they have a decent off-road knob profile. I am more than satisfied. I have scraped pegs going through Deal's Gap on dry road, so the grip isn't too bad. Throttle Lock: I am cheap again. I took a piece of the wire you use to hang chainlink fence and stuck it through a piece of gasline and wrapped it around my throttle grip. When I want to rest my hand, I bend it against my barkbusters. Things to change: Wheelies: KLRs DO wheelie if you position your luggage far enough back. Makes on-ramps interesting. Think tankbags and tank panniers. Enough said. Chain&Sprocket: If you have a non-O-ring chain, you need a Scottoiler. I didn't have one, the chain ate the rear sprocket. I ordered the replacement chain and sprocket today. Hope that helps, Sam

--- In DSN_klr650@y..., "patod02703" wrote: > I second the progressive fork springs and especially the fork brace ( > I have a Superbrace) suggestions to help solve the wobblies. Now I > can get up to 75-ish , the windshield buffeting is the next issue.... > --- In DSN_klr650@y..., Jalal Haddad wrote: > > Hi there, > > > > I have a new 2002 that I really like, I have gotten used to some of > its > > shortcomings like low power and weak breaks, but there is one thing > that > > is still bothering me big time. I just can't ride it at reasonable > high > > speeds. snip, snip, snip > > Jalal > > Corvallis, OR