Wilsons Sandbox

2 or 3 out of every 100 bikes has a balancer chain tensioner failure (which can lock the engine and possibly cause a serious crash), and Kawasaki decides that it's too low for a recall? That's ridiculous. Personal safety requires higher standards than that. These failure rates in a car would have a mandatory recall issued. I had already decided this, but this sort of clinches it- I will never buy a bike from anybody, ESPECIALLY Kawasaki, that I can't maintain, service, and inspect myself. Because I obviously can't count on the manufacturers to stand behind their product, and with a few exceptions the dealers aren't much help either. KHI is really rolling the dice on this one. They may find themselves on the sharp end of a wrongful-death lawsuit, that will be FAR more expensive than updating the tensioner system. BTW I still hold by my belief that "if" the idler shaft lever fits and locks properly, the stock spring is fine. The most important upgrade is the idler shaft lever. Devon A15 wa4tij wrote:

> > Gang, > > Has a stronger/better tensioner spring been located? We need a > Doohickey upgrade kit. > > BTW, while at the Hoot, I was talking to the tech specialist for the > Police 1000 about doohickies. He said the failure rate was too low > for the factory to make a redesign/upgrade. He was guessing the > failure rate was about 2 - 3 percent. This is all unofficial, of > course. > > Robert A14 (with John Deere stickers on both sides of the bikini > fairing...it gets laughs and some serious questions!) >

Hi all, Just thought I'd drop a quick post for any of you that may be interested in this upcoming event on July 13-14. It's located just East of Portland, OR and is the biggest one in the NW. For information go to: http://www.blackdogdualsport.com Hope to see some of you there. Ride on, -Tom N.