Wilsons Sandbox

At 1:39 AM +0000 10/16/03, arlen_aas wrote:

>Looking for a more fool proof way of "locking" the steering head >nut. Not the one on top of triple clamp but the one that actually >tightens top bearing. Is it possible to use a very thin nut >to "double nut" the main "nut"? Stock method allows head bearings to >loosen on rough roads.

The two-eared washer and pressure from the upper triple clamp should be sufficient. Make sure you keep the forks loose in the upper clamp before you torque down the top nut. This will allow the upper triple clamp to seat fully against the two-eared washer. I think people who have the bearings get loose in short order are tightening the forks first, which leads to distortion of the upper triple clamp when the top nut is tightened. If you don't buy any of this hypothesis, maybe use a big star washer under the upper triple clamp. Mark

aaas@... wrote:

>Looking for a more fool proof way of "locking" the steering head >nut. >

Are you owning up to being the fool in this instance?

>Not the one on top of triple clamp but the one that actually >tightens top bearing. Is it possible to use a very thin nut >to "double nut" the main "nut"? > >Stock method allows head bearings to >loosen on rough roads. >

No, not if properly tightened they don't. I have ridden my KLR many places that simply don't even resemble roads- jumped it, chattered through rock gardens, etc. The steering bearings loosened up once around 2,000mi, and that was the last time I adjusted them before I did the front end swap. The new set don't loosen either. Maybe one of the races wasn't fully seated on your bike. Make sure you have the top triple clamp bolts totally loose before you try to tighten the steering bearings. Devon

I used a big pair of metric channel lock pliers to snug mine up once. Pat --- In DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com, "nomorenoless" wrote:

> Does anyone know what size the steering head nut is? I did a search > and couldn't find it. > > I've noticed that there is quit a bit of thread showing under the > steering nut, I'm not sure if there should be any at all. The

locking

> prongs are nearly at the top. Just looks unsafe. > > Thanks, > Mike

27 mm --- In DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com, "nomorenoless" wrote:

> Does anyone know what size the steering head nut is? I did a search > and couldn't find it. > > I've noticed that there is quit a bit of thread showing under the > steering nut, I'm not sure if there should be any at all. The

locking

> prongs are nearly at the top. Just looks unsafe. > > Thanks, > Mike

At 9:21 AM -0700 10/18/03, Jim The Canoeist wrote:

>There were proposals here that perhaps the KACR could be disabled. > >It's there for a purpose. We do not have kick starters and without the >KACR, wouldn't we be overloading our starting systems? Disabling it for when >it's running would also disable it for starting. No one here has actually >disabled theirs, have they? If so, didn't you screw up your starter?

My friend Mike had his recently explode on his KLX. It put a hole in his valve cover too. He experimented running his bike without the KACR, but he said it was hard starting cold and would grind the battery down pretty good. So, he decided to replace the exhaust cam. His take on it was that cracking the throttle at near-stall on a trail and having the power stroke occur at the exact same instance as when the KACR was activating (odds must be like 1:1000) is what took his out. The power stroke keeps valve shut and hammers the KACR mechanism off the cam. Mark

There shouldn't be any thread showing below the nut, but above is normal. -Lujo nomorenoless wrote:

> Does anyone know what size the steering head nut is? I did a search > and couldn't find it. > > I've noticed that there is quit a bit of thread showing under the > steering nut, I'm not sure if there should be any at all. The locking > prongs are nearly at the top. Just looks unsafe. > > Thanks, > Mike