tire llife

[brooksd_1]

After watching for a while, I picked up an '89 KLR650A with 21k on it today. Got it most of the way home when I noticed the pegged temp gage and the fact that the clutch wasn't really working. Fotunately the last mile home was down hill, and the opptamist in me is happy it's such a light bike (compared to my VFR anyway...). Not a bad push at all. The clutch cable was melted where it routes next to the pipe... It's still out there cooling down so I haven't dug into the cooling system, but I do know there is what looks like plenty of "coolant" in the overflow. Since I've had the bike less than two hours, I don't have a service manual yet. But glancing quickly over the bike it looks straight forward enough. However, are there any gotchas I should watch for in the system? I'd imagine it's either a dead water pump, stuck thermostat, or seriously clogged radiator. Not that there is much more to the system, but is there any thing else common I should be looking at? Also, on the clutch cable, any suggestions to protect the replacement. Hopefully it won't get this hot again, but it seems to be routed awfuly close to the exhast. Anyone done anything? Maybe a steel braided cover for it, or some kind of shielding? Before you ask, it was from a little shop and I'm sure it was an as-is thing. He'd just gotten the bike so I'm fairly sure he didn't know about this... I'm inclined to fix it even if he would refund my money, as it's a pretty clean bike otherwise and at a $1000 and 15 years old I didn't exactly expect factory new. With anyluck he'll be wiling to cover the parts since I'll be doing the labor... we'll see tomorrow. Thanks in advance for any help turning me into a KLR rider rather than just an owner... Brooks

[dumbazz650]

--- In DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com, "brooksd_1" wrote:

> After watching for a while, I picked up an '89 KLR650A with 21k on

it

> today. Got it most of the way home when I noticed the pegged temp > gage and the fact that the clutch wasn't really working. > > Fotunately the last mile home was down hill, and the opptamist in me > is happy it's such a light bike (compared to my VFR anyway...).

Not a

> bad push at all. > > The clutch cable was melted where it routes next to the pipe...

Welcome to the club, Brooks! Most likely due to improper routing of the cable -too close to the head pipe. If you need a pix or diagram holler and somebody here will pull one up fer ya. Overtemp maybe due to any number of things as you suggested. Start by checking the fan. There's a temp pickup switch located near the bottom of the radiator that toggles a relay that turns on the fan. To check the fan, gently pull the wire off of the temp pickup switch, and ground it to the bare aluminum fins on the cylinder. The fan should come on when you do this. Post results here. As a baseline with any used KLR, I'd suggest the following: 1. Clean oil screen. 2. Oil & Filter change, oem filter and good quality 10w40 or 20w50 3. Flush and refill the cooling system, Honda premixed coolant is ok 4. Valve check and adjust 5. Lube cables (clutch, throttle, and speedo) 6. Top off battery w/ distilled H2O 7. Do the doohickey swap Then just ride the booger... later you can decide how much farkle crap you need to add-on to make it suit you (I has a bunch on mines) 8^). Check the FAQ ... http://www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.htm and Mark's How-To site ... http://klr6500.tripod.com/ and the MSM site ... http://www.multisurfacemotorcycling.com/klr650_page.htm Loads of good info on a great bike. MarkB

[dooden]

--- In DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com, "dumbazz650" wrote:

> --- In DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com, "brooksd_1" wrote: > > After watching for a while, I picked up an '89 KLR650A with 21k on > it > > today. Got it most of the way home when I noticed the pegged temp > > gage and the fact that the clutch wasn't really working. > > > > Fotunately the last mile home was down hill, and the opptamist in me > > is happy it's such a light bike (compared to my VFR anyway...). > Not a > > bad push at all. > > The clutch cable was melted where it routes next to the pipe... > > Welcome to the club, Brooks! > > Most likely due to improper routing of the cable -too close to the > head pipe. If you need a pix or diagram holler and somebody here > will pull one up fer ya. > > Overtemp maybe due to any number of things as you suggested. > Start by checking the fan. There's a temp pickup switch located near > the bottom of the radiator that toggles a relay that turns on the > fan. To check the fan, gently pull the wire off of the temp pickup > switch, and ground it to the bare aluminum fins on the cylinder. > The fan should come on when you do this. Post results here. > > As a baseline with any used KLR, I'd suggest the following: > 1. Clean oil screen. > 2. Oil & Filter change, oem filter and good quality 10w40 or 20w50 > 3. Flush and refill the cooling system, Honda premixed coolant is ok > 4. Valve check and adjust > 5. Lube cables (clutch, throttle, and speedo) > 6. Top off battery w/ distilled H2O > 7. Do the doohickey swap > > Then just ride the booger... later you can decide how much farkle > crap you need to add-on to make it suit you (I has a bunch on mines) > 8^). > > Check the FAQ > ... http://www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.htm > > and Mark's How-To site > ... http://klr6500.tripod.com/ > > and the MSM site > ... http://www.multisurfacemotorcycling.com/klr650_page.htm > > Loads of good info on a great bike. > MarkB

Nice responce. Glad you just did'nt coast home, since the engine internals need lube and if the engine is not running the oil pump ain't turning which in turn things would be turning without oil Some have reported that the nipple at the bottom of the coolant tank being melted shut where the hose connects, easy to find out, pull the hose and inspect, perhaps the cooling system is low on water, and if the coolant tank is melted shut none can flow into the system. http://klr6500.tripod.com/wpump.htm Peek here it shows details about the cooling system. Welcome to KLRville Dooden A15 Green Ape Yooperland

[Doug Herr]

On Thu, 8 Jul 2004, Mike Peplinski wrote:

> How much tread depth is considered safe on a front tire ( Dunlop knobby)?

I think it was something like 2mm for the stocker, but it did have wear indicators, so if you are not to them yet, there there is some life left. Of course, they do get just a little less safe as they wear, so some would replace them sooner then the minimum. -- Doug Herr doug@...