Wilsons Sandbox

Posted: **Sun Aug 17, 2003 8:46 pm**

Hello everybody - Im in the process of doing my doohickey on my 02 KLR with 3100 miles. The stock doohickey was intact. Now that Ive finally seen the stock doohickey in person, I must say that it sure does seem pretty thin and that weld doesnt look very strong. I tried to put on Jake's doohickey and it's NOT going on! I tried putting it on for about 10 minutes and almost had it totally stuck about 1/3 of the way on. Is it supposed to be that tight of a fit, and if not then is my only option to file it? Also seems like the old gasket gunk on the cases is seriously sticky and it took me forever to get the surfaces clean, but now they're shiny and ready for re-assembly as soon as I get the new doohickey on.

Posted: **Sun Aug 17, 2003 9:03 pm**

Hey there, Your doohickey from Jake does need to be filed. Take it a LITTLE bit at a time, then check the fit. You want it to be a snug fitting, but do not hammer it on with anything. For more info, check the list archives with "fileing doohickey" or "file doohickey" as key search words. It is very normal to have to do that with that doohickey. MrMoose A8 (Barbie and Ken special)

--- In DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com, "orc37" wrote: > Hello everybody - > > Im in the process of doing my doohickey on my 02 KLR with 3100 miles. > The stock doohickey was intact. Now that Ive finally seen the stock > doohickey in person, I must say that it sure does seem pretty thin > and that weld doesnt look very strong. I tried to put on Jake's > doohickey and it's NOT going on! I tried putting it on for about 10 > minutes and almost had it totally stuck about 1/3 of the way on. Is > it supposed to be that tight of a fit, and if not then is my only > option to file it? > Also seems like the old gasket gunk on the cases is seriously sticky > and it took me forever to get the surfaces clean, but now they're > shiny and ready for re-assembly as soon as I get the new doohickey > on.

Posted: **Mon Aug 18, 2003 5:29 am**

If you have to file a little off the doohickey it will not hurt it, just make sure you try it as you go. This will get you a nice fitting lever. Did the stock part just slide off ? Just file a little at a time and try it as you go. Dooden A15 Green Ape

--- In DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com, "orc37" wrote: > Hello everybody - > > Im in the process of doing my doohickey on my 02 KLR with 3100 miles. > The stock doohickey was intact. Now that Ive finally seen the stock > doohickey in person, I must say that it sure does seem pretty thin > and that weld doesnt look very strong. I tried to put on Jake's > doohickey and it's NOT going on! I tried putting it on for about 10 > minutes and almost had it totally stuck about 1/3 of the way on. Is > it supposed to be that tight of a fit, and if not then is my only > option to file it? > Also seems like the old gasket gunk on the cases is seriously sticky > and it took me forever to get the surfaces clean, but now they're > shiny and ready for re-assembly as soon as I get the new doohickey > on.

Posted: **Sun Jun 05, 2005 6:43 am**

I see it like the Jeep Wrangle axle debate They say the Jeep 35 Dana axle will blow up if you do not replace it with a Dana 40 axle. Bull ............ There are like a million Jeep Cherokee's out there with the Dana 35 axles and they have not blown up. But then , I do not sell doohickeys .........

Posted: **Sun Jun 05, 2005 7:33 am**

You have a very valid point... the actual failure rate of the "doohickey" is VERY low - I've heard quotes of 1% to 3%... yet, if you hear enough people talk about the doohickey parties and the ones they personally witnessed with broken springs, doohickeys or both and it plants that doubt in your brain that maybe yours will be one of the 1-3% that will fail...you will most likely choose to replace yours, as I did. And it IS "cheap insurance" as others have stated....mine cost me a total of about $165.00 to change, including the oil I put back in it. I bought the "complete" doohickey replacement kit from Fred Hink at Arrowhead Motorsports - it came with all the necessary parts AND the special tools needed to get the job done. My stock doohickey and spring were FINE, with just under 5k miles on the bike (it was apparently a "seldom-ridden garage queen"). Still looks nearly as good as an '05 model and it's 18 years old! Some folks are so "ate up" with this doohickey scare that one suggested that because my original was fine, he suspected it had been changed before I bought it. Well...unless someone is making a doohickey that is still thin enough to be held on by the snap ring...mine WAS the original!!! It was a stamped steel single piece (not two pieces welded together as on later originals). So, now...I can feel better knowing that I've got the Eagle doohickey and spring in my 87 A1 and failure is not likely! Was it worth it??? YES! Would I do it again??? YES!!! I believe the addage... "better safe than sorry". Scott badnews18 wrote: I see it like the Jeep Wrangle axle debate They say the Jeep 35 Dana axle will blow up if you do not replace it with a Dana 40 axle. Bull ............ There are like a million Jeep Cherokee's out there with the Dana 35 axles and they have not blown up. But then , I do not sell doohickeys ......... Archive Quicksearch at: http://www.angelfire.com/ut/moab/klr650_data_search.html List sponsored by Dual Sport News at: www.dualsportnews.com List FAQ courtesy of Chris Krok at: www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html Yahoo! Groups Links --------------------------------- Yahoo! Mail Stay connected, organized, and protected. Take the tour [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Posted: **Sun Jun 05, 2005 11:36 am**

On Sun, 5 Jun 2005, badnews418 wrote:

> I see it like the Jeep Wrangle axle debate > > They say the Jeep 35 Dana axle will blow up if you do not replace it > with a Dana 40 axle. > > Bull ............ There are like a million Jeep Cherokee's out there > with the Dana 35 axles and they have not blown up. > > But then , I do not sell doohickeys .........

I don't sell doohickeys either. But I've been in there and seen the get, and I don't want the stock one in my bike, at least not the recent-model two-piece one that breaks at the weld (early KLR's had a stamped one-piece one that was more robust). As for the Dana 35, the only thing that'll blow it up is if you try to do serious 4x4'ing with large off-road tires and the 4.0L 6 cylinder engine. If all you're doing is putzing down the road, it's reliable as dirt. That is not, unfortunately, true of the doohickey. I've found a site that describes why doohickeys and their springs fail (run by an associate of an old-time motorcycle mechanic who's been around since the '60s, who does NOT sell doohickeys or anything else now since he is retired, but who has seen dozens of busted doohickeys over the years), and why they fail has nothing to do with how you ride or use your KLR, only a marginal amount to do with how you maintain your KLR (you CAN shatter your doohickey if you do not properly adjust it, but stock doohickeys that have been treated with loving reverence have found busted too), and a lot to do with sloppy clearancing at KHI. Not every KLR exits the factory with the sloppy clearancing that leads to swift balancer lever spring failure and swift balancer lever failure, but how do you know? The problem could be 50% fixed if KHI just went back to the early stamped one-piece adjuster lever rather than the current weldment. This would take care of the busted doohickey part of the equation, though not necessarily the spring part. The final fix requires a better way of attaching the doohickey to the end of the shaft than just slipping it over the shaft as a press fit. This would fix it forever, but Kawasaki apparently isn't interested... -E

Posted: **Sun Jun 05, 2005 11:55 am**

Eric, So now you're saying the one in my A1 was a good one??? That's the first positive comment I've heard about a doohickey...so I coulda just left mine alone instead of paying $165.00 to replace it??? I'd have replaced it anyway, unless someone had told me that style CANNOT fail... It was held onto the shaft with a snap-ring...not just press-fit. Don't the later models hold the doohickey on with a snap-ring??? Scott "Eric L. Green" wrote: The problem could be 50% fixed if KHI just went back to the early stamped one-piece adjuster lever rather than the current weldment. This would take care of the busted doohickey part of the equation, though not necessarily the spring part. The final fix requires a better way of attaching the doohickey to the end of the shaft than just slipping it over the shaft as a press fit. This would fix it forever, but Kawasaki apparently isn't interested... -E __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Posted: **Sun Jun 05, 2005 3:53 pm**

I would prefer no windshield. I mean a face mask helmet makes one redundant .

Posted: **Sun Jun 05, 2005 5:09 pm**

This discussion on doohickey failure percentages reminds me a bit of discussions on the likelihood of airliner crashes. It does not really matter to you how frequent or infrequent airliner crashes are...if your plane is the one that crashes. Here are my personal statistics: KLRs owned:1 Doohickey or Spring failures:1 Failure percentage: 100% No local dealer has seen my failed spring since I changed out the part myself and no warrantee claim was involved. No dealer saw the terrible weld on the doohickey, none saw the super-brittle doohickey when it was removed. But just because no dealer saw the failure does not mean that the part didn't fail. I'm glad I changed out the doohickey and spring on my A16 at 3710 miles since the spring was broken. In addition to installing trouble free replacement parts I also met some great local KLR owners, made some friends with some common interests and have been riding with many of them.

----- Original Message ----- From: "scott quillen" To: "badnews418" ; DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Sunday, June 05, 2005 5:33 Subject: Re: [DSN_KLR650] Doohickey problem > You have a very valid point... > > the actual failure rate of the "doohickey" is VERY low - I've heard quotes of 1% to 3%... > > yet, if you hear enough people talk about the doohickey parties and the ones they personally witnessed with broken springs, doohickeys or both and it plants that doubt in your brain that maybe yours will be one of the 1-3% that will fail...you will most likely choose to replace yours, as I did. > > And it IS "cheap insurance" as others have stated....mine cost me a total of about $165.00 to change, including the oil I put back in it. I bought the "complete" doohickey replacement kit from Fred Hink at Arrowhead Motorsports - it came with all the necessary parts AND the special tools needed to get the job done. My stock doohickey and spring were FINE, with just under 5k miles on the bike (it was apparently a "seldom-ridden garage queen"). Still looks nearly as good as an '05 model and it's 18 years old! > > Some folks are so "ate up" with this doohickey scare that one suggested that because my original was fine, he suspected it had been changed before I bought it. Well...unless someone is making a doohickey that is still thin enough to be held on by the snap ring...mine WAS the original!!! It was a stamped steel single piece (not two pieces welded together as on later originals). > > So, now...I can feel better knowing that I've got the Eagle doohickey and spring in my 87 A1 and failure is not likely! Was it worth it??? YES! > > Would I do it again??? YES!!! > > I believe the addage... "better safe than sorry". > > Scott > > badnews18 wrote: > I see it like the Jeep Wrangle axle debate > > They say the Jeep 35 Dana axle will blow up if you do not replace it > with a Dana 40 axle. > > Bull ............ There are like a million Jeep Cherokee's out there > with the Dana 35 axles and they have not blown up. > > But then , I do not sell doohickeys ......... > > > > > > Archive Quicksearch at: http://www.angelfire.com/ut/moab/klr650_data_search.html > List sponsored by Dual Sport News at: www.dualsportnews.com > List FAQ courtesy of Chris Krok at: www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > > > --------------------------------- > Yahoo! Mail > Stay connected, organized, and protected. Take the tour > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > Archive Quicksearch at: http://www.angelfire.com/ut/moab/klr650_data_search.html > List sponsored by Dual Sport News at: www.dualsportnews.com > List FAQ courtesy of Chris Krok at: www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Wilsons Sandbox

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