Wilsons Sandbox

>mechanic ...says the exhaust cam >sprocket bolt had loosened and allowed the sprocket to get sideways >and >either catch the chain or wedge itself enough to force the opposite >end >of the exhaust cam shaft up through the cover. Ugly, 1800 miles from >home, in a foreign country. Sweet. > >Amazingly, the damage to the top side of the head was purely >cosmetic.

> At 3:15 AM +0000 7/24/07, scarysharkface wrote: > < the > >> mechanic ...says the exhaust cam >> sprocket bolt had loosened and allowed the sprocket to get sideways >> and >> either catch the chain or wedge itself enough to force the opposite >> end >> of the exhaust cam shaft up through the cover. Ugly, 1800 miles from >> home, in a foreign country. Sweet. >> >> Amazingly, the damage to the top side of the head was purely >> cosmetic. >> > > I'll wait for the pix, but my knee-jerk reaction is to say that the > mechanic is full of crap. Sounds to me like your KACR mechanism on > the right end of the exhaust cam exploded. They've been known to do > that. > > Mark >

On 7/23/07, Zachariah Mully wrote: > Tengai Mark Van Horn wrote: > > At 3:15 AM +0000 7/24/07, scarysharkface wrote: > > < the > > > >> mechanic ...says the exhaust cam > >> sprocket bolt had loosened and allowed the sprocket to get sideways > >> and > >> either catch the chain or wedge itself enough to force the opposite > >> end > >> of the exhaust cam shaft up through the cover. Ugly, 1800 miles from > >> home, in a foreign country. Sweet. > >> > >> Amazingly, the damage to the top side of the head was purely > >> cosmetic. > >> > > > > I'll wait for the pix, but my knee-jerk reaction is to say that the > > mechanic is full of crap. Sounds to me like your KACR mechanism on > > the right end of the exhaust cam exploded. They've been known to do > > that. > > > > Mark > > > > I agree with Mark, unless you saw that it was still on the end of the > exhaust. I would make sure to check the cam chain when you get a chance, > since that type of damage might have done a number on your chain. > > Z >

On 7/24/07, John Ford wrote: > > Either seems plausible to me, and as I stated, my initial thought was > the same as yours. If that's what happened, then that could easily > have caused the mess at the sprocket end of things as well. I'm not > enough of a mechanic to really have an informed opinion about this. > > The cam chain was toast, and was replaced, as were lots of other > components. When I get the free minutes to write up the ride report, > I'll include the list of new parts. > > I'm just terribly, terribly pleased that I was able to get it fixed > and continue my trip on the bike! > > John > > > On 7/23/07, Zachariah Mully > > wrote: > > Tengai Mark Van Horn wrote: > > > At 3:15 AM +0000 7/24/07, scarysharkface wrote: > > > < the > > > > > >> mechanic ...says the exhaust cam > > >> sprocket bolt had loosened and allowed the sprocket to get sideways > > >> and > > >> either catch the chain or wedge itself enough to force the opposite > > >> end > > >> of the exhaust cam shaft up through the cover. Ugly, 1800 miles from > > >> home, in a foreign country. Sweet. > > >> > > >> Amazingly, the damage to the top side of the head was purely > > >> cosmetic. > > >> > > > > > > I'll wait for the pix, but my knee-jerk reaction is to say that the > > > mechanic is full of crap. Sounds to me like your KACR mechanism on > > > the right end of the exhaust cam exploded. They've been known to do > > > that. > > > > > > Mark > > > > > > > I agree with Mark, unless you saw that it was still on the end of the > > exhaust. I would make sure to check the cam chain when you get a chance, > > since that type of damage might have done a number on your chain. > > > > Z > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

>From: Mike Frey >To: matteeanne@... >CC: dsn_klr650@yahoogroups.com >Subject: Re: [DSN_KLR650] New Forks >Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2007 19:04:11 -0400 > >If you can find them, KLX-650 forks are an easy conversion, and way >better than the KLR forks. They're hard to find, though. > >matteeanne@... wrote: > > After my wreck, I am looking for parts to rebuild my baby (even if I do >get a new one). The forks are wasted, is there an aftermarket fork I should >consider? Is an old fork a good fork? Are there other types that will work? >How much do new stock ones cost? Did you know when you wreck, it hurts a >lot more the next day? I took a shower this morning and was not able to >reach 50% of my body because my neck and shoulders and legs hurt so bad I >cant twist. > > At least 1/2 of me smells good. > > > > > > > > >____________________________________________________________________________________ > > Need a vacation? Get great deals > > to amazing places on Yahoo! Travel. > > http://travel.yahoo.com/ > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > > > > List sponsored by Dual Sport News at: www.dualsportnews.com > > List FAQ courtesy of Chris Krok at: www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html > > Member Map at: http://www.frappr.com/dsnklr650 > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > > > > > > >List sponsored by Dual Sport News at: www.dualsportnews.com >List FAQ courtesy of Chris Krok at: www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html >Member Map at: http://www.frappr.com/dsnklr650 >Yahoo! Groups Links > > >

>From: "scarysharkface" >To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com >Subject: [DSN_KLR650] catastrophic cam failure >Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2007 03:15:49 -0000 > >G'day, all! > >I just returned from a 3-week bike trip to Newfoundland and back, and >need to report that all was not well with my engine. As I have time, >I'll put together a ride report with all the gnarly details over on >advrider.com and ridetherock.com, but for now (and for general >information) I'll give a quicky description of what happened to my >A18.. > >I was passing a truck when the motor simply went silent. I thought >initially that this was a dandy time for the kill switch to fail, but >that wasn't it. When I got stopped I realized my right leg was >covered >with oil. Upon investigation, I couldn't find any problems with the >case, and the oil had come from somewhere up top, buried under the >tank. > >Removing the tank, there was a big hole in the cylinder head cover >above where the right exhaust cam should be. Upon disassembly, the >mechanic who performed the launchendectomy says the exhaust cam >sprocket bolt had loosened and allowed the sprocket to get sideways >and >either catch the chain or wedge itself enough to force the opposite >end >of the exhaust cam shaft up through the cover. Ugly, 1800 miles from >home, in a foreign country. Sweet. > >Amazingly, the damage to the top side of the head was purely >cosmetic. >The piston did not kiss any of the valves, and no nasty bits were >found >in the crankcase. > >The cam sprockets have not been touched since assembly of the motor >by Kawasaki, >and the bolt which came out didn't have any locktite on it. The >motor >had at least 3k miles on it since I did the valves, so that wasn't a >factor. > >I'll post pictures when I post the ride report(s), and a parts list >of >what needed to be replaced to get me back on the road again. >SlowPhil >and Geode of advrider really came to my rescue with the elusive >cylinder head cover. Geode rode one up 500+ miles from Maine, and >SlowPhil located one at his favorite parts stash. Tree let us crash >at >his place in Halifax while reassembly was underway. > >I'm posting this because I'm an attention-whore, but we can pretend >that I'm posting it so that this might become something that gets >checked when the top is off to do the valves... > >Oh, and I've got a happy 3k miles on it since Ronnie at Fundy Power >Sports (a Kawi-only dealer) in Truro (actually North River, I >believe), >Nova Scotia, rebuilt it. If you're ever in the area, give Ronnie, >Mark >and Danny a shout and tell them the guy who (literally) camped at >their >doorstep sent you. They are awesome. > >John > > > >List sponsored by Dual Sport News at: www.dualsportnews.com >List FAQ courtesy of Chris Krok at: www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html >Member Map at: http://www.frappr.com/dsnklr650 >Yahoo! Groups Links > > >

>Either seems plausible to me, and as I stated, my initial thought was >the same as yours. If that's what happened, then that could easily >have caused the mess at the sprocket end of things as well. I'm not >enough of a mechanic to really have an informed opinion about this.