the klr650 and the well-known imperfections

[mark ward]

The 2 wires by the blinkers. Anyone know what size (Gage)? & power they can handle?? [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Fred Hink]

Do you mean the two accessory wires behind the headlight? I d guess them to be 14-18 gauge and I have heard of some using these wires to run their heated grips with no problems. I wouldn t use these wires for anything more than that. Fred http://www.arrowheadmotorsports.com From: mark ward Sent: Tuesday, February 5, 2013 7:50 AM To: List KLR Subject: [DSN_KLR650] 2 wires under dash?? The 2 wires by the blinkers. Anyone know what size (Gage)? & power they can handle?? [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Ian Francisco]

Any bike that tries to be the "best" dual sport is attempting the (nearly) impossible. People have different things they want their bike to do, and some people want it all from an entry-level bike? They are cheap and cheerful and you can buy three or four of them for the price of the current crop of big ADV bikes out there. It's easy and cheap to swap out front sprockets. One gentleman here described how he runs two teeth smaller in back iirc and then uses either a 14- or 16- tooth front sprocket depending on his needs. That was five years ago. Gearing problem solved for not a lot of cash. Personally I find the stock gearing just about right (pre-'08), as do many. The trouble and expense to modify the transmission for a lower 1st? shrug, to quote the Rev. All the usual wishes and wants for the KLR650 have been discussed in detail before. I found the best solution was to add a different bike to the stable to keep the KLR company. Want lighter, more off-road capable? Go there. Want faster, more power for highways and two up,etc.? Go that direction. When there are other bikes to ride, what shows up is how versatile and how good the KLR is, not its imperfections. If I had to get rid of all my bikes except one, guess which one I'd keep! -- Ian Francisco http://www.scarletfuries.com http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Scarlet-Furies/121218125931 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[John Biccum]

Many of us KLRistas advocate using those (European daylight running light wires) to SWITCH a relay. Then power grip heaters etc off the relay. Power the relay with a 12 gage wire run directly to the battery. Vibration and offroad drops trashed both of the cheap Autozone relays that I first used. Then I picked a high quality, weather tight Japanese relay. The 3rd relay has been trouble free for more than 50k miles. If you use the small gage (18ga) wires to power the grip heaters directly the grips don't get as warm and take longer to reach temperature due to the voltage drop through the tiny wires. If you wire the grip heaters direct to battery without a relay expect to leave them on overnight with the inevitable result being a dead battery. -----Original Message----- From: "Fred Hink" Sent: 2/ 5/ 2013 7:55 To: "List KLR" DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com>; "mark ward" Subject: Re: [DSN_KLR650] 2 wires under dash?? Do you mean the two accessory wires behind the headlight? I d guess them to be 14-18 gauge and I have heard of some using these wires to run their heated grips with no problems. I wouldn t use these wires for anything more than that. Fred http://www.arrowheadmotorsports.com From: mark ward Sent: Tuesday, February 5, 2013 7:50 AM To: List KLR Subject: [DSN_KLR650] 2 wires under dash?? The 2 wires by the blinkers. Anyone know what size (Gage)? & power they can handle?? [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [The entire original message is not included.] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Jeff Saline]

On Tue, 5 Feb 2013 06:50:20 -0800 (PST) mark ward writes:

> The 2 wires by the blinkers. > > Anyone know what size (Gage)? & power they can handle??

<><><><><> <><><><><> Mark, I'm guessing you are asking about the cities lights wires on a GEN I KLR650??? They are pretty small and I'll guess they are 18 gauge at the largest. Load they'll carry effectively won't be much. I've heard of guys using them to power heated grips but I think that is too much of a load for that part of the electrical system. I use them to control a relay so it is on with the key and off with the key. The relay delivers power to heated grips, a home built LED charging system indicator and an accessory outlet that might also be used for heated gloves or vest. But the relay gets power directly from the battery. As a side note... with good wiring and power delivery my heated grips get so hot on low they can only be on for 4-5 minutes at a time. I've had to move to a dual control Heat Troller so I can dial them down and control left apart from right. The same issue is involved with the headlight wiring on the GEN I KLR650s. The stock wiring will probably have a voltage drop of 1 to 1 1/2 volts. Fix the power delivery and the light effectiveness goes up about 50%. Best, Jeff Saline ABC # 4412 South Dakota Airmarshal Airheads Beemer Club www.airheads.org The Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota 75 R90/6, 03 KLR650 . . . ____________________________________________________________ Woman is 53 But Looks 25 Mom reveals 1 simple wrinkle trick that has angered doctors... http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/51119d409caf61d4071east03vuc

[Bill Kinnison]

So can you elaborate on the headlight comment? Is there a how-to already written up?

On Feb 5, 2013 4:01 PM, "Jeff Saline" wrote: > ** > > > On Tue, 5 Feb 2013 06:50:20 -0800 (PST) mark ward nomad59@...> > writes: > > The 2 wires by the blinkers. > > > > Anyone know what size (Gage)? & power they can handle?? > <><><><><> > <><><><><> > > Mark, > > I'm guessing you are asking about the cities lights wires on a GEN I > KLR650??? > > They are pretty small and I'll guess they are 18 gauge at the largest. > > Load they'll carry effectively won't be much. > > I've heard of guys using them to power heated grips but I think that is > too much of a load for that part of the electrical system. I use them to > control a relay so it is on with the key and off with the key. The relay > delivers power to heated grips, a home built LED charging system > indicator and an accessory outlet that might also be used for heated > gloves or vest. But the relay gets power directly from the battery. > > As a side note... with good wiring and power delivery my heated grips get > so hot on low they can only be on for 4-5 minutes at a time. I've had to > move to a dual control Heat Troller so I can dial them down and control > left apart from right. > > The same issue is involved with the headlight wiring on the GEN I > KLR650s. The stock wiring will probably have a voltage drop of 1 to 1 > 1/2 volts. Fix the power delivery and the light effectiveness goes up > about 50%. > > Best, > > Jeff Saline > ABC # 4412 South Dakota Airmarshal > Airheads Beemer Club www.airheads.org > The Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota > 75 R90/6, 03 KLR650 > > . > . > > . > __________________________________________________________ > Woman is 53 But Looks 25 > Mom reveals 1 simple wrinkle trick that has angered doctors... > http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/51119d409caf61d4071east03vuc > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]