doohicky read

[achesley43@ymail.com]

Following this trip report on ADVRider headed for South America on his KLR.  Interesting observation on what happen to him.  [u]Breaking Down The Doohickey[/u] If you just bought a KLR and it has not had the doohickey replaced the first place you need to go is to your mechanic, or your garage, and replace it. Don t say screw it and go to the movies first, don t say I can t afford it , the truth is you can t afford not to. The genius from whom I bought the bike did not do it, and the genius from whom he bought the bike did not do it. This is fine the doohickey may not break for thousands of miles, even hard riding, but then again, it can break as you are leaving the dealer s lot. I am not going to go into what the doohickey is because all of that is available online, but I will tell you what may happen if it breaks. There are many possible scenarios, but of course I found myself face to face with the worst. I was smart enough to buy a replacement from Happy-Trail, I was even smart enough to make an appointment with a mechanic in San Diego (my last stop in the states). But I was not smart enough to have the mechanics installing the gas tank and doing a tune-up in Los Angeles change it for me. I spent a long time looking for shops to sponsor me and managed to get a little from a few shops, but not the doohickey. So I figured I would try again in San Diego and if it came to naught I would have them do it at my expense. My last night in L.A, I picked up my bike from the shop and was going to where I was staying to pack my stuff for the next morning departure to San Diego. I had already spent more than a year traveling in the states and Canada and could not wait to get across the border where life would be a lot cheaper. As I was exiting the freeway, the engine suddenly shut off. Thankfully I was able to coast to the bottom and onto a sidewalk. I tried to start the engine but got only a weird rattle in response. I was furious! I had just left the mechanics, they seemed to give me a good deal on all the work they had done, and now it seems as though, through a mistake or maliciously, they have damaged my bike. But I was wrong. What happened was the doohickey snapped in half and sent the spring around the timing chain and into the cylinder shaft, damaging at least two valves. What normally costs $30 if you do it yourself, or $110 if you go to a shop, ended up costing me $650 and 7 extra days of staying in the country. By the way, $650 was what they charged me, the actual cost was around $1000. I had to replace two valves, the seals, the doohickey and the cam chain just in case there was damage to it. So, as I said, don t go to the movies, go to your garage and get it done. Just so you know what $650 means to me: almost a month and a half on the road. This includes fuel, food, museums, camping, beer

[mark ward]

I believe (MY theory) The Doohickey breaks because, of not just being THIN, but over tightening. When I read how little pressure (psi)to torque the nut I realy wanted to TIGHTEN IT MORE, thinking it will come loose. What breaks is a small thin strip. where the bolt goes threw and TIGHTENS IT DOWN. and thinking of a spring PULLING on it, and VIBRATION I felt. "It just can NOT be tight enough", BUT followed the book, and ran 18,000 miles without it breaking, BUT!!!!!! BUT? when I opened it found the spring had not been of any use for MANY miles, already DE-sprong. and from the original marks on the DOO, it never realy was, it had barely moved from new, after each ADJUSTMENT??? (NOT) SO Bottom line? CHANGE IT.  THE SPRING IS!!!, A BIG ISSUE BY IT'S SELF, AND WHILE IN THERE, INSTALL THE STRONGER DOO, TO AVOID ANY POSIBLE OVER TIGHENING AND DOWN TIME. $$$$$$$$$$$$$  

[b]From:[/b] "achesley43@..." [b]To:[/b] DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com [b]Sent:[/b] Friday, November 8, 2013 8:55 AM [b]Subject:[/b] [DSN_KLR650] Doohicky read   Following this trip report on ADVRider headed for South America on his KLR.  Interesting observation on what happen to him.  [u]Breaking Down The Doohickey[/u]If you just bought a KLR and it has not had the doohickey replaced the first place you need to go is to your mechanic, or your garage, and replace it. Don t say screw it and go to the movies first, don t say I can t afford it , the truth is you can t afford not to.The genius from whom I bought the bike did not do it, and the genius from whom he bought the bike did not do it. This is fine the doohickey may not break for thousands of miles, even hard riding, but then again, it can break as you are leaving the dealer s lot. I am not going to go into what the doohickey is because all of that is available online, but I will tell you what may happen if it breaks.There are many possible scenarios, but of course I found myself face to face with the worst.I was smart enough to buy a replacement from Happy-Trail, I was even smart enough to make an appointment with a mechanic in San Diego (my last stop in the states). But I was not smart enough to have the mechanics installing the gas tank and doing a tune-up in Los Angeles change it for me. I spent a long time looking for shops to sponsor me and managed to get a little from a few shops, but not the doohickey. So I figured I would try again in San Diego and if it came to naught I would have them do it at my expense. My last night in L.A, I picked up my bike from the shop and was going to where I was staying to pack my stuff for the next morning departure to San Diego. I had already spent more than a year traveling in the states and Canada and could not wait to get across the border where life would be a lot cheaper. As I was exiting the freeway, the engine suddenly shut off. Thankfully I was able to coast to the bottom and onto a sidewalk. I tried to start the engine but got only a weird rattle in response.I was furious! I had just left the mechanics, they seemed to give me a good deal on all the work they had done, and now it seems as though, through a mistake or maliciously, they have damaged my bike. But I was wrong. What happened was the doohickey snapped in half and sent the spring around the timing chain and into the cylinder shaft, damaging at least two valves.What normally costs $30 if you do it yourself, or $110 if you go to a shop, ended up costing me $650 and 7 extra days of staying in the country. By the way, $650 was what they charged me, the actual cost was around $1000. I had to replace two valves, the seals, the doohickey and the cam chain just in case there was damage to it.So, as I said, don t go to the movies, go to your garage and get it done.Just so you know what $650 means to me: almost a month and a half on the road. This includes fuel, food, museums, camping, beer