help with klr 600

[Bill Wright]

Gino, The Darien, both jacket and pants are stiff to begin with. My pants, when new, would almost stand in the corner by themselves. I found that after the first washing, things seemed to loosen up a bit. Aerostich will fix your snap at no cost, but I agree this should not have happened to a new jacket. For later in your Darien life you will want to get the fasteners package that they sell.(about $9) It contains repair items for every snap and zipper on the suit. They also sell small bottles of the glue used to attach the velcro for the armor on the inside of the jacket. I've had mine for 3 years and 45k miles and wouldn't have anything else. After the wash, spray your jacket with Scotchgard in the aqua can. Bill Wright Hotlanta, GA. Adventure Tourer - 98 KLR650 - "Special K" - 37K miles Sport Tourer - 00 ST1100 - "KeSTrel" - 8K miles k650dsn@... wrote:

> Please, please tell me the Darien jacket gets easier to live with > over > time. I washed my Kilimanjaro last night to put away and got the > Darien out of the box. First thing, a snap that holds the electric > liner breaks. I put the jacket on. The stiffness of this thing is > unbelievable making the First Gear Hypertex feel like silk. Not off > to > a good start. > > This morning, my first commute with the Darien. The tall stiff > collar > is unrelenting. My neck is sore from doing simple blind spot checks. > The stiffness of the material has me feeling like the Tin man after a > rain storm. > > I do like the easy entry side pockets, zippered sleeves and lack of > velcro and flaps over all of the pockets. > > Gino > > > > Visit the KLR650 archives at > http://www.listquest.com/lq/search.html?ln=klr650 > Support Dual Sport News... dsneditor@... > Let's keep this list SPAM free! > > Visit our site at http://www.egroups.com/group/DSN_klr650 > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > DSN_klr650-unsubscribe@egroups.com

[Robert Morgan]

----- I've had mine for about three years also and feel the same way. I like it so much that last week I ordered a Darien Light and pants to match. The standard jacket is a little toasty here in San Diego, at least in the summer time. Morgan . I've had mine for 3 years

> and 45k miles and wouldn't have anything else. After the wash, spray your > jacket with Scotchgard in the aqua can. > > Bill Wright > Hotlanta, GA. > Adventure Tourer - 98 KLR650 - "Special K" - 37K miles > Sport Tourer - 00 ST1100 - "KeSTrel" - 8K miles > > k650dsn@... wrote: > > > Please, please tell me the Darien jacket gets easier to live with > > over > > time. I washed my Kilimanjaro last night to put away and got the > > Darien out of the box. First thing, a snap that holds the electric > > liner breaks. I put the jacket on. The stiffness of this thing is > > unbelievable making the First Gear Hypertex feel like silk. Not off > > to > > a good start. > > > > This morning, my first commute with the Darien. The tall stiff > > collar > > is unrelenting. My neck is sore from doing simple blind spot checks. > > The stiffness of the material has me feeling like the Tin man after a > > rain storm. > > > > I do like the easy entry side pockets, zippered sleeves and lack of > > velcro and flaps over all of the pockets. > > > > Gino > > > > > > > > Visit the KLR650 archives at > > http://www.listquest.com/lq/search.html?ln=klr650 > > Support Dual Sport News... dsneditor@... > > Let's keep this list SPAM free! > > > > Visit our site at http://www.egroups.com/group/DSN_klr650 > > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > > DSN_klr650-unsubscribe@egroups.com > > > > > Visit the KLR650 archives at > http://www.listquest.com/lq/search.html?ln=klr650 > Support Dual Sport News... dsneditor@... > Let's keep this list SPAM free! > > Visit our site at http://www.egroups.com/group/DSN_klr650 > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > DSN_klr650-unsubscribe@egroups.com > >

[Shepard,Brian]

Oh man, I wonder if they rushed production and cut back on quality control. This doesn't sound good. -Brian Shepard A13 -----Original Message----- From: k650dsn@... [mailto:k650dsn@...] Sent: Wednesday, August 16, 2000 9:13 AM To: DSN_klr650@egroups.com Subject: [DSN_klr650] Day 1 with Darien Please, please tell me the Darien jacket gets easier to live with over time. I washed my Kilimanjaro last night to put away and got the Darien out of the box. First thing, a snap that holds the electric liner breaks. I put the jacket on. The stiffness of this thing is unbelievable making the First Gear Hypertex feel like silk. Not off to a good start. This morning, my first commute with the Darien. The tall stiff collar is unrelenting. My neck is sore from doing simple blind spot checks. The stiffness of the material has me feeling like the Tin man after a rain storm. I do like the easy entry side pockets, zippered sleeves and lack of velcro and flaps over all of the pockets. Gino Visit the KLR650 archives at http://www.listquest.com/lq/search.html?ln=klr650 Support Dual Sport News... dsneditor@... Let's keep this list SPAM free! Visit our site at http://www.egroups.com/group/DSN_klr650 To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: DSN_klr650-unsubscribe@egroups.com

[Jim Barthell]

I don't know if they ever really get any better or not... (I know I know heresy! cries the long distance crowd!) My RoadCrafter was the hottest, stiffest thing I ever climbed into. I eventually got interested in the Darien route so I got their Darien "light" which they will not recommend for motorcycle riding in print.. (verbally is a different story), So I won't recommend it either.. (in print). Anyway, even the Darien light is too hot and stiff, (alright kids quite yer snickering), for me but it is tolerable. I still would have to stick with leather and lightweight Gore-Tex raingear (like REI elements) when it rains. Jim Barthell

> -----Original Message----- > From: k650dsn@... [mailto:k650dsn@...] > Sent: Wednesday, August 16, 2000 8:13 AM > To: DSN_klr650@egroups.com > Subject: [DSN_klr650] Day 1 with Darien > > > Please, please tell me the Darien jacket gets easier to live with > over > time. I washed my Kilimanjaro last night to put away and got the > Darien out of the box. First thing, a snap that holds the electric > liner breaks. I put the jacket on. The stiffness of this thing is > unbelievable making the First Gear Hypertex feel like silk. Not off > to > a good start. > > This morning, my first commute with the Darien. The tall stiff > collar > is unrelenting. My neck is sore from doing simple blind spot checks. > The stiffness of the material has me feeling like the Tin man after a > rain storm. > > I do like the easy entry side pockets, zippered sleeves and lack of > velcro and flaps over all of the pockets. > > Gino > > > > > Visit the KLR650 archives at > http://www.listquest.com/lq/search.html?ln=klr650 > Support Dual Sport News... dsneditor@... > Let's keep this list SPAM free! > > Visit our site at http://www.egroups.com/group/DSN_klr650 > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > DSN_klr650-unsubscribe@egroups.com > >

[R. Kaub]

At 01:13 PM 8/16/00 -0000, you wrote:

>Please, please tell me the Darien jacket gets easier to live with >over >>>>

Gino: You get used to it. I agree on the collar. Mine is still a pain in the ass. What I do (if it's cool enough) is wear a flannel shirt WITH THE COLLAR BUTTONED AND UP under the jacket. This provides a comfortable buffer under the abrasive jacket collar. The other thing that helps is to zip the jacket all the way to the top. This forms the collar into a more comfortable tube which chafes less for me. When it's just too hot to wear flannel, I wear a long sleeved cotton t-shirt under the jacket. This is much more comfortable than the unlined jacket against your skin. When I first got my jacket, one of the sleeve zippers ripped loose slightly. I called and returned the jacket which was repaired promptly at no charge. Most of the zippers on my jacket are kinda sticky and have been from the beginning. I chalk that off to the fact that they are heavy duty. On the whole, though, I really like and highly recommend the jacket and pants since their benefits far outweigh their disadvantages. Never leave home without it (them). BTW. While I bought the liner, I never use it. I use one of the three-seasons-type jackets from LLBean, Eddie Bauer, Columbia, Wal-Mart, etc. Thanks. Bob Kaub

[Jim Jackson]

Funny! Totday I started parking in a new garage that is bike-friendly. There were three other bikes already there (2 HDs/1 Shadow) and a bunch of construction guys getting ready to start working. I was at 5 mph or less in second so I could hear them talking. They looked at me on my aqua KLR and greenish Darien and couldn't decide whether to laugh or applaud. I heard a "cool!" and "what the hell is THAT?" and a "is that a dirt bike?"... I found the same thing out about the collar in the month I've had mine. Works well with the zipper up about 4 inches from the top and the collar folded down. I read lots of articles about how stiff it was so I was prepared for that. What does everyone use when they wash theirs? Regular detergent at home or a heavy duty washer? Cold water I assume. There's nothing like knowing you've done everything you can to protect yourself out there on the road.

>(Hey, why do you have THAT on? You MUST be >cooking! No sir I am very comfortable. It's vented.)

Jim Jackson II A13 - South Carolina ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com

[Zachariah Mully]

All- I have located an 1986 KLR600 locally and today I am going to check it out. The bike has 9,500 miles on it, and is in okay shape according to the seller. It is still totally stock, and needs rear brake work, rear tire and possibly a new seat cover and thermostat. The current owner has no idea of its history and a bike this old with that few miles on it also concerns me. He has cleaned the carb, replaced the float bowl gasket and KREEM'ed the tank. So it sounds like somewhat of a project bike (which is exactly what I want), but I was wondering if any of youse had advice or experience with the 600 series. The seller wants far too much for the bike ($1600) so I was wondering if you all might have a better idea of what this baby would be worth, I was thinking more in the $600-800 range. The main reason I am looking at is for something to keep me busy when I am not at work (I think most recent college grads have this problem), and to wrench on a bike that I am not afraid of breaking like I am of my KLR650 (it runs real nice right now and I don't want to change that with my tinkering)... Also can this bike take standard KLR650 stuff? I am thinking specifically of the gas tank and racks and other consumibles... Thanks a lot, Zack 91 KLR650