klr 650 life expectancy

[Stuart Heaslet]

At 11:01 AM 10/13/00 +0000, Greg Dawson wrote:

>Hi all, I'm new to the group. I've considered purchasing a KLR 650 >for some time now and I'd like to know how many miles I should expect >to put on one before it gets retired. I read this article >http://home.att.net/~flafrank/kawasaki.htm and >the author says: "On the down side. You can't expect Rolex quality at >Timex prices. >The bike has a life expectancy of probably 50,000 km (30,000 mi) max."

I'm going to go easy on Florida Frank because he is a long-distance motorcyclist to South America, China and a lot of other places most of us have never been. But I don't agree with him about the KLR - mine is an A12 with 41,000 miles, including two meandering trips totalling nearly 30k miles over two summers from Florida to Alaska and back. The bike runs as tight as it did when new, in my opinion. Granted, I don't bash it up on trails, and I spend on preventative maintenance (ask Fred!), run synthetic blend oil changed every 3,000 miles, and other stuff. I had one major warranty problem, other problems I consider minor. There are a lot of aftermarket items on the bike that added around $2,000 to the bike, but it has been worth every penny. Stuart

[John Huber]

I know tires have been a big thing lately, but just a quick question.  What difference will it make to run a 4.60X17  on the rear as  opposed to a 5.10 on the rear?  Is it just a tad skinnier or is there a tremendous difference between them? John A7 About to order tires.