baseless bash guard bashing

[eric@ekholbrook.com]

What kind of roads are you riding on? This is my second KLR (had one 10 years ago), and I remember it's one major flaw: Sucks on 2+ lane highways with moderate traffic. It's a chore to make it more than 15 minutes before the fluttering and drafting from cars wears you out. On single lane highways with traffic, yes, 80 is possible and doesn't get blown all over the place, but it's still not a "Cruising" feel by any stretch. It's more like you're pushing the limits of what both you and the bike can take. Question to anyone who has lowered their front fender: Does it help? I mean with traffic at high speeds? The problem around here in New york on our highways and with our windy weather is that 75-80mph is like the MINIMUM traffic speed and this bike just scares & tires the heck out of me.

[Zachariah Mully]

Eric- I had an Acerbis low fender on mine and it seriously tamed a lot of the high speed weave I was getting out on rt 66 (a road very similar to what you're describing) but it packs up with mud very quickly off road and looks really dorky. Robb and I have been tossing around the idea of getting aftermarket KTM fenders for our KLR's. These would seem to have a couple of advantages over the stock fender 1) They curve less, i.e. they stick out almost parallel the ground 2) They're tapered to a point (if looked at from above) 3) They seem to be a lot stiffer due to their thinness and the molding design (plenty of reinforcing ridges). The sum total of all this would be to reduce the sail on the front while maintaining a functional dirt fender. It might work, it might not, I haven't had a chance to try it out yet. But it is another alternative to going to the goofy looking low fender. Then again, my Connie (which weighs in at 650+lbs I believe) also gets blown around, so sometimes there isn't anything you can do other than pick different roads. ------------------ Zack SE DC KLR650A5 "Buster" ZG1000A1 COG #4664 -----Original Message----- From: eric@... [mailto:eric@...] Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 4:59 PM To: DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com Subject: [DSN_klr650] comfortable at 75-80mph? Give me a break What kind of roads are you riding on? This is my second KLR (had one 10 years ago), and I remember it's one major flaw: Sucks on 2+ lane highways with moderate traffic. It's a chore to make it more than 15 minutes before the fluttering and drafting from cars wears you out. On single lane highways with traffic, yes, 80 is possible and doesn't get blown all over the place, but it's still not a "Cruising" feel by any stretch. It's more like you're pushing the limits of what both you and the bike can take. Question to anyone who has lowered their front fender: Does it help? I mean with traffic at high speeds? The problem around here in New york on our highways and with our windy weather is that 75-80mph is like the MINIMUM traffic speed and this bike just scares & tires the heck out of me.

[Richard Ohnstad]

Eric, Re: Two+ lane roads - not much turbulence around sedans, noticeable around big SUV's (Suburbans, etc), real PIA around semi's, especially if there is a strong crosswind. I imagine in heavy traffic it's difficult to keep two seconds of space between you and the car in front of you, but if you can, that helps. Even on rural asphalt with no traffic it doesn't feel like my VFR, but it's not bad. I rode up to Moab from Tucson last year (565 miles) on 2-lane blacktop - the only thing that really bothered me was the heat in the afternoon. Got into a long stretch with no place to stop and wet everything down under the leathers. Rode 70-75 indicated. My front fender is in the stock position and I don't have a fork brace, but after seeing Steve Anderson's fork brace it's on my list. Richard in Tucson 94 KLR650 86 VFR750

> What kind of roads are you riding on? > > This is my second KLR (had one 10 years ago), and I remember it's one > major flaw: Sucks on 2+ lane highways with moderate traffic. It's a > chore to make it more than 15 minutes before the fluttering and > drafting from cars wears you out. > > On single lane highways with traffic, yes, 80 is possible and doesn't > get blown all over the place, but it's still not a "Cruising" feel by > any stretch. It's more like you're pushing the limits of what both > you and the bike can take. > > Question to anyone who has lowered their front fender: Does it help? > I mean with traffic at high speeds? The problem around here in New > york on our highways and with our windy weather is that 75-80mph is > like the MINIMUM traffic speed and this bike just scares & tires the > heck out of me.

[Bogdan Swider]

> Question to anyone who has lowered their front fender: Does it help? > I mean with traffic at high speeds? The problem around here in New > york on our highways and with our windy weather is that 75-80mph is > like the MINIMUM traffic speed and this bike just scares & tires the > heck out of me. >

I have the lowered fender. Rock solid till the bike poops out at 95mph (I live at 6000 ft) I run Avon Gripsters. (Slipsters off road or gravel) Bogdan

[Jason Lutz - ISDX]

Ah...a topic I am very interested in! I don't know about the "Give me a break" part, but for me anything above 75MPH and for me I too feel like I'm trying hard to control the bike. But then again, I have MT-21's and I did not balance them when I put them on. So I'm wondering if my struggle with the bike comes from that. I bet some more "road-ish" tires would make me more comfortable at speeds above 75. But for now, wind is not really my factor (moderate wind), but the idea that my tread is split off my bike! Jason '98 KLR 650 Phoenix, Az

[richardm@gowinnt.com]

--- In DSN_klr650@y..., eric@e... wrote:

>It's a chore to make it more than 15 minutes before the fluttering >and drafting from cars wears you out.

Remove the windshield? I pulled mine, added it back on for a few days, and then pulled it off again. It now lives in a storage bin in the garage. RM

[snomobill@yahoo.com]

Removal of the handgaurds helped more than the low fender in my experience. Unless traffic is really heavy just making an adjustment to following distance can help a lot. Most low fenders I see on Klrs (including my UFO) are actually curved for a 19" wheel and don't look that great IMHO. cheers

[Tengai650]

At 8:58 PM +0000 4/23/01, eric@... wrote:

>What kind of roads are you riding on? > >This is my second KLR (had one 10 years ago), and I remember it's one >major flaw: Sucks on 2+ lane highways with moderate traffic. It's a >chore to make it more than 15 minutes before the fluttering and >drafting from cars wears you out. > >On single lane highways with traffic, yes, 80 is possible and doesn't >get blown all over the place, but it's still not a "Cruising" feel by >any stretch. It's more like you're pushing the limits of what both >you and the bike can take. > >Question to anyone who has lowered their front fender: Does it help? >I mean with traffic at high speeds? The problem around here in New >york on our highways and with our windy weather is that 75-80mph is >like the MINIMUM traffic speed and this bike just scares & tires the >heck out of me. >

I did a 750 mile day in the express lane from Salem VA to Daytona with an average speed of 75mph. Did no less than 100mph from Jacksonville to Daytona on Gripsters and a 16T front sprocket with my Tengai. Another ex-lister was with me on his '99 KLR with Gripsters and stock gearing. He had no trouble keeping up. I also routinely go great distances at speeds up to 90mph indicated on Kendas ... no problems for me. One thing you might want to try is lower your triple clamps about an inch to an 1 1/4 inches. In my experience. The KLR is squirlier at high speeds with a high front end. Mark B2 A2 A3

[ATO137528@aol.com]

The KLR is as aerodynamic from the front as it is from the side, which is to say not very. "Dirty air" in traffic upsets it terribly. But try to do some of the things it will do on dirt roads on a sport bike...LOL. Be careful! Here's a tip I picked up recently if you have a Joe Rocket jacket. Do NOT open the sleeve vents if you plan any highway speeds! I got hot last week and stopped to open the vents on the upper arms. By 65 mph, I thought I was going to be pulled off the bike by what effectively were cooling drag chutes! Lamar A14 (needs fork seals already!) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[KLR650 Mailig List]

Eric, Past weekend I installed ufo front fender and accerbis hand guards. What a difference. Bike handels much, much better in highway trafic than it used to. Still the bigest problem is a large front wheel, get rid of the stock tires and get something more street oriented if you plan to do alot of street riding. Also you might want to try diffent front forks, maybe using a fork brace like somebody mentioned before. Also a 16T front sprocket made me feel more comfortable in the street/highway trafic but that might be only in my head (there is a lot those things in my head. lately). The next thing I'll try is to get rid of the windshield and see what that does. But if you are like me 6 ft tall and only 140 Lbs. Get used to being blown around on this bike at high speeds especialy around those ignorant SUV driving morons (sorry if anybody on this list owns one of 'those' things) I just don't like people who believe they own the road because they drive a huge 4 wheel box which is 0% aerodynamic and pay no attention to anything around them. How come we can't buy the motard version of this bike in the USA, I want one! Does anybody know if there is a replacement for the headlight, into something that looks similar to the headligt on the KTM Duke? fil

> What kind of roads are you riding on? > > This is my second KLR (had one 10 years ago), and I remember it's one > major flaw: Sucks on 2+ lane highways with moderate traffic. It's a > chore to make it more than 15 minutes before the fluttering and > drafting from cars wears you out. > > On single lane highways with traffic, yes, 80 is possible and doesn't > get blown all over the place, but it's still not a "Cruising" feel by > any stretch. It's more like you're pushing the limits of what both you > and the bike can take. > > Question to anyone who has lowered their front fender: Does it help? I > mean with traffic at high speeds? The problem around here in New york > on our highways and with our windy weather is that 75-80mph is like > the MINIMUM traffic speed and this bike just scares & tires the heck > out of me. > > > > > Visit the KLR650 archives at > http://www.listquest.com/lq/search.html?ln=klr650 > > Post message: DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com > Subscribe: DSN_klr650-subscribe@yahoogroups.com > Unsubscribe: DSN_klr650-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com > List owner: DSN_klr650-owner@yahoogroups.com > > Support Dual Sport News by subscribing at: > http://www.dualsportnews.com > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to > http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

-- '01 KLR650-A15