happy trails racks

[raiderx002000]

Background I'm a newby rider from the Sacramento, CA who has just logged his 2000th motorcycling mile on a recently purchased 1999 KLR 650. While I was out exploring the back roads of the delta, I came across a rode with a sign, "closed for the winter". I said to myself, "Surely, they don't mean me and my KLR", off I went. It turns out there was a reason for the sign. The road was extremely muddy and had deep ruts. To make, a long story short, I ended up dropping the bike for the first time and stuck in the mud. The problem After righting the bike, I started it and geared it into first. When I released the clutch, the bike would lurch a few feet and stall. I thought perhaps the mud was caked on too thick and interfered with the rear tire movement. So, I dug away as much of the mud as I could. Still, I had the same problem. I thought perhaps I'm being too gentle on the bike. So, I revved the engine to about 6000 rpm dropped the clutch and after a few feet of movement, it konked out again. Next time, when I tried to gear it, release the clutch, and throttle it, I got no movement at all. I COULD SHIFT THROUGH ALL OF THE GEARS, RELEASE THE CLUCTH, THROTTLE IT AND THE BIKE WOULD NOT MOVE. I put the bike in neutral and tried to push. It would only move inches at a time as I pushed with all my strength. So, I'm stuck. Luckily, a gentleman with a 4x4 comes by and pulls me out. In the course of getting pulled out of the mud, the rear wheel turned a revolution and spit out a chewed up old ragged that appeared to be caught in the gearing. After, spending the rest of the day on the side of the road, trying to resolve the situation, I called it quits. I ended up calling the old man who has a small van. Upon his arrival, we packed the KLR in the back of the van (a Dodge Caravan-that's another story) and he gave me and the bike a ride home. I was dejected and muddied after my 12 hr adventure. PS, I'm now in problem solving mode, and would appreciate any guidance on this matter.

[Tengai Mark Van Horn]

At 7:52 AM +0000 11/21/04, raiderx002000 wrote:

>I'm a newby rider from the Sacramento, CA who has just logged his >2000th motorcycling mile on a recently purchased 1999 KLR 650. >While I was out exploring the back roads of the delta, I came across >a rode with a sign, "closed for the winter".

Ah yes, those and the "Road not maintained, travel at own risk" are my favorite street signs.

>To make, a long story short, I ended up >dropping the bike for the first time and stuck in the mud.... >After righting the bike, I started it and geared it into first. When >I released the clutch, the bike would lurch a few feet and stall.

I'm guessing that all that mud munged up your sidestand safety switch and/or cable. Disconnect the cable from the switch lever, bounce the lever up and down a few times and see if the problem is gone. A lot of guys remove the cable, some disable the switch. I prefer not chopping into the electrics unless I have to. Mark

[Conall]

--- In DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com, "raiderx002000" wrote: To make, a long story short, I ended up

> dropping the bike for the first time and stuck in the mud. > > The problem > > After righting the bike, I started it and geared it into first.

When

> I released the clutch, the bike would lurch a few feet and stall.

I

> thought perhaps the mud was caked on too thick and interfered with > the rear tire movement. So, I dug away as much of the mud as I > could. Still, I had the same problem. I thought perhaps I'm being > too gentle on the bike. So, I revved the engine to about 6000 rpm > dropped the clutch and after a few feet of movement, it konked out > again. Next time, when I tried to gear it, release the clutch, and > throttle it, I got no movement at all. I COULD SHIFT THROUGH ALL

OF

> THE GEARS, RELEASE THE CLUCTH, THROTTLE IT AND THE BIKE WOULD NOT > MOVE. I put the bike in neutral and tried to push. It would only > move inches at a time as I pushed with all my strength. So, I'm > stuck. Luckily, a gentleman with a 4x4 comes by and pulls me out. > In the course of getting pulled out of the mud, the rear wheel > turned a revolution and spit out a chewed up old ragged that > appeared to be caught in the gearing. After, spending the rest of > the day on the side of the road, trying to resolve the situation, I > called it quits. I ended up calling the old man who has a small > van. Upon his arrival, we packed the KLR in the back of the van (a > Dodge Caravan-that's another story) and he gave me and the bike a > ride home. I was dejected and muddied after my 12 hr adventure. > > PS, I'm now in problem solving mode, and would appreciate any > guidance on this matter.

You mentioned the wheel was hard to turn, and then you finally got the wheel to rotate one revolution. Is the drive chain and sprockets clear of all obstructions, and does the rear wheel rotate freely when the transmission is in neutral? Is the root cause of the problem you chain is jammed, or did you foul the safety switches ,is what I'm wondering. Conall

[klr6501995]

I love my SU racks. Strong as any thing. I really like them when I have to pick the bike up off the ground in mud or sand. I beleive they saved my leg in a 30mph lowside spinout. The podercoat doesn't hold up for anything with bungee cords. Stainless steel would be great. The nice thing about them is that they could be welded or brazed for repair anywhere. I'd recommend hard cases, they won't wag the dog in hairy situations. --- In DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com, "frankconley" wrote:

> > I'm looking at the SU rack and have some questions for those with

them. While most of

> my gear-transportation needs are hauling camping gear for 3-4 day

trips, for which I

> think that soft dry bags would be best, I would like the versality

of attaching some Pelican

> boxes or aluminum panniers if my trip were to be longer. Does the

SU rack work okay

> with something like the Outdoor Research bags? Or is there a

better option for what I

> need that I'm missing. > > (Keep in mind, I have off road get-offs as frequent as Ewan

MacGregor's in Long Way

> Round. So another plus of the racks is some additional crash

protection. )