ride report/ ulysses

[seche_1]

I now have 350 miles on my 2008 a hundred of which were in the pouring rain.. I can't compare it to the older KLRs as I have never ridden one, but I must say I really like this bike. Gas milage on the first 2 tanks has been about 51mpg. Even under hard braking it exhibits very little nose dive and it is plenty nimble when I want to dive into a curve. There are a couple of minor down sides A few hours on the seat is about all I can take. I will either need to pad my butt or get a gel seat at some point. I would have also liked to see enough space in the little storage compartment for things like the manual and things like insurance card and registration. They had the room, I am not sure why they didn't use it. These are however minor complaints. The manual talks about doing the valves at 7500 miles. From some of what I have read, this sounds a little long. Reasons and recommendations gentleman? The valves are going to be a pretty complicated job from what I have read. I don't want to do it if it isn't necessary but I don't want to burn up the motor either. Thanks Daniel

[Andrus Chesley]

I guess that would depend on how hard you run your engine. I checked my '00 at about 6000 miles frist time but didn't have to change a shim till 12,000. But I don't rev the engine up past about 6000 very much at all. Kinda run between 3000 and 5000 most of the time. Did the same with my BMW R11 bikes and Valve pretty much stayed in adjustment. Andy in Louisiana

[usa1911a1]

I did my first valve check at 7000 miles with trepidation. I took about 5 hours to do the job, stopping for lunch in the middle. I had my laptop open and worked every step using Marks website. My valves needed new shims, with one exhaust valve out of spec and the rest within spec but needing new shims. I do not baby the bike, nor do I run over 6000 RPM for sustained time. I do not hesitate to rev the engine off the line but immediately settle in to cruise RPM's at speed. Capt. Bob in Durham, CT. USA http://www.essexsteamtrain.com/ http://seniorbiker.blogspot.com 2006 A6F KLR Green Tires: Mefo 99 Explorers Country roads (20% dirt), dual tracks. NY State and Northern New England

----- Original Message ----- From: seche_1 To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com Sent: Saturday, May 19, 2007 4:20 AM Subject: [DSN_KLR650] Update on the 2008 and a question about valve adjustment. I now have 350 miles on my 2008 a hundred of which were in the pouring rain.. I can't compare it to the older KLRs as I have never ridden one, but I must say I really like this bike. Gas milage on the first 2 tanks has been about 51mpg. Even under hard braking it exhibits very little nose dive and it is plenty nimble when I want to dive into a curve. There are a couple of minor down sides A few hours on the seat is about all I can take. I will either need to pad my butt or get a gel seat at some point. I would have also liked to see enough space in the little storage compartment for things like the manual and things like insurance card and registration. They had the room, I am not sure why they didn't use it. These are however minor complaints. The manual talks about doing the valves at 7500 miles. From some of what I have read, this sounds a little long. Reasons and recommendations gentleman? The valves are going to be a pretty complicated job from what I have read. I don't want to do it if it isn't necessary but I don't want to burn up the motor either. Thanks Daniel [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Blake Sobiloff]

On May 19, 2007, at 1:20 AM, seche_1 wrote:

> The manual talks about doing the valves at 7500 miles. From some of > what I have read, this sounds a little long. Reasons and > recommendations gentleman?

The older models recommended an initial adjustment at 500 miles, and then again at 6,000 miles; is that no longer the case with the new models?

> The valves are going to be a pretty > complicated job from what I have read. I don't want to do it if it > isn't necessary but I don't want to burn up the motor either.

If you're planning on maintaining your bike yourself, there's no point in delaying it, and checking the valve isn't very hard. Unless Kawi made some significant changes to the materials in the valvetrain, I'm not sure I'd want to wait until 7,500 miles. Just out of curiosity I'd probably take a look at half that distance and record what I find. It'd be interesting to know how quickly the valves change. -- Blake Sobiloff http://sobiloff.typepad.com/blakeblog/> http://sobiloff.typepad.com/klr_adventure/> San Jose, CA (USA) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Mike Peplinski]

Regarding the storage thing. Look for a visor mounted device at the auto store. Some of them are pretty big and some are smaller. They look pretty "nerdy" on the visor but work great on the bike. I found one made out of nylon thats about 4 inches wide and about 10 inches long with 2 little pockets and a zipper pocket. I ran a couple of zip ties through the edge and cinched up to the cross bar on the handlebars. It works like a sort of "glove box" for storing little things, like licenese, registration and ear plugs. Looks just fine. Regarding the seat thing; either get used to it or plan on modifying the seat. You can shave the existing seat and replace the foam with gel or buy a Corbin. Lots of us get by fine with the stock seat. This is a great bike as you're finding out. Enjoy it and ride often. (and ride safe)

>From: "seche_1" >To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com >Subject: [DSN_KLR650] Update on the 2008 and a question about valve >adjustment. >Date: Sat, 19 May 2007 08:20:29 -0000 > >I now have 350 miles on my 2008 a hundred of which were in the >pouring rain.. I can't compare it to the older KLRs as I have never >ridden one, but I must say I really like this bike. Gas milage on >the first 2 tanks has been about 51mpg. Even under hard braking it >exhibits very little nose dive and it is plenty nimble when I want to >dive into a curve. > >There are a couple of minor down sides A few hours on the seat is >about all I can take. I will either need to pad my butt or get a gel >seat at some point. I would have also liked to see enough space in >the little storage compartment for things like the manual and things >like insurance card and registration. They had the room, I am not >sure why they didn't use it. These are however minor complaints. > >The manual talks about doing the valves at 7500 miles. From some of >what I have read, this sounds a little long. Reasons and >recommendations gentleman? The valves are going to be a pretty >complicated job from what I have read. I don't want to do it if it >isn't necessary but I don't want to burn up the motor either. > >Thanks >Daniel > > > > > >List sponsored by Dual Sport News at: www.dualsportnews.com >List FAQ courtesy of Chris Krok at: www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html >Member Map at: http://www.frappr.com/dsnklr650 >Yahoo! Groups Links > > >

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[hijklr]

Daniel, Before you adjust the valves, study Mark's procedure until you understand the how and why of the steps. Be prepared to have the bike disassembled for a few days as you wait for shims. For me, the hardest parts were removing the valve cover (I never can remember the easy path out) and dealing with all the silicone Kawasaki uses on the valve cover. It must have taken an hour to remove all that crap. I only use Hylomar HPF on gaskets and have never had a leak. When you see your oil screen, you'll probably never use silicone again. Other than a warranty fan relay replacement, I have done all the maintenance on my pig and would't have it any other way. When I'm running 80 mph on a gravel road I don't want any doubts. Kevin A17 21000 smiles

[Mike Peplinski]

The traveling Buell road show was in town this week so I satisfied my curiosity about my pespective "next bike", you know, thats the one I'll get when I wear out my KLR. I'll spare you the details of waiting and the building anticipation after listening to the team talk up their bikes. It was a short group ride, never going over 50MPH, that lasted about half an hour. My objective was to evaluate the bike using my KLR as the benchmark. Got on the bike; sits nice. Tall and stretched out. I like that. About as tall as my KLR with the lowering links. Started nice. That 1200 engine is really nice. It vibrates like a "vibra-bed", different than the KLR. There's definitely more down there. Lost more. Blip the throttle and it revs quick. The engine really smooths down at revs. First gear is a serious "clonk" that sort of reminds me of my BMW. It didn't have the lurch I get off my KLR when itsw cold going into first, but it clunks into gear. The shifts are similar. Pretty notchy, but this bike had 20 miles on it. Where the gears feel light in my KLR, they feel heavy in the Ully. Maybe this would go away. Taking off is about the same as the KLR. Plenty of torque, nice clutch action and pull. But here's the difference. Give it some throttle when you hit 3000 and hang on. It builds, and builds and builds! No problem passing with this baby. Very stable and confidence inspiring. It wastn't the 'wheelie monster" that I feared. Nice power delivery. Its easy to see why guys like this bike. It just oozes torque. Very broad power band too. We didn't really get to unwind it so I can't say what high speed feels like. I prefer a "flickable" bike. Dancing from sidewall to sidewall really gives me confidence in my bike. I really didn't get comfortable with the Ully. I could probably get used to it but when I first drove the KLR I didn't feel the same way. I instantly felt comfortable. The Buell takes more getting used to. Not that it handles badly. I just didn't get the feeling that it would be the canyon carver a properly set up KLR can be. Half way through the ride I found myself wishing it would be over. I really wanted to plop back on my KLR. This is not good for the Buell sales guys. In summary I'd say; nice bike. Fair price. I'd want to check out the Tiger and V strom before buying this bike. But for half the money-go green. If 650cc gets you where you need to go you can't beat this bike. I guess for now my next bike is still going to be another KLR-if I can ever wear this one out. _________________________________________________________________ PC Magazine s 2007 editors choice for best Web mail award-winning Windows Live Hotmail. http://imagine-windowslive.com/hotmail/?locale=en-us&ocid=TXT_TAGHM_migration_HM_mini_pcmag_0507