tires: north to alaska

[Jacobus De Bruyn]

Dear friends, I am pretty pissed off again, it would be wise for Se or Kawasaki not to come into my presence at the moment. Not even a black belt would save his skin. I took off the swingarm-shock absorber linkage, I had to loosen a couple of nuts with my foot, after hitting them a few times, very tight. But anyhow, the stuff is off, but I found a problem. The needle bearings on the biggest pivot bolt, the one with the plastic caps on them, inside the triangle-shaped lever with the three holes, were completely shot, the needles just fell out, rusty too. So now I wonder where do I get these bearings? Are they exclusive to Kawasaki? The bike is 3,5 years old, and when it was one year old, I took it to the Kawa dealer, because the stupid owners manual said so. The intention was to check the valve clearance, and to lubricate the swingarm pivot, unitrack linkage. I saw that the mechanic started to disarm a few bolts in the linkage, and then they said I could not stay inside the shop area, rules are rules. So now I found out he never removed and greased this pivot bolt. Great service from these = /( (&$!!! , who only seem interested in selling new motorcycles. I will never never never buy anything that even has something remotely to do with the Kasawaki brand, not even a coffeemaker or a condom. I ll go with Yamaha anytime, cheaper parts, and they are available! Service right here where I live. Nice people too! They ll do anything to help you. I am sure that if this bolt had been greased properly when putting the bike together at the factory, with good waterproof grease, it still would be ok. So I drove up and down for six hours to get to the oficial Kawasaki workshop, for nothing. It is after I became a member of this group that I started to take things in my own hands, because if you don t know, you just mess things up worse. So now I ll get sympathy, advice and encouragement, for which I am thankful in advance. Now I ll go down to my disemboweled mount, and clean and check, & see what else is f.... up. Jake. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Luggage? GPS? Comic books? Check out fitting gifts for grads at Yahoo! Search http://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=oni_on_mail&p=graduation+gifts&cs=bz

[Zachariah Mully]

On Thu, 2007-09-20 at 10:27 -0700, Jacobus De Bruyn wrote:

> Dear friends, > I am pretty pissed off again, it would be wise for > Se or Kawasaki not to come into my presence at the > moment. Not even a black belt would save his skin. > > I took off the swingarm-shock absorber linkage, I had > to loosen a couple of nuts with my foot, after hitting > them a few times, very tight. But anyhow, the stuff > is off, but I found a problem. > The needle bearings on the biggest pivot bolt, the one > with the plastic caps on them, inside the > triangle-shaped lever with the three holes, were > completely shot, the needles just fell out, rusty too.

You might be able to rehab the bearings with some fine steel wool, repacking them with waterproof grease and putting them back in. While they are out, take measurements of them, then call a local bearing house to see if they've got something to replace them with. Z -- Zachariah Mully Director, Systems and Networks SmartBrief, Inc. zmully@... p: 202-737-5500 x226 c: 202-422-8780 f: 202-737-7577

[Jon Neet]

I'm with ya on this one. I just bought a Yamaha XT225 (and have a KLR too) and the Yamaha has grease fittings at all the pivot points!!! What a concept. What would it have cost Kawasaki to do the same-$25.00??Grease fittings are cheap and designing a part with a hole coudln't be that exspensive. I wish motorcycles had twin shocks like they used to.Or even a single with no extra linkage like the first Yamaha Monoshocks or the new Kawasaki 650 Ninja. jon --------------------------------- Catch up on fall's hot new shows on Yahoo! TV. Watch previews, get listings, and more! [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Richard Bassett]

Lack of grease nipples on the rear suspension is just another of the big "little" engineering shortcuts that Kawacrappi has taken with the KLR. For me, I was suspicious when I found that the right-side mirror has a right-hand thread, unlike properly-engineered bikes like Yamahas and even Hondas. What happens when you catch the mirror on a branch or similar? It might strip the thread, but more likely you'll land on your neck. The mirror is at the top of the bike, the linkage is near the bottom. What's in between? The doohickey. The voltage regulator, set at 14.5V, way too high (should be 13.8), so the battery consumes water and occasionally spews acid out the breather. And the clear plastic overflow tube had 2 little slits about 1/2" down from the battery, to let the acid dribble everywhere. Do they fix the regulator voltage? No, they just fix the manual (Supplementary Manual, p14-4) to say the spec is 15V - even worse! What else, guys & gals? As for dealer service, I took my 06 KLR to the nearest dealer for its first service. For A$288, they changed the oil and probably the filter, cleanned the air filter, and ticked all the boxes in the service schedule. But I'd ridden some dirt, and the fine layer of dust on all the bolts and screws under the L side cover was undisturbed. Now what kind of trained Japanese cockroaches did they employ to check the battery level and spark plug gap without removing those bolts??? It's DIY from now on, thanks. ___________________________________________________________ Want ideas for reducing your carbon footprint? Visit Yahoo! For Good http://uk.promotions.yahoo.com/forgood/environment.html

[Forrest]

Hmmmm? Strangely enough I think most folks on the list actually like their KLR's? ww --- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, Richard Bassett wrote:

> > Lack of grease nipples on the rear suspension is just another of the > big "little" engineering shortcuts that Kawacrappi has taken with

[Jacobus De Bruyn]

Yep, we like the KLR, more so because of its quirks. I like my wife and kids, but still there s plenty room for improvement, but that is their view of me too I guess. I would not mind a bit more quality, and pay $1000,- more for reliability and trouble free driving. The passion kind of cools when you constantly find things that could have been made better for a few dollars more. I hate cheap skate stuff, there is something fundamentally wrong with that way of thinking. Dlinking gleen tea with an election, Luc. Jake. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Moody friends. Drama queens. Your life? Nope! - their life, your story. Play Sims Stories at Yahoo! Games. http://sims.yahoo.com/

[Michael Nelson]

On Mon, Sep 24, 2007 at 05:30:25PM -0700, Jacobus De Bruyn wrote:

> guess. I would not mind a bit more quality, and pay > $1000,- more for reliability and trouble free driving.

I've paid a LOT more for a heckuva lot less quality (my Ducati 851 Strada comes to mind).

> The passion kind of cools when you constantly find > things that could have been made better for a few > dollars more.

I challenge you to find *any* production motorcycle where that isn't true. Michael

> Dlinking gleen tea with an election, Luc.

TMI, Jake, TMI -- "Do you think that when they asked George Washington for ID he just whipped out a quarter?" --Steven Wright San Francisco, CA

[THE MIGHTY VEXORG]

revmaaatin wrote:

> --- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com > , Charles Earl wrote: > > > > Rev. Earl, > > > > I once did an ~8000 mile Alaska trip on one set of > > Gripsters (new at start). Gripsters last a long time; > > how long one might ask? Well, on another trip, at the > > start in Santa Cruz, CA, I pulled-off used TKC-80's > > and dusted-off and remounted the afore mentioned > > Gripsters. I rode to Seattle. ~1000 miles. Pulled the > > Gripsters (not done with them yet), mounted the new > > TKC-80's I had UPS'd to my brother's house and rode to > > Alaska. > > > > I again mounted a new rear TKC-80 I had UPS'd to > > myself General Delivery in Fairbanks. With a little > > more than 4000 miles on it, the new in Seattle rear > > TKC was pretty hammered, the Dempster Highway had a > > lot to do with that. It still had a little meat left > > on it and was pretty squared-off. I left it in the > > garage at Carmen's B and B in Fairbanks, it's probably > > still there and it's yours if you need it (Ken and > > Carmen, the owners, are great. I recommend their > > place, they also allowed me to keep my bike/gear in > > garage and change my tire there). I rode up to > > Deadhorse and back to Fairbanks and then all the way > > back to Seattle. Upon arrival, the front TKC was > > toast. It had worn badly and every other lug was badly > > worn. My front wheel felt like it was a square for the > > last thousand or so miles. > > > > Back in Seattle, I removed the fryed front TKC (~8000 > > miles) and _remounted the same front Gripster_ I had > > left at my brother's house. The rear Gripster was now > > badly worn, ~9000 miles, I ceremoniously tossed-it and > > the front TKC in the recycle facility and watched a > > giant bulldozer run over them. > > > > I rode home with a squared-off TKC on the rear (about > > 4800 miles on arrival, still usable) and the seemingly > > indestructible front AM-24, which saw ~10000 miles > > when I reached Santa Cruz. It _still_ had a little > > tread on it, but I laid it to rest permanantly. > > > > I was very satisfied with my choices. The Gripsters > > were mostly great on the first trip, but sucked when I > > rode in mud, deeper gravel and snow (it snowed on > > Iskut Pass on the Cassier). The TKC's were great, > > excellent traction and decent highway manners. They > > inspired alot of confidence on the Dempster and > > Dalton. Only problem was how the front wore unevenly. > > FWIW, I ran fairly high pressures when the road was > > smooth. I will probably use them again for the same > > trip. Personally, if I weren't doing the Dempster, > > Dalton or Campbell Highways, I'd just go with the > > Gripsters and call it a day on tire changing. > > Generally speaking, you don't need aggressive tires on > > the Cassier/Top of the World highways. Often, the > > construction areas can be the worst surfaces. > > > > Departure dates: earlier trip June 22nd, last KLR trip > > July 16th. > > > > Last summer, my girlfriend accompanied me up to > > Alaska. Instead of making her riding 2-up (not on a > > klr for a trip of this magnitude), we took my '83 VW > > Westfalia (Michelin Agilis 81 8-ply rated tires, best > > I've ever used on my camper). It was awesome. Instead > > of being minimalist, I lost my mind going fishing, > > clamming, backpacking and stuff. Ran into Tom and > > Laura Grenon in Watson Lake (KLR650 and DRZ40) and we > > got to hang-out and camp. They were going to continue > > south to Costa. I'll probably make the run up to > > Prudhoe on the KLR next summer. > > > > Have fun when you go up there. > > > > Charles > > A-14 > > http://dualsportmotorcycling.com/ http://dualsportmotorcycling.com/> > > > Wow, > You did some tire juggling! and had a nice ride. I tired to Mapquest > the route to Prudhoe Bay, and it does not recognize it as a 'road- > available' destination. shrug. > > Any problems with the General Delivery to Fairbanks with the tires? > How many days will they keep them before they become a problem to the > post office? > > revmaaatin. > >

Seeing your comment about MapQuest made me finally get off my butt and put my GPS tracks online from when my wife and I rode our KLRs to Deadhorse this summer for our honeymoon (yes, that only took a few months for me to put them up). Disclaimer: links are to my own site, setup to share GPS tracks for free. Fairbanks to Wiseman (just north of Coldfoot): http://bike.stu.ph/rides/ride.php?ride=171 Wiseman to Deadhorse: http://bike.stu.ph/rides/ride.php?ride=172 Pat http://bike.stu.ph/rides