clever safety device for off-road adventures

[J Hancock]

Hello, just joined the group tonight. I have a 2005 that was "written off" by the selling dealer because of a light clatter and vibration at higher rpms(3500 up) as "oil starvation". As a result of their guess diagnosis..( it was never taken apart and inspected) the bike was totalled by the insurance co.the bike was crashed..I mean lightly laid down on the left side to barely rash radiator cowl and bent radiator mount on left side...easily hand straigtened....no leaks. It only needed a new rad. cowl..that's it. I have the bike now(2nd owner)..it even has the extended "good times warranty now in my name... with 7k on bike. It starts, idles, runs like new except for a light clatter upon cracking the throttle from idle..nothing at high RPM. I have riden it as is, after changing all oil and filter about 250 miles. the balancer adj. doesn't help, I have not been into it there and it doesn't seem to get any worse..like a rod bearing would. However, the vibration is no longer bearable. Can the balancer come out of time with the crankshaft? one of my guesses..what would your guess be? I'll report back whatever I find..the dealer won't touch it, so I'm on my own here. thanks!! Jay [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Thor Lancelot Simon]

On Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 09:52:35PM -0700, J Hancock wrote:

> > I have the bike now(2nd owner)..it even has the extended "good times > warranty now in my name... with 7k on bike. It starts, idles, runs > like new except for a light clatter upon cracking the throttle from > idle..nothing at high RPM. I have riden it as is, after changing > all oil and filter about 250 miles. the balancer adj. doesn't > help, I have not been into it there and it doesn't seem to get any > worse..like a rod bearing would. However, the vibration is no longer > bearable. Can the balancer come out of time with the crankshaft?

Did the problem get worse when you adjusted the balancer tensioner? If so, that's a good sign the balancer chain is off -- not uncommon for bikes to come from the factory with it timed wrong by a tooth or two, actually -- but if not, it's still worth at least checking, since if the tensioner was already tight, the vibes wouldn't get worse if you adjusted it. Your guess was a pretty good guess, I think. Thor

[Eric Rickel]

My guess ( cause my 05 did same thing) doo spring is broke and the doo slipped to full loose. I did not notice any vibration but would get a little rattle at lower RPM acceleration. Hope this helps Eric -------Original Message------- From: J Hancock Date: 10/12/2007 11:51:45 PM To: DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com Subject: [DSN_KLR650] 2005 vibration Hello, just joined the group tonight. I have a 2005 that was "written off" by the selling dealer because of a light clatter and vibration at higher rpms(3500 up) as "oil starvation". As a result of their guess diagnosis..( it was never taken apart and inspected) the bike was totalled by the insurance co.the bike was crashed..I mean lightly laid down on the left side to barely rash radiator cowl and bent radiator mount on left side...easily hand straigtened....no leaks. It only needed a new rad. cowl..that's it. I have the bike now(2nd owner)..it even has the extended "good times warranty now in my name... with 7k on bike. It starts, idles, runs like new except for a light clatter upon cracking the throttle from idle..nothing at high RPM. I have riden it as is, after changing all oil and filter about 250 miles. the balancer adj. doesn't help, I have not been into it there and it doesn't seem to get any worse..like a rod bearing would. However, the vibration is no longer bearable. Can the balancer come out of time with the crankshaft? one of my guesses..what would your guess be? I'll report back whatever I find..the dealer won't touch it, so I'm on my own here. thanks!! Jay [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] 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 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[J Hancock]

Hello group, I said I would report back when this problem was resolved...I found another very gracious Kawasaki dealer indeed..they went into the first cover and simply found that the chain has stretched and that the balancer had "jumped time" considerable..more than one tooth.the chain was stretched beyond adjustment limits. New chain and o rings, gaskets and re-timed. All done under the "goodtimes extended warranty" Everything else looked perfect...from what I read here, not all dealers will listen..but an astute, caring Dealer can make all the difference Thanks Kawasaki!

----- Original Message ----- From: J Hancock To: Thor Lancelot Simon Sent: Friday, October 12, 2007 9:06 PM Subject: Re: [DSN_KLR650] 2005 vibration Thanks for the instant reply...I thought at first that the noise was somewhat less when I first adjusted it, but now, no change whatsoever. The vibration however, did get worse and it is much worse than the light clatter in my opinion. By the way, the selling dealer..before they realized that the bike had been laid down..blamed it all on "poor owner maintenance" because they "never fail if properly maintained".I was told. could "oil starvation" be a factor? Or is this a smoke screen? I wasn't impressed at all by the attitude I found there. thanks again, Jay ----- Original Message ----- From: Thor Lancelot Simon To: J Hancock Cc: dsn_klr650@yahoogroups.com Sent: Friday, October 12, 2007 9:56 PM Subject: Re: [DSN_KLR650] 2005 vibration On Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 09:52:35PM -0700, J Hancock wrote: > > I have the bike now(2nd owner)..it even has the extended "good times > warranty now in my name... with 7k on bike. It starts, idles, runs > like new except for a light clatter upon cracking the throttle from > idle..nothing at high RPM. I have riden it as is, after changing > all oil and filter about 250 miles. the balancer adj. doesn't > help, I have not been into it there and it doesn't seem to get any > worse..like a rod bearing would. However, the vibration is no longer > bearable. Can the balancer come out of time with the crankshaft? Did the problem get worse when you adjusted the balancer tensioner? If so, that's a good sign the balancer chain is off -- not uncommon for bikes to come from the factory with it timed wrong by a tooth or two, actually -- but if not, it's still worth at least checking, since if the tensioner was already tight, the vibes wouldn't get worse if you adjusted it. Your guess was a pretty good guess, I think. Thor [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[E.L. Green]

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, Blake Sobiloff wrote:

> On Nov 15, 2007, at 10:08 AM, macvalk wrote: > > http://www.findmespot.com/explorespot/checkin.aspx > > Good, in-depth review here: > > http://equipped.org/SPOT_ORSummer2007.htm

A couple of folks at the Backpacking Light Yahoo group have used them (one was a beta tester for the service), if you're interested you might want to see what they have to say about its uses and limitations as a substitute for carrying a bulky satellite phone around with you when in the outback. It uses the data portion of the failing Globalstar satellite constellation, which thus far is unaffected by the problems that have afflicted its voice service but just something to think about as Globalstar struggles with bankruptcy. Still, the price is right -- the device plus a year's service is cheaper than one week's rent of a sat phone. So if you only get to use the device for a week before Globalstar pulls the plug... (shrug). _E