anmin: let's let this one through- the man has earned it

[Bill Watson]

Joe wrote:

>But from my understanding, the Do-Hickey issue was largely addressed in the

08 model refresh? ------------------------ I would argue a resounding "no, not addressed" answer. Just like the early bikes, they also suffer from a high rate of "Failure to adjust" by the time the bike has 5,000 miles. The levers are still sloppy, we see less spring failures (but do see them) and always see essentially no spring tension from the get-go. Watt-man Phoenix, AZ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Jud]

Interesting article from Elden. Notwithstanding his considerable contributions to KLR technical lore, he has been known on more than one occasion to hand out some dubious advice. I think his reliance on the factory quadrant is one such example. Although it appears the factory has fixed the breakage issue, it will still be difficult to get many adjustments out of the factory quadrant. Mike's version is indexed differently on the shaft so as to allow a greater range of adjustment, which makes it a worthwhile, if not absolutely necessary replacement part for the '08 and later bikes. For the earlier bikes, I don't know why anybody would put in a later factory quadrant when Mike's superior part is available.

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "dc50093" wrote: > > History of the "Doohickey", by Elden Carl (This will be posted on both kists) > > Following is a short history on the troublesome KLR650 balancer adjustment lever,sometimes known as the "doohickey". Kawasaki engine balancer systems have been a dangerous problem for owners of KLR600s and KLR650s for over 25 years. > > Even today's KLR balancer systems are flawed despite the fact that the E-models (08/09) came equipped with the toughest and best "doohickey" available. The problems are twofold; the lack of a monitoring inspection hole and a spring that's too long. We > long ago solved the inspection problem and finally have found a custom factory spring that has perfect tension and the ability to > pull for a long time without creating too much pre-load friction on the idler shaft needle bearing which is not pressure lubricated. > > Anyone who tells you their springs don't break and you don't need an inspection hole is double wrong. We've found broken factory, Eagle, and MMP springs among other. MMP (on topgunmotorcycles.com) appears to be the only company offering a reliable kit which includes the factory 08/09 doohickey, easy inspection hole installation, instructions, tools and a custom factory spring of the correct tension that has never been known to fail in its original environment. Mike Henshaw had the first one of these kits installed about 6,000 miles ago. Two inspections later, everything looks perfect and the mechanism runs quieter than it ever has. > > But I'm getting ahead of myself. The early KLRs had spring dampened balancer sprockets up to 1996 when, due to cronic balancer sprocket failures, they went the solid sprocket. Kurt Grife and I never suffered a doohickey or spring failure while the balancer sprockets were spring loaded. > > When I took my 1993 KLR engine apart at 54,500 miles it was noisy due to a sloppy balancer chain , but the lever and spring were intact. It was obvious due to chain slop and marks on the crankcase that the chain was about to come off and probably hadn't > been adjusting for at least 30,000 miles. > > After installing solid balancer sprockets in the late 1990s I began to find broken springs and levers. I finally decided that the engine was too dangerous to operate without a bullet proof lever and the ability to inspect the spring. > > The inspection problem was solved by myself and Scott Wexman who found a perfect easy place to install an inspection hole. About this time a rider named Bogdon informed me that a tough machined lever was now being produced at Sagebrush Engineering by the late Jake Jakeman who allegedly called it a doohickey. Bogdon sent me one of the > levers from Sagebrush but it didn't fit properly. > > At this point I decided to go to Eagle Manufacturing who I believed could make a good copy of the factory lever. Eagle offered to make me a lever if I would pay several hundred bucks for set-up. I was told that I would then own the rights to the lever. I advised Eagle that I didn't want to be in business. In the meantime I talked to Bill Russell who was in town buying my Honda Hawk stuff. Bill decided to pay for the Eagle set-up time. I'm told that later Eagle decided to market the lever and bought out Bill's interest in > the project. > > Now things get interesting. "Jake" gets word that I'm helping Eagle produce a lever and he phoned me and was hopping mad. I explained to Jake that since he was having a fitment problem it was easier for me to work locally, thereby having some direct input. In > retrospect, I regret that since Jake had the first good aftermarket doohickey, I didn't help him. After all, he was only a small radius away from having it right. Kurt Grife purchased > an early Jake lever and he still has it in his bike. It still looks and works perfectly after tens of thousands of miles (Kurt has over 100,000 miles on KLRs). > > A short time after my problems with Jake ended, Eagle called me and asked if I would check fitment on their new copy of the factory lever. Since I had an engine on my crankcase/balancer building table I agreed. I installed the Eagle lever and then attempted to install the rotor which contacted the lever. > > After checking fitment carefully, I suggested that: > 1) The lever be radiused slightly in the area that I had marked on the lever. Unfortunately, the radius was overdone on the production model creating a sharp edge in the corner that "could" invite cracks 2) a problem the new factory lever doesn't have). > Make the adjustment bolt slot a little longer (a recommendation I now realize wasn't necessary when the system is serviced at correct intervals). NOTE: The 1996 KLR650 formerly owned by original owner Joe Carpenter and now owned by Rod Morris needed no new balancer parts at over 50,000 miles. We installed the new 08 factory doohickey and MMPs new spring kit (already had the inspection hole). At 100,000 miles we'll probably have to change the idler sprocket and rear > balancer sprocket to bring it back to specifications. I would like to say in closing that I have never had a financial interest in the Eagle or any other aftermarket copy of the factory doohickey. I simply wanted to finally have a safe and reliable KLR650 balancer system which I finally have with > 3) The new tougher, thicker bladed factory doohickey (backed by Kawasaki). > 4) The Wexman/Carl inspection port through which I once found (my bike) and replaced a broken spring before it could cause a slack chain and resultant blown engine (Kurt Grife and Jim Bellach can tell you what that's like). > > Nearly a quarter million KLR miles and more than three dozen engine teardowns have taught me what it takes to build and maintain a safe and durable KLR650 engine. Once the top end of any oil burning KLR650 is upgraded, you are only a factory 08/09 doohickey, Wexman/Carl inspection port, and MMP spring kit away from safety and reliability. > > By the way, anyone who tells you his aftermarket doohickey is better than the new factory 08/09 lever "ain't" telling the truth. Even worse is the guy who tells you to replace the stock doohickey found in your 08/09 E-model KLR650. Furthermore, he doesn't care about your warranty or your ability to recover from Kawasaki's deep pockets should you be injured or worse. > > Recently there has been a lot of controversy, speculation and confusion relating to what Jake first coined as a doohickey. I hope the above un-biased history (sincerely given from one who was there from the beginning) will help in the overall understanding of the > most dangerous engineering screw-up ever to come out of Japan. > > ************************************ > > An editorial note: I've met both Elden an Eagle Mike. Although their skill sets are different, between the two of them I'm thinking that each has forgotten more about KLR650's than most of us will ever know! This is a subjective feeling on my part- perhaps I'm wrong. Regardless, no two men have contributed more to the KLR communinity than these two fine individuals and it's bothered me terribly that they've not been getting on well in recent years. > > We're all in this together... We're drawn together by this less than perfect piece of metal called the KLR650. That's the very reason that we love the KL650 so much! The whole is greater than the sum of it's individual parts. Can we look at each of us the same? We're all just like KLR's! None of us are perfect or even close to it. We disagree.... often! Yet in our disagreement we gravitate toward something better. Something higher... Something that somehow makes us all sleep better at night. > > This ongoing issue w/ Eagle Mike and Elden has been bothering me for some time now. I'm really surprised that most people in both groups have not spoken up as I have chosen to do now. That is to say, I feel that both are basically the fathers of everything KLR650 and we all owe both a sincere debt of gratitude. > > That said, we're moving towards the holiday season- a time to forgive/ forget and otherwise make amends. I've personally heard both Eagle Mike's and Elden's side of the story (from their own mouths) and I understand that there is allot of bad blood that has been spilled. Both of you guys are angry. Have you ever considered how the fallout has affected the rest of us? > > I occasionally view a photo of Elden and Pauline pulling into the Julian Tech Day in the early days (which were not all that long ago). I encourage everyone on this list to view this same photo (it's available in the Julian Tech archives). As he's arriving, Pauline on the back, everything about him says: "I WANT TO HELP"! > > That's the way Elden is. He can't keep his hands off of a KLR650. Even if you insist on doing your own work he will quietly watch you in the background and intervene, w/ some really insightful feedback if you don't get it just right. Just to be clear, there isn't anyone on the planet than knows more about the KLR650 than Elden Carl. > > Now Eagle Mike.... totally different animal. A machinist by trate. This guy will not only tell what the torque is for any given bolt on the KLR, he'll actually pull rank on the Kawasaki fellas and tell you what it oughta be. So far as I can tell he's spot on! This is a man that knows exactly what he's doing... yet I still don't fully understand him. He's soft spoken and kind. He really wants to help. The fact that my skills are tiny relative to his were never an issue. > > So, what to do? We've Death Valley Days coming up. Ian, you are the one guy that can make this happen! >