long sad story

[revmaaatin]

Black Hills Bulletin: It is almost Spring, yet, it is snowing again.  at least 8" on Monday.  Forecast for more of the same through next Tuesday.  (I want to start a 3K mile ride on Wednesday the 26th if the wx will cooperate. sigh) Winter started for us Oct 4 and I am a little tired of it.   Sadly, our community lost 40,000 cattle in that storm plus sheep and horses as well.    Well, year-to-date (2014), in spite of the wx, I have logged 500 miles on the 685  mod and a few hours of internet time. sigh.  The bike turned 57K miles on Sunday during a 95 mile road and runs like a top.  While acquiring an Eagle Mike 685 kit, the bike also caught a fresh carb cleaning and replacement parts as well as a few incidental chassis and frame mods, to include welding a broken backbone.   So that no one thinks I am some kind of mechanic,  fellow poster Jeff Saline provided adult supervision for which I am eternally grateful. grin.   Winters are good for something, you can do bike maintenance; and I have noticed some are doing it in their kitchens and living rooms!  Careful inspections begin to reveal many wear points:   Who would have thought you could wear out the primary foot peg mounts as well as the rear footpeg mounts.  Thankfully, there are those that are cannibalizing their bikes and selling off nearly new parts so bikes like mine can still live. Thanks. For those outsiders who come to ride the Black HIlls:    In spite of the few warm days into the 60's, At altitudes above 4K, The canyons are still a little sloppy/spooky on the North facing slopes where snow banks are melting and water is actively running across the roads.  At even higher altitudes, the wind has caused some snow to drift across the highways in spots--they are not being plowed or the snow removed from what I can tell.  At the lower altitudes, especially where the road is primarily E-W, other places within the canyons are a virtual sand piles of debris and are badly need of the street sweepers to clean the roads.  The good (high speed)gravel roads in the N. Hills are still snow packed and considered untenable for another couple of weeks, especially if they are N facing or in the shadows. The internet time has been educational, and wanted to share something I found interesting.  Perhaps you have found something that you consider helpful? (I'll go first) I call my reposting, 'It sucks being that guy."  http://katriders.com/vb/showthread.php?t=100233 There is a reason for this post; namely, you can't make all the mistakes by yourself.  Read and learn from what is posted here, even if the guy/gal was not riding a KLR. In a nutshell, maintain situational awareness or you end up saying,  "It sucks being that guy." Post a link that you have found this winter, that would be appropriate to the title, revmaaatin.  

[RobertWichert]

Oh. Now it makes sense. Thanks! Robert Wichert P.Eng. LEED AP BD&C +1 916 966 9060 FAX +1 916 966 9068 ===============================================

On 3/19/2014 11:39 AM, eddie wrote:

More detail: I worked part time at a local mom & pop shop. We got bored one afternoon and decided to check the 09's valve clearances. In doing so, we removed the odd shaped upper mount nut to allow better clerance when removing the cam cover. Reassembly went quickly and easily but... as Fred noted, I accidentally caught a wire behind the weird shaped nut. We fired the bike up on the lift - in neutral, naturally - and didn't hear or see anything odd. Later, I walked my bike out the gate at closing time, waved goodbye to the shop owner as he locked up and drove off and only then noticed the N light wouldn't go out. Not fatal to riding. But, it bugged me. So, in the hot afternoon sun, I removed everything again, found the wire, made a temporary fix, put it all back and rode home (3.5 miles) where I got to do it all over again with a soldering iron, heat shrink tape, etc... All because I wasn't careful enough in the 1st place. =) eddie ----- Original Message ----- [b]From:[/b] robert@... [b]To:[/b] edgyver40@... ; DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com [b]Sent:[/b] Wednesday, March 19, 2014 10:58 AM [b]Subject:[/b] Re: [DSN_KLR650] Re: Long sad story ???????????????????? OK, I need more details to understand that one. The neutral wire allowed you back into the shop? I don't get it yet. Robert Wichert P.Eng. LEED AP BD&C +1 916 966 9060 FAX +1 916 966 9068 On 3/18/2014 8:01 PM, eddie wrote: The engine mount plate shaped like a Dorito? I crushed my neutral light wire behind that one on my former 09' once and didn't know it until the shop owner was rolling out the driveway after closing up for the night with the shop key in his pocket and me without one. =/ eddie