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[ViragoXV750@aol.com]

Hi, I'm Chris. I'm hoping to purchase a Kawi KLR soon, and wanted to hear what some of the owners have to say. The only other dual sport I've owned was a Triumph Tiger. But my tiger was ruined by my thoughtless brother while I was on deployment with the Navy. Apparently, the heavy Tiger mauled him. The Kawi looks like a fun bike. Any advise on mods or special care would be appreciated! -Chris S

[Tumu Rock]

On Wed, 20 Sep 2000 04:52:09 EDT, ViragoXV750@... wrote: Hi, I'm Chris. I'm hoping to purchase a Kawi KLR soon, and wanted to hear what some of the owners have to say. The Kawi looks like a fun bike. Any advise on mods or special care would be appreciated! -Chris S >>>>>>>>>>>>> Welcome aboard Chris. You've already found the greatest thing about the KLR - this list. The KLR is pretty damned reliable if properly maintained...basically follow the manual service recommendations. As far as mods go...Definitely need a stainless steel front brake line and probably the rear too. Most opt for better springs up front and a better spring (or full shock) in the back. Depends on your weight and preferences. If you plan on going off road, you'll need an aftermarket bash plate as the stocker is lightweight plastic. Those are the "must-have" mods in my opinion. Oh, yeah, and the stock exhaust sometimes develops a strange "tweety bird" syndrome that can be too annoying for some (myself included). Others can put up with it. Of course not all KLR's do that , so you'll just have wait and see. The list of "wanna-haves" could go on for weeks so I'll just leave it at that. dat brooklyn bum _______________________________________________________ Say Bye to Slow Internet! http://www.home.com/xinbox/signup.html

[Kurt Simpson]

Hi, I'm Chris. I'm hoping to purchase a Kawi KLR soon, and wanted to hear what some of the owners have to say. The only other dual sport I've owned was a Triumph Tiger. But my tiger was ruined by my thoughtless brother while I was on deployment with the Navy. Apparently, the heavy Tiger mauled him. :)The Kawi looks like a fun bike. Any advise on mods or special care would be appreciated! -Chris S ________________________ The KLR will be vastly different than your Triumph. It is vastly different than any of the other heavyweights (although it is not exactly a lightweight). The Tiger, GS, Quota, Navigator, et. al., are touring machines. They excel at that. In comparison, the KLR can tour but it will punish you on the interstates. It is most at home on backroads between 55-70. Its power delivery and braking are not in the same league as the Tiger. Why buy the KLR then? Because there is no finer all-purpose bike made. It excels at practically nothing (in other words there are bikes that do parts of what it does better) and does everything reasonably well (no bike does better at all). Purchase advice: Unless you want to immediately get involved with balancer adjuster and clutch basket upgrades, buy a '96 or later. The downside is that front sprocket change is more difficult. Setup: Make sure that the dealer has installed the front fork tubes flush with the top of the triple clamp. You can experiment with this later but this is where you should start. Bring the bike home and park it. New or not go through the entire bike and check the tightness of all bolts, screws and nuts. Loctite or anti-seize (choose the correct one for the particular application) on everything you can get at. Check tire pressure/chain tension. 500 miles: Change oil/filter; check all bolts and nuts for tightness. Change fork oil. Check valve clearances. Check tire pressure/chain tension.Adjust balancer chain mechanism. Mods: 1. Remove all cannisters 2. Remove sidestand safety switch. 3. Modify neutral/clutch safety switch 4. Put a "T" in the clear tube coming from the carburetor 5. Add fused link for heated vest/battery tender. Move fuses to former location of sidestand safety switch and install blade type fuses. Run auxillary power circuit to the front of the bike for accessories and GPS. 6. Replace the two threaded luggage rack bolts with larger bolts with nyloc nuts. 7. Replace the carb float bowl and master cylinder with stainless allen head bolts. 8. Change the countershaft sprocket to either a 14T or 16T 9. Perform Skip Faulkner's fuel tank mod 10. When ready for a new chain go to DID Gold. New tires: trail/road: Dunlop K139 front; Dunlop 606 rear Pavement: I'll wait on this until I hear the reports on the new Avons. 11. Purchase rear master cylinder protector 12. Puchase spare clutch/throttle cables and route them alongside originals 13. Install 3" pvc tool carrier on Happy Trails highway peg bar (see below) Accessories: What do you want to do with your bike? There are more KLR upgrades and mods than you can imagine. Most work well. Here will be my list when I get my next KLR (presently riding a DR650 as a project bike) in my personal order of preference. Note all parts would be purchased from Fred at www.arrowheadmotorsports.com if not contraindicated: 1. Larry Roesler Series Progressive springs for the front forks. 2. Stainless Steel brakelines front and back 3. Modified Corbin seat ordered from Raul Randariz at Corbin (however, rumor has it that the Canyon Dual Sport model may soon be available for the KLR. Don't ask Corbin about it because there is only one person there that nows about it). 4. Tubular racks, side and tail from Tim at www.happy-trail.com or Arnie at www.mac-d.com . Radiator guards; highway pegs engine guard; Moose Bash Plate; McDonald shifter from www.happy-trail.com . 5. Wolfman Explorer Tank Bag. 6. Centerstand; ToolWorks; Co-Pilot; axle nuts; Light guard from Mike at www.dual-star.com . 7. Aluminum handlebars filled with something; PRO Gel grips; Vista throttle lock 8. IMS serrated pegs 9. Luggage: either aluminum panniers or GIVI from www.happy-trail.com 10. GPS, MapSource software, touratech mount, tow strap, and emergency tie-downs from Tom at www.cycoactive.com 11. Maier Woods Pro handguards 12. Laser Pro Duro silencer and pipe. 13. Ohlins rear shock 14. Front fork lowers anodized and valving checked by Precision Concepts and Bob Bell. This should get you started (g).... Kurt Simpson Editor Dual Sport News

[punkynsquirt@cs.com]

Kurt: Great advice. Just wanted to let you know I'm paying attention to those who know more than I about the KLR 650. Your lists of things to improve the bike were not much different from mine, gathered through research, with the possible exception of a bigger windshield. Keep it coming. I'm soaking it up like a sponge and spending money preparing for the Americas Motopaseo as fast as I get it. Lew Waterman Punky & Lew's Americas Motopaseo

[Kurt Simpson]

> Kurt: Great advice. Just wanted to let you know I'm paying > attention to those who know more than I about the KLR 650. Your lists of

things to

> improve the bike were not much different from mine, gathered through > research, with the possible exception of a bigger windshield. Keep it

coming. I'm

> soaking it up like a sponge and spending money preparing for the Americas > Motopaseo as fast as I get it.

actually, the minute I hit the send key I remembered the windshield, it would be a Clearview HD 8 +. I also run Fred's K &P Lifetime oil filters and magnetic drain plug... Kurt

[Rev.Chuck]

> Hi, I'm Chris. >I'm hoping to purchase a Kawi KLR soon, and wanted to hear what some of the >owners have to say. The only other dual sport I've owned was a Triumph Tiger. >But my tiger was ruined by my thoughtless brother while I was on deployment >with the Navy. >Apparently, the heavy Tiger mauled him. >The Kawi looks like a fun bike. Any advise on mods or special care would be >appreciated!

Chris - The KLR can take anything most riders could dish out, except for thoughtless brothers, Heh, heh, heh... Really, I have heard the KLR is considered a third world bike because it can take a wide rash of what most other bikes would consider abuse. It does everything well but nothing perfect, except being dependable and versatile. As far as mods go, I started with a UFO low front fender, Progressive fork springs, muffler flow relief and a standoff rack to keep the saddlebags from lying on the right side cover, which will melt if the bags are loaded. The tiger is a nice ride, but you will enjoy the weight and nimbleness of the KLR. Take a look at the mods page on my site for the looks of the UFO and some tips on how to install it, unless you read Italian. http://www.50megs.com/klr650/ == Rev. Chuck :^)>+ A13 http://klr650.50megs.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _____________________________________________________________ Email Powered by Everyone.net

[Skip Faulkner]

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