strongest street brake pads / swingarm loob

[George Walters]

Just wondering if anyone may have made thier own pannier brackets. Looking for ideas or pics and sketches if you have. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Pat (M)]

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, George Walters wrote:

> Just wondering if anyone may have made thier own pannier brackets.

Looking for ideas or pics and sketches if you have.

> > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

= = = See the photo section "Alum pannier mount." The Mermite cans I use are mounted on a home made hybrid 1/2" steel-rod rack that borrowed dimensions from Happy Trails & Mac-D designs. I used 1/4" "J" hooks for the top mount and found that about 1/8" had to ground off about off the end of the j-hooks to fit over the top bar. The bottom mount is fab'd from 1" aluminum 'hat' angle, secured with stainless bolts & nylock nuts. I intend to change the bottom mount in the next month to a allow higher mounting position on the rack. I'm afraid I'll catch my achilles under the front of the box if I encounter rough or sandy conditions on some trips I have planned this summer. I'll use 1" square box tubing and grind off one side and that'll let me mount it at the very bottom of the pannier, raising it about 2-3". The rig doesn't rattle at all due to some old inner tube strips zip-tied to the bottom rung of the rack. FWIW, the rig is cheap ($8-12 of hardware), solid and very secure. On/off in about 3 min with one 1/4" wrench. Good luck! Pat M A14

[Stanford Johnsey]

The KLR's brakes are certainly adequate. I have to admit that I am a little spoiled by the current state of sportbike brakes. The front brake on the KLR will lift the rear wheel which is about all you can ask for. Putting on the Galfer SS front improved the feel dramatically. Progressive LR front springs got rid of a lot of the brake dive. I have a pair of green pads waiting in the wings to replace the existing OEM pads (about 20,000 miles on them from a guy who seldom uses the rear brake). georgew@... wrote:

On Tue, 8 Feb 2005 08:48:33 -0500, you wrote: > >On Tue, Feb 08, 2005 at 09:44:34PM +1100, georgew@... wrote: >> >> On Tue, 08 Feb 2005 04:41:18 -0000, you wrote: >> >> I'm new to bike riding so I acknowledge my ignorance. I can reliably >> stop my KLR in less than its own length from 22kph so I'm just >> wondering what exactly is wrong with the stock brakes that a bit of >> extra pressure on the levers can't fix. I'm not looking for a flame >> war, just genuinely curious. > >22kph isn't very fast. When a taxi stops dead in front of you in city >traffic with no warning, you're more likely to have to stop or swerve >at more like 40-50kph. Yes, I understand the half emvee squared thing, and certainly at the speeds you mention the stopping distance is much more than 4 feet. Still, I've tested myself against sport bikes and I can stop as well as they can, albeit with a bit more effort. The point you make about the disadvantage of having to push hard is a good one though, and I've certainly experienced a lockup on the front wheel because of this (dog ran out in front of me). I put it down to inexperience on my part. However now that you mention it, I'm accustomed to having to apply heavy pressure on the front lever, and the emergency situation possibly made me apply that bit more that you allude to, and that probably caused the lock up. Hmm. I guess I'll go back and re-read the thread. I'm now in the market for galfer greens, braided lines and the rest -- Regards GW Archive Quicksearch at: http://www.angelfire.com/ut/moab/klr650_data_search.html List sponsored by Dual Sport News at: www.dualsportnews.com List FAQ courtesy of Chris Krok at: www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html Yahoo! Groups Links __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]