two stupid things in two minutes!

[david gay]

OK, I'm new. I get the feeling that the doohicky is part of the counter balancing system, but what is it, and when should I worry about. I have 10'000 mile on a '98 KLR-650. I have been following the Manuals instructions on maintaince. Please O'Gods of the KLR, please reveal the secrets of the doohickey. Thanks, Dave --------------------------------- Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Finance - Get real-time stock quotes [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Thomas J Komjathy]

Dave The "Doohickey" is the counter balancer adjustment lever. Get one from Jake @ Sagebrush Machine. These are one piece and much stronger than stock. The piece of mind for the price is well worth it. If and when you do, get one of the upgraded springs from Jake as well. VR Tom Komjathy DSK Inc. / GMSP

----- Original Message ----- From: "david gay" To: DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Monday, September 09, 2002 2:36 PM Subject: [DSN_klr650] the doohickey > OK, I'm new. I get the feeling that the doohicky is part of the counter balancing system, but what is it, and when should I worry about. I have 10'000 mile on a '98 KLR-650. I have been following the Manuals instructions on maintaince. Please O'Gods of the KLR, please reveal the secrets of the doohickey. Thanks, Dave > > > --------------------------------- > Do You Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Finance - Get real-time stock quotes > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > Checkout Dual Sport News at http://www.dualsportnews.com List FAQ courtesy of Chris Krok at: http://www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html > > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > >

[Charles Featherman]

Just curious. What in Sam Hill is a doohickey? When I was a kid, my sisters wore doohickeys in their hair. They had lots of them, in various colors. But I never had a bike with hair, although I once covered my 10-speed seat with possum fur. Honest. When (not if) I get another KLR, do I need to worry about parts that I can't even remember existing from my last KLR? BTW, my last KLR was an 89, and I never did a thing to it, other than put gas in it. It was like a Timex. Nowadays, I'm looking at the new 2004 with the very nice color scheme, and I also plan to go see a Tengai in a couple weeks. Which will I really buy? Well, used is cheaper than new, but then I've never owned "new" anything, and I have a $4699 quote on new. I paid almost that for a slightly used 2000 Polaris. Maybe I need both the 04 and the Tengai............... Anyway, whichever I decide on, will I need to mess with this mysterious doohickey? Will I want to? I AM mechanically inclined, so I can do it, if I just know what IT is. Chuck F. NE PA

----- Original Message ----- From: "Mark J. St.Hilaire, Sr" To: "1 - KLR650 List" DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com>; "Edmund" Sent: Saturday, March 06, 2004 07:26 Subject: Re: [DSN_klr650] The duck and the Doohickey: a KLR maintenance odyssey (LONG) > > This week I finished preventive maintenance on my A17 with 2100 miles > > and 6 months of ownership: Oil strainer cleanout, swingarm and lever > > bearings, and doohickey upgrade. > > Good post, sir! Now you'll have an even better riding season knowing that > all that stuff - especially the doohickey - is done... > > Mark > > > > My KLR650 Motorcycle Website: > http://klr6500.tripod.com/ > > Our HomePage: > http://home.adelphia.net/~msaint/index.html > > Check out Geocaching: > http://www.geocaching.com > > > > > List sponsored by Dual Sport News at www.dualsportnews.com. List FAQ courtesy of Chris Krok at: www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html > Unsubscribe by sending a blank message to: > DSN_klr650-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com . > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > >

[Guest]

> What in Sam Hill is a doohickey?

Check out the following two website. All you ever wanted to know, and more. (Grin) http://klr6500.tripod.com/doohickey.htm http://www.devonjarvisphoto.com/posted/KLR650/doohickey/ Mark My KLR650 Motorcycle Website: http://klr6500.tripod.com/ Our HomePage: http://home.adelphia.net/~msaint/index.html Check out Geocaching: http://www.geocaching.com

[kdxkawboy@aol.com]

In a message dated 2004-03-06 5:19:57 AM Pacific Standard Time, msaint@... writes:

> > > > What in Sam Hill is a doohickey? > > Check out the following two website. All you ever wanted to know, and more. > (Grin) > > http://klr6500.tripod.com/doohickey.htm > http://www.devonjarvisphoto.com/posted/KLR650/doohickey/ > > Mark > >

And keep in mind that many of us, like your experience with your '89, have never had problems with their dohickey even though some folks around here would have you believe the problem is serious enough that Kawasaki should be forced to make a recall. Couple of days ago someone posted about a dealer's mechanic stating the dohickey problem was caused by owners mucking it up with over adjustment and I would agree with that. I would add that I believe the biggest transgression is caused by hamfisted shade tree mechanics over tightening the adjuster bolt (if you loosen it two turns you tighten it down with no more than two turns) damaging the stock, pressed metal dohickey. Pat G'ville, Nv [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Jim]

But this would not explain the spring failure. Adjusting the doohickey (any method) would be ineffective and possibly counter productive (result in more chain slack) if the spring was no longer connected to the lever. --Jim A-15

>I would add that I believe the biggest transgression is > caused by hamfisted shade tree mechanics over tightening the

adjuster bolt (if

> you loosen it two turns you tighten it down with no more than two

turns)

> damaging the stock, pressed metal dohickey. > > Pat > G'ville, Nv > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[kdxkawboy@aol.com]

In a message dated 2004-03-06 8:00:47 AM Pacific Standard Time, mah78@... writes:

> > > But this would not explain the spring failure. Adjusting the > doohickey (any method) would be ineffective and possibly counter > productive (result in more chain slack) if the spring was no longer > connected to the lever. > --Jim > A-15 > >

Talking to the rotative machinery experts I work with at Bently Nevada - Bently's business is built on monitoring and diagnosing problems in anything that rotates around a shaft - if you over torque the adjuster nut you stiffen the whole system leading to premature failure of the spring by increasing the amount of vibration the spring experiences. Pat G'ville, Nv [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[wannabsmooth1]

Pat, I thought you just trolling. I've seen lots of broken parts - springs and levers. Some on bikes with less than 1K miles. I even saw a failed 1 piece (early - stamped) at the last tech day. Some of them had never been adjusted. Some showed adjustment marks along the arc of the slot. You can see pieces of broken parts sucked into the oil screen over on the KLR650.net site - under the thread that says "check those doohickeys. The owner of the site just did his - broken pieces, also. All the best, Mike

--- In DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com, kdxkawboy@a... wrote: > In a message dated 2004-03-06 8:00:47 AM Pacific Standard Time, > mah78@c... writes: > > > > > > > But this would not explain the spring failure. Adjusting the > > doohickey (any method) would be ineffective and possibly counter > > productive (result in more chain slack) if the spring was no longer > > connected to the lever. > > --Jim > > A-15 > > > > > > Talking to the rotative machinery experts I work with at Bently Nevada - > Bently's business is built on monitoring and diagnosing problems in anything that > rotates around a shaft - if you over torque the adjuster nut you stiffen the > whole system leading to premature failure of the spring by increasing the > amount of vibration the spring experiences. > > Pat > G'ville, Nv > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Keith Saltzer]

Oh boy. Were having THIS little debate again I see. This time, I'll keep my 2 cents worth short. I have changed/helped change out 10 doohickeys and springs, and half of them were broken, some with high miles, some with only 1000 miles. This I also know. I have not seen or heard of anyone's proper after market doohickey's or springs breaking. That's why I changed mine. It was easy, and now I have peace of mind. MrMoose A8 (Barbie and Ken special)

[dumbazz650]

The theory that sounds reasonable to my dumbazz is that if you use the doohickey adjustment procedure as per the manual, loosening the holder bolt the two full turns, then the oem dh can get cockeyed on the shaft. If you then try to retighten the holder the same two turns back cw, you overstress the dh across the cut-out section of the dh (because the dh is still cockeyed on the balancer shaft), and the over stress causes it to fail. Or, the stress causes the machined section of the dh to separate from the cut-out section along that weld that holds the two sections of the dh together. And many of the failures I've seen are along the weld. So the theory seems to be supported by the evidence. That being said, I too have had a hand in a few dh parties, and have seen them fail at less than 3000 miles, in KLRs that never had been adjusted. So IMHO, there are multiple failure scenarios, some due to a faulty procedure, and some due to faulty parts (dh and springs). I've also replaced about 8 oems that appeared to be fine, in bikes with anywhere from 3k to 20k miles. Personally, I would do the doohickey on any KLR that I owned, within the first couple hundred miles, regardless of the year or mileage. YMMV. I picked up a parts motor that had suffered a catostrophic doohickey failure. The rotor, and left side of the crankcase are too heavily damaged to be reused, so bad things do happen when the dh fails. MarkB aka dumbazz --- In DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com, "Keith Saltzer" wrote:

> Oh boy. Were having THIS little debate again I see. > > This time, I'll keep my 2 cents worth short. > > I have changed/helped change out 10 doohickeys and springs, and

half

> of them were broken, some with high miles, some with only 1000

miles.

> > This I also know. I have not seen or heard of anyone's proper

after

> market doohickey's or springs breaking. That's why I changed

mine.

> It was easy, and now I have peace of mind. > > MrMoose > A8 (Barbie and Ken special)