stock chain adjustment

[DaveG.]

Hello All, I have a loaded question here... I sold my last bike last year under a deal with my wife where I get a "new" one in 2003. Well Jan. 1st is approaching and I'm starting the search for my KLR. All things being equal, how much should I expect to have to do to a bike with say 10k miles? 12k miles? Assume the rider was 90%+ street. Will the rings be OK? Shock seals? I've never owned a thumper. When I sold my Superhawk 996 it had 15k+ miles and just needed a chain n sprockets. My buddy's F3 at that mileage was pretty ragged, even with decent care. I know there's a alot of variables, that's a given but will a 12k mile bike still pull hard and ride decent? Thanks from a lurker

[monahanwb]

--- In DSN_klr650@y..., "DaveG." wrote: All things being equal, how much should I expect to have to do to a > bike with say 10k miles? 12k miles? Assume the rider was 90%+ street. It will be time for brake pads, maybe a chain, and the stock suspension, if still in place, will be starting to act lame. Can't really say about the battery, it's life has more to do with the passage of time and electrons, than mileage. Otherwise, the bike should be all there and in nice shape. I would recommend renovating the suspension front and rear from what comes stock. The difference is appreciable, and it's not very hard to do. Now, why can't I get the headlight beam down a little on my new-to-me old 89 model? I am out of adjustment on the up/down slot under the light. It still points up too high.

[Devon Jarvis]

The fairing bracket is probably bent. You can either loosen the fairing bracket bolts, reposition it and tighten them, or just grab the fairing near the attachment points and pull down. Devon A15 monahanwb wrote:

> > > Now, why can't I get the headlight beam down a little on my new-to-me > old 89 model? I am out of adjustment on the up/down slot under the > light. It still points up too high. >

[brucwms@aol.com]

I got my 01 last March with 1400 miles on it and a new in the wrapper spare gastank, for $3200.00. Found it on Cycle Trader.com. The bike was mint, and stock, now it has the patina of dual sport rides, looks much better in my eyes. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[jguarfn28]

If a person were looking to buy a used KLR, as there appear to be many available, are there any "red flags" to look for? For example, internal damage caused by a broken doohickey or valve problems that seem to come up in the forum. Are there any reasonable ways to know a bike is ok? I realize that there are many bikes and parts out there if replacement parts or engines are needed but I'm going to be pretty tapped out just buying it. A checklist would help ease my mind. Thanks in advance. I'm located in the Albuquerque area and have owned a couple of XL Honda's in the past. Just hit 50 this year. Rick

[Mike Peplinski]

A good rule of thumb is "If it looks like its been riden hard, it probably has". Careless damage like from falling over or a couple of scuffs wouldn't concern me but I'd avoid one with multiple dents, scraped wheels and decals, filthy engine, loose chain-you get the picture. Most KLR's I've seen are either beat to crap or pretty decent. Of course low mileage is better than high mileage.

>From: "jguarfn28" >To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com >Subject: [DSN_KLR650] Buying a used KLR >Date: Fri, 10 Nov 2006 15:53:45 -0000 > >If a person were looking to buy a used KLR, as there appear to be many >available, are there any "red flags" to look for? For example, >internal damage caused by a broken doohickey or valve problems that >seem to come up in the forum. Are there any reasonable ways to know >a bike is ok? I realize that there are many bikes and parts out >there if replacement parts or engines are needed but I'm going to be >pretty tapped out just buying it. A checklist would help ease my mind. >Thanks in advance. I'm located in the Albuquerque area and have owned a >couple of XL Honda's in the past. Just hit 50 this year. > >Rick > > > > >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 >Member Map at: http://www.frappr.com/dsnklr650 >Yahoo! Groups Links > > > >

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[Samuel Hudson]

Well, if the bike idles like a weedeather on meth you know you have a winner 8). The balance shaft adjuster lever is frequently found broken as a srprize, unless it blows up the motor, its pretty sneaky. I suppose you could try to adjust it on the prospective bike. Most folks like to look for a bike that already has the basic farkles. Ss brake line, skidplate, dooinside. Beyond that its just like buying anything else...look for a well maintained model that has shown someone some great memories. --samuelhudson

[Arden Kysely]

KLRs aren't much different than other bikes for general evaluation. You'll be able to tell pretty quickly if it's been stored outside (black plastic turned gray, colored parts faded, rust) or ridden hard and crashed. I'd ask about the doohickey just to see if the owner is aware of the potential problem. If he knows what you're talking about, he's probably one of us! For general bike stuff, this list is pretty good: http://www.clarity.net/~adam/buying-bike.html. __Arden

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "jguarfn28" wrote: > > If a person were looking to buy a used KLR, as there appear to be many > available, are there any "red flags" to look for? For example, > internal damage caused by a broken doohickey or valve problems that > seem to come up in the forum. Are there any reasonable ways to know > a bike is ok? I realize that there are many bikes and parts out > there if replacement parts or engines are needed but I'm going to be > pretty tapped out just buying it. A checklist would help ease my mind. > Thanks in advance. I'm located in the Albuquerque area and have owned a > couple of XL Honda's in the past. Just hit 50 this year. > > Rick >

[Mike Frey]

Seeing the bike and (if possible) talking to its owner are the 2 most imortant things. I look for signs of abuse or hard use: dented tank, bent levers, etc. If the bike LOOKS good, chances are the owner took good care of it. That makes it more valuable from a cosmetic point of view. Now, knowing that a lot of KLR riders run their bikes and don't worry much about the looks (scratches, dirty, etc), they still take good care of them and you shouldn't be scared away by an "ugly" KLR. Does it run? Does everything work? With a KLR, if it runs, it's probably OK. when you start it and run it, does any blue smoke come out? None? ...Good A little bit? ... OK (maybe) A lot? ...Bad. But you probably already know these things, having experience with XLs. Think of the KLR as a Honda, one is as good as the other. jguarfn28 wrote:

> If a person were looking to buy a used KLR, as there appear to be many > available, are there any "red flags" to look for? For example, > internal damage caused by a broken doohickey or valve problems that > seem to come up in the forum. Are there any reasonable ways to know > a bike is ok? I realize that there are many bikes and parts out > there if replacement parts or engines are needed but I'm going to be > pretty tapped out just buying it. A checklist would help ease my mind. > Thanks in advance. I'm located in the Albuquerque area and have owned a > couple of XL Honda's in the past. Just hit 50 this year. > > Rick > >

[E.L. Green]

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "hofsassw" wrote:

> How > often should you clean and oil the chain?

You should clean the chain when it looks dirty. You should oil the chain when it looks dry. You should check a) in the morning before mounting the bike, and b) every time you put gas in the bike whether it looks dirty or looks dry, and clean or oil the chain accordingly. (Or both at the same time, by spraying it with WD-40). Exceptions: If it is raining, check it and lube it every 100 miles or so and lube it again at the end of the day, otherwise you might end up with rusty chain. If off-road, spray it clean with WD-40 once you hit pavement again. Lubricant/cleaner: WD-40 works fine with modern O-ring chains. It is Stoddard solvent and light machine oil. The Stoddard solvent cleans, while the light machine oil conditions the O-rings and keeps the chain from rusting. Nitrile O-rings are not harmed by Stoddard solvent or light machine oil, so forget the propaganda you hear from dealers who make money selling sticky chain lubes. Stoddard solvent will not penetrate past functioning nitrile O-rings, so the silliness that WD-40 will somehow "wash out the grease" and cause your chain to fail is also nonsense. Most of the people spreading such nonsense have a lot of money invested in cans of "chain lube", and are either trying to sell you something, or trying to justify their purchases. If you insist, you can put 80/90wt gear oil on the chain rollers using a pump oil can, as recommended by the owner's manual. Reality is that any lube on the chain rollers (whether sticky or not) will get swiftly squished off by the action of the rollers over the sprockets anyhow, so in my opinion it's not worth the added hassle. Sticky chain lubes claim that they "won't fling". In my experience that claim is nonsense, they swiftly gunk up the area around the countersprocket and attract dirt and grit and grind down the chain. Chain waxes claim that they won't attract dirt and grit. True. They also won't properly condition the O-rings and are even less of a lubricant than WD-40. ------- Added bonus: A ScottOiler is an automatic chain oiler. It works great. You can use "ScottOil" in the thing, or ATF. There's nothing in ATF that'll hurt nitrile O-rings (nitrile O-rings are used extensively inside automatic transmissions), so don't worry about that, it's just that ATF is a bit thinner than the "ScottOil" and thus you'll need to dial it down a bit. This is probably of use only if you're doing long distance road trips, where the hassle of spraying the chain every 150 miles or so (every couple of hours) becomes a PITA. If you're a city guy, just spray a little WD-40 on the chain every morning before you ride off, and you'll be fine.