18 inch front wheel

[Robin Van Eyk]

After reading so many posts regarding this 'weak link' in the engine I finally had my doohickey replaced along with the spring. I called Jake at Sagebrush Machine Shop and ended up talking to him for almost 2 hours. A few days later I received my custom, handmade doohickey and spring. I brought the bike into Santa Barbara Kawasaki and had them install the part. The mechanic was aware of past failures of the balancer chain adjuster lever and was impressed with Jakes craftsmanship when I showed him the part. I had the mechanic save the old doohickey and spring so I could inspect them for fatigue. The OEM part was in good shape without any signs of stress or cracks. Even if the part held up as it should, the peace of mind of having this part replaced was worth the time and the relatively little cash it took to replace it. The KLR 650 is an awesome motorcycle, but if you like to ride to remote forest/desert areas and camp like I do, the possibility of catastrophic engine failure should make anyone want to remedy this potential hazard. Thanks to the members of this list for making this vulnerability known. Robin A15

[Richard Knipe]

I've read the wonderful instructions from the web. They are really excellent. I didn't notice in them any mention of the torque settings for the cover bolts. I did read the flywheel center bolt is torqued to 120 ft-lbs. How about the torque setting for adjustment bolt? My old doohickey had signs of the bolt being over-tightened. Thanks, richard

[Mark St.Hilaire, Sr]

> I've read the wonderful instructions from the web. They are really > excellent. I didn't notice in them any mention of the torque > settings for the cover bolts. I did read the flywheel center bolt > is torqued to 120 ft-lbs. > > How about the torque setting for adjustment bolt? My old doohickey > had signs of the bolt being over-tightened.

Hi Richard, from my doohickey procedure at: http://klr6500.tripod.com/doohickey.htm "I couldn't find any specific reference to the torque that should be applied to the case bolts, so I looked for bolts of approximately the same size, doing the same type of thing. I used 12n-m, which is also 8.5 ft-lbs, or 104in-lbs. The covers were snugged down good, but not so much I was worried about breaking or stripping." I also use the same 12n-m, which is also 8.5 ft-lbs, or 104in-lbs for the adjustment bolt... Mark KLR650 Motorcycle Pages: http://klr6500.tripod.com/ HomePage: http://home.adelphia.net/~msaint/index.html My Adelphia Email can be "iffy." If you don't get a response, please try: KLR6500@...

[Mark St.Hilaire, Sr]

> I've read the wonderful instructions from the web. They are really > excellent. I didn't notice in them any mention of the torque > settings for the cover bolts. I did read the flywheel center bolt > is torqued to 120 ft-lbs. > > How about the torque setting for adjustment bolt? My old doohickey > had signs of the bolt being over-tightened.

Hi Richard, from my doohickey procedure at: http://klr6500.tripod.com/doohickey.htm "I couldn't find any specific reference to the torque that should be applied to the case bolts, so I looked for bolts of approximately the same size, doing the same type of thing. I used 12n-m, which is also 8.5 ft-lbs, or 104in-lbs. The covers were snugged down good, but not so much I was worried about breaking or stripping." I also use the same 12n-m, which is also 8.5 ft-lbs, or 104in-lbs for the adjustment bolt... Mark KLR650 Motorcycle Pages: http://klr6500.tripod.com/ HomePage: http://home.adelphia.net/~msaint/index.html My Adelphia Email can be "iffy." If you don't get a response, please try: KLR6500@...

[Thor Lancelot Simon]

On Mon, May 19, 2003 at 09:09:44PM -0000, Richard Knipe wrote:

> I've read the wonderful instructions from the web. They are really > excellent. I didn't notice in them any mention of the torque > settings for the cover bolts. I did read the flywheel center bolt > is torqued to 120 ft-lbs.

130, isn't it? And that's a *lot* of torque. I broke a couple of Zach's sockets before he decided it'd make sense to hold the wrench straight while I cranked on it... Thor

[dsmeclipse]

I am getting sick and tired of hearing my chain in the case. Its time for me to replace the doohickey and spring. Anyone that lives in Western Washington that has the tools willing to take a chance and let me borrow them? I am do for a oil change and figure now is the best time. All I need are the tools and doohickey and I am set. I can get the doohickey If anyone is willing to help me out with this let me know and I will be joyous with a silent chain! Brian

[scott quillen]

Good Morning All, Having just bought my 87 "A1" a few weeks ago, I'm wondering how many A1's were/have been affected by this "doohickey" problem... And BEFORE you say "ALL KLR 650s need to have it replaced"...please, if you have an 87 that had the "doohickey" fail (or know an A1 owner who has had a failure), please let me know. I'm only interested in known A1 doohickey failures. If 87's have a poor track record of weak doohickeys, I'll replace mine, but if I don't hear back from some A1 owners whose doohickeys have failed, I'm leaving mine alone. I've spoken with my local shop, the owner of which has been in the motorcycle business for at least the last 30 years - he's known several folks who've owned KLR650s and NEVER had to replace the idler lever - he wasn't even aware there is a problem. The mechanic at my local Kawi shop has never replaced one either or heard of this problem. He said..."if there is a problem, there would have been a recall". Now I KNOW you guys are NOT making this up...I just wonder if the problem is not as wide-spread as believed. I certainly don't want to perform unnecessary maintenance on my KLR...BUT, if there's a good reason for it, then I want to see that it's taken care of. Respectfully, Scott --------------------------------- Yahoo! Mail Mobile Take Yahoo! Mail with you! Check email on your mobile phone. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[L.D.]

This is SOOOOOOOOO familiar. At my local shop I lost out on the purchase of an 89 KLR 650 to one of the mechanics - he purchased the bike while I was still discussing it with one of the sales people. Later I purchased a used 2002 from the same dealership and soon after replaced the doohickey. I asked the mechanic if he had replaced his doohickey and he didn't have a clue what I was talking about. We went to one of the shop computers and I showed him the information on the web. Right then he had me order the doohickey and springs from Fred. When he replaced his the doohickey was split into two pieces and the spring was broken. He never did find the end of the spring and theorizes that it came out in an earlier oil change and may have been the reason the previous owner traded the bike in. Beers were on him that weekend. Don't think about it - just do it! L.D. Graham scott quillen wrote: Good Morning All, Having just bought my 87 "A1" a few weeks ago, I'm wondering how many A1's were/have been affected by this "doohickey" problem... And BEFORE you say "ALL KLR 650s need to have it replaced"...please, if you have an 87 that had the "doohickey" fail (or know an A1 owner who has had a failure), please let me know. I'm only interested in known A1 doohickey failures. If 87's have a poor track record of weak doohickeys, I'll replace mine, but if I don't hear back from some A1 owners whose doohickeys have failed, I'm leaving mine alone. I've spoken with my local shop, the owner of which has been in the motorcycle business for at least the last 30 years - he's known several folks who've owned KLR650s and NEVER had to replace the idler lever - he wasn't even aware there is a problem. The mechanic at my local Kawi shop has never replaced one either or heard of this problem. He said..."if there is a problem, there would have been a recall". Now I KNOW you guys are NOT making this up...I just wonder if the problem is not as wide-spread as believed. I certainly don't want to perform unnecessary maintenance on my KLR...BUT, if there's a good reason for it, then I want to see that it's taken care of. Respectfully, Scott --------------------------------- Yahoo! Mail Mobile Take Yahoo! Mail with you! Check email on your mobile phone. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] 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!? Yahoo! Mail - Find what you need with new enhanced search. Learn more. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Chris]

We changed the doohickey in my 11k A17 friday night. The doohickey was fine but the spring was broken and we did not find the little piece. The bike seems to be a little smoother now with the new doo. Chris N Lowry Crossing, TX

[scott quillen]

Keep the responses comin' folks...still waitin' to hear from an A1 owner. Thanks for the responses so far guys! Scott Chris wrote: We changed the doohickey in my 11k A17 friday night. The doohickey was fine but the spring was broken and we did not find the little piece. The bike seems to be a little smoother now with the new doo. Chris N Lowry Crossing, TX 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]