KLR riders out there

[888]

Great ride out to Stony Bay last weekend, really impressed with the KLR. Excellent fuel efficiency- around 25km's per litre. Pretty easy gravel, with the last 9k's to Stony Bay having some seriously sharp rocks, some chunking on the TW42 rear but no real issues. Now I guess I "have to" do the Doohickey upgrade- $129 for the whole kit from ProCycle...wonder how much my local mechanic will charge, can't be more than one hour labour??? Super comfortable to ride on the road and very manuverable at slow speed on steep gravel roads, absolutely stoked.

[Woodman]

Glad you enjoying it. 25kms per litre is exceptional btw. 18kms per litre is about what Mine gets.

[pete376403]

What year KLR? '08's onward the doo was redesigned so the need to replace it is less urgent. The spring however is reportedly too long and incapable of retensioning the lever.

There is heaps of how-to info and videos on the 'net if you do need to replace it eg http://www.klr650.marknet.us/

[888]

I wasn't thrashing it and cruising at around 110kph with the exception of the majority of the gravel roads in second/third gear. I'm blown away by the fuel efficiency as well- new notoil air filter, fresh oil, tire pressure at 28F and 32R (higher than manual recommendation of 21F 28R which seems too low for the road) and I've replaced the floppy front fender with a more streamlined super moto- cruising on the highway I'm at just under 4.5k on the tach at 105kph which seems to be the most efficient cruising speed. It is a 2007 model so I guess the motor will soon explode if I don't do the damned Doohickey upgrade....I'm also looking at the Res/Rad guard from Happy Trails, looks like a good protection upgrade. Photo shows the bike out coromandel way- bag had about 20kg of gear and was barely noticeable when negotiating some of the tight gravel roads.

[888]

So can anyone recommend a good bike shop to do the Doohickey upgrade? I'm in the Te Awamutu area......I've looked at the "how to" instructions and the upgrade is definately out of my league!

[Crim]

So can anyone recommend a good bike shop to do the Doohickey upgrade? I'm in the Te Awamutu area......I've looked at the "how to" instructions and the upgrade is definately out of my league!

No it isn't - I gave it a crack and succesfully did it (and I have five thumbs on one hand, a couple of glass eyes and the mechanical aptitude of Priness Celestia, Padmei can tell you she is a my little pony!), just need a few "special" tools (there are some floating around NZ) and follow instructions. You'll get a great sense of accomplishment - the more work you can do on your own bike the better prepared you are to help DR riders when they break down out in the back blocks (KLRs never break down)
One thing I learnt from the experience - always clean your bike before you start work on it, mud dropped in to the guts of it - not a good thing!
Cheers Crim

[888]

I would like to do it myself, so I may very well give it a crack...the ProCycle kit comes with all the necessary tools and parts so that is the easy part!! I should also point out that I used to have a DR650 and I far prefer the KLR!!

[Padmei]

Triple eight don't get too hung up with the doo thing. Your bike wil be ok for a while without it done. The early pre 07s doos were carp & were very thin, the new ones are reasonably chunky. I got all paranoid & got a new one & when I saw the stock one I felt I shouldn't have worried so much. I got mine done on the 12K service & the dealer did it for free ( I imported the kit over) On the newer bikes 07+ it is the spring that is the problem & loses tension mine was stretched.

A while after getting it done for some reason I can't remember what I was doing (valve check?)but I dropped a screw down the engine behind the rotor - it was one of those situations where there has been plenty of warnings from others to cover up the holes . Anyway like yourself I was scared of walking into the cave of dragons however arming myself with the manual & Woodmans rotor remover thing I opened it up & hey- the sky didn't drop on my head

Give it a go. I believe in you...

[pete376403]

I would like to do it myself, so I may very well give it a crack...the ProCycle kit comes with all the necessary tools and parts so that is the easy part!! I should also point out that I used to have a DR650 and I far prefer the KLR!!

Oh shit you've done it now!

[pete376403]

I woudn't be at all surprised if a lot of the gen 1 doo problems were self inflicted (by the owners) overtightening the clamping bolt after a balance chain adjustment.

[Woodman]

I woudn't be at all surprised if a lot of the gen 1 doo problems were self inflicted (by the owners) overtightening the clamping bolt after a balance chain adjustment.

yea naa. My doo was fine but the spring was broken and just hanging there. God only knows for how long it had been like that.

888, It is quite easy and , and you are right about the DR too.

[888]

So could you hear/feel anything with the spring broke? It would be great if their was an external assessment that indicated doohickey repair, but I think you just have to open it up to find out. And by that time you may as well upgrade the parts! I see procycle has a T-bob/thermostat bypass that may or may not be necessary....but I feel I should get one....

[888]

http://klr6500.tripod.com/balancer.htm

This guys website has some good info, I'll do this adjustment first.

[pete376403]

So could you hear/feel anything with the spring broke? It would be great if their was an external assessment that indicated doohickey repair, but I think you just have to open it up to find out. And by that time you may as well upgrade the parts! I see procycle has a T-bob/thermostat bypass that may or may not be necessary....but I feel I should get one....

The T-bob is a very emotive thing (on the US forums they will go to war over it). Watt-man, the guy who developed the bob, has pretty solid evidence of why and how it works. Won't do anything at all for overheating, but it sure does work for over-cooling. I know on my KLR that the temp guage used to wander all over the place whereas now with the t-bob in place it comes up to temperature fast and stays there.

Overcooling can be harmful to the engine just as overheating can be. The t-bob is just normal automotive watercooling practice, the last car I saw that had cooling systems as crude as the stock KLR design was a 1937 Austin 10 I used to own.

[888]

Over-cooling?? I enjoy the fact that I learn a new thing erreyday. Seriously, I actually thought the only issue was the engine getting too hot?? I'll think about the whole overcooling thing later, but is the procycle temp overide a version of the tbob? So far my temp gauge goes very quickly to half way when being a pussy on the tight gravel roads, and immediately goes down to minimum when I'm able to get back up to speed (third gear 50kph+), then again I imagine if I had done the same ride on a stonkin' hot summer day the gauge might read higher in the slow bits? The first mod i'm doing prior to hitting the back roads of Waitomo (Pomerangi Road!!!) is a change to a 14T front sprocket, I'm picking that will make the slow technical bits (dodging the stock trucks) an easier proposition.