KLR riders out there

[Padmei]

Man I got the back wheel on last nite & wanted to ride naked this weekend but it's bloody raining. The bike is looking unbelievably clean - think Warewolf clean- I can't seem to bring myself to get a flick of dirt on it.

Got the swingarm welded where the kick stand & rearsets were rubbing on it & they made an excellent job. I was expecting big beads everywhere but they sanded right back to the same as swingarm. All for $20.

Might as well go find some valve springs & keep it in the Lab for the weekend.

[NordieBoy]

Technically it's a 5min job to pop the fork caps off and pop the spacers out and drop the springs in.

[pete376403]

How do you get the passenger pegs and so on rubbing on the swingarm? There seems to be plenty of clearance between the bits on my bike?

[NordieBoy]

How do you get the passenger pegs and so on rubbing on the swingarm? There seems to be plenty of clearance between the bits on my bike?

How often do you fall off on the left side?

[pete376403]

a couple of times but in both cases it has been the plastic engine shroud that has taken the hit.

[marty]

who was the tosser on the KLR on the southern this evening lane splitting with their headlight on high beam? saw them at mt wellington, then passed them on the downhill at bombay just before the turn off to thames - headlight still on high beam (i'm picking they stopped at the autobahn cause we were crawling - averaged 15km/h from hobson st to manukau......)

[Woodman]

Man I got the back wheel on last nite & wanted to ride naked this weekend but it's bloody raining. The bike is looking unbelievably clean - think Warewolf clean- I can't seem to bring myself to get a flick of dirt on it.

Got the swingarm welded where the kick stand & rearsets were rubbing on it & they made an excellent job. I was expecting big beads everywhere but they sanded right back to the same as swingarm. All for $20.

Might as well go find some valve springs & keep it in the Lab for the weekend.

Did you check the rear cush drive bearing to prevent another gouge in the swingarm. And Nordie is right the valve spring job is not a long one.

[pete376403]

who was the tosser on the KLR on the southern this evening lane splitting with their headlight on high beam? saw them at mt wellington, then passed them on the downhill at bombay just before the turn off to thames - headlight still on high beam (i'm picking they stopped at the autobahn cause we were crawling - averaged 15km/h from hobson st to manukau......)

If it was a new (08/09) KLR it might not have been on high beam - the lights on these things are really f*ckin bright and because the front of the bike is quite tall it puts the headlight right in line with the rear view mirror of the car in front (OTOH if both headlights were on then it was high beam and the rider is a tosser)


BTW was in Motorad the other day and saw this being prepared. If you're going to Rarotonga (IIRC) keep an eye out for cops on.....

Sorry crappy phone cam. The pole at the rear is holding a big orange flashing light and there are a couple of red and blues down the front on the crash bars

[marty]

pretty sure it was a single light model. had a boxy thing and what looked like a sleeping bag on the back.

[Padmei]

Did you check the rear cush drive bearing to prevent another gouge in the swingarm. And Nordie is right the valve spring job is not a long one.

Might have to add this to the shed nite check. I'm nit sure exactly what to check sometimes however it does have grese in it. I think the pegs were bent in & the kick stand def was bent in at one stage.

Got some valve springs yesterday so will fit them this weekend. Off a Mitsi so should be ok. Was hoping for some off a diesel

[Woodman]

Might have to add this to the shed nite check. I'm nit sure exactly what to check sometimes however it does have grese in it. I think the pegs were bent in & the kick stand def was bent in at one stage.

Got some valve springs yesterday so will fit them this weekend. Off a Mitsi so should be ok. Was hoping for some off a diesel

Doesn't really matter what they are off really as long as the size is about right. I am very interested to see if you think it makes any difference to your frontend.

[RedKLR650]

Hi all,

Apologies if some of you have seen this before, but tonight I accidentally discovered the most amazing page ( more like a novel ) of information re our trusty KLR's

I've just spent the last 1/2 hour learning all sorts of things I thought I already knew......

http://www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html#generalinformation

Have a look...... curious as to how useful people find the info

Cheers, Stu

[Woodman]

Went down to the shed to put the top back on after checking the tappets and thought i would just check them again. Dunno how i missed it but the left inlet is right on the minimum so pulled the cam and the shim out etc.
Now i wonder if Kawasaki NZ have any shims in the country??

Good thing is that the design of the dohc and chain setup is very simple and easy to work on.

Disapointing thing is the inlet cam is not made very well, the machining where the sprocket goes on hasn't even cleaned up the casting properly. It functions but if I got that back from a machine shop it woulda gone back.

[Padmei]

Hey Stu
It is an interesting read isn't it. I don't think they've updated for the 08 or 09 models yet.

I put the swingarm & stuff back on Gonzo but left all the fairings & 'stuff' off. Even though I haven't done anything on the motor the throttle response is fantastic in lower gears.
I got the front wheel up in 1st quite high but only just off the ground in 2nd. The extra crap must put a huge weight on the front end.
I'm really tempted to make a couple of liteweight stainless guards for the rad & reservoir & lose the front speedo etc,hook up a small headlite & small indicators to make a dirtversion kLR & then have a quickfit fairing setup to change over for longer rides.

I noticed it also didn't want to fall over sideways when slightly off balance.

Wait I think I've just described a DR

[Padmei]

Went down to the shed to put the top back on after checking the tappets and thought i would just check them again. Dunno how i missed it but the left inlet is right on the minimum so pulled the cam and the shim out etc.
Now i wonder if Kawasaki NZ have any shims in the country??

Good thing is that the design of the dohc and chain setup is very simple and easy to work on.

Disapointing thing is the inlet cam is not made very well, the machining where the sprocket goes on hasn't even cleaned up the casting properly. It functions but if I got that back from a machine shop it woulda gone back.

That was what I am concerned about when checking my tappets. What size shims should I take if they're out? Do they come in standard sizes or infinite sizes to suit how far they are out?