2008 klr clatter

[PATRICK J. CASSELS]

Hi all..... I have been off the list for awhile now and was hopping there is a solution for the CLATTER. I also have a 2005 KLE and no engine clatter. Hoping a solution has beeb found. There is only 9000 kms and I really do not enjoy riding it due to this noise. Cheers Pat [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[LDHunter]

KLRistas, I've "discovered" something that many of you have probably known for years. First I'll preface by saying that I've usually just avoided deep loose sand all the years I've ridden dual sports (I'm in Florida which is often called the sand box) because they typically have tires and weight that cause the bikes to "plow" the front wheel and cause a lot of arm, shoulder, and back stress as I fought to keep control of the bikes. Recently a friend and I went for a ride and he has a DR650 which is slightly better in the loose stuff than a KLR but he ran off and left me in an almost effortless fashion when we hit some of the loose stuff. The next time we stopped for a breather I asked him why he didn't seem to know. All he could say was that the bike was handling a lot better that day. We started snooping around the bike looking at this and that and suddenly I had a bright idea to check his tire pressures. Sure enough. His front tire was down to 15 pounds. He has a slow leak in his front tube and the "good" result from this was greatly improved sand performance. I had been airing my D606's down to 22 in the rear and 18 in the front and had achieved marginally improved loose sand results but on that day I decided to get aggressive and air down a bunch more, keeping in mind that I was running the risk of spinning my tires on my rims unless I used rim locks and thereby ruining tubes. I took my rear tire down to 18 pounds and my front down to a radical 12 pounds and VOILA!!! Suddenly my 500 pound pig which wallowed in every sand pit it could find was transformed into a sure footed cat. Well... That may be a bit of an exaggeration but I CAN tell you the difference was HUGE and I can now ride the sand much easier than before and fight the bike much less. I know that 12 pounds in the front tire is radical and my on road handling can be nothing short of dangerous but I forgot (I'm old and forgetful) to change my tire pressures when I slabbed it home that day and have been on a couple rides since then and no bad effects. Don't forget that the D606 has such a strong sidewall that it can be "run flat" for mile upon mile anyway. Anyway... I want to make sure than anyone that reads this doesn't immediately air down and head out for a ride and get hurt. You should approach this "airing down" technique VERY VERY carefully and don't come running to me if you wreck and kill yourself. So... There you have it. After 40 years of riding dual sports I learned something this week. $bob$ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[roncriswell@sbcglobal.net]

Yep low tire pressure is good in that stuff. I used to ride with trials riders that used even lower pressure but used rim locks (which I hate for tire changing). But really rim locks make a lot of sense if you want to ride these beasts in mud, sand, deep gravel. The deep gravel out in the Big Bend area of Texas gives me fits because I usually run with 30 psi or so because of all the things that can give you a flat out there like sharp rocks and all kinds of thorns. Sure makes a testimonial for Dunlop 606 knobbies which are my favorite KLR tire. I have been thinking of going back to the cheaper Kenda 270 but think you have made my decision for me to stay with the 606's. The only negatives are they are expensive, noisy and don't last long on pavement. Speaking of low pressure, any of you ever watch Top Fuel dragsters and notice how low the pressure is in the slicks with the wrinkles in the sidewalls? The tires are short and fat till they get on it, then the tires get much taller and skinnier but are not really round going down the strip. Low pressure gives them a big tire footprint. I just wonder how those tires stay together at 300 miles an hour. Those Fuel guys have speed and quickness down to a real science. Since Scott Kaletta got killed, NHRA shortened the track from 1320 feet to 100 feet and they are still doing 310 mph. Amazing machines. Can you imagine the G's those racers feel doing 100 mph in 1 second off the starting line? I don't know how they keep those things under control. Criswell

On Apr 13, 2009, at 6:04 AM, LDHunter wrote: > > > KLRistas, > > I've "discovered" something that many of you have probably known > for years. > > First I'll preface by saying that I've usually just avoided deep > loose sand > all the years I've ridden dual sports (I'm in Florida which is > often called > the sand box) because they typically have tires and weight that > cause the > bikes to "plow" the front wheel and cause a lot of arm, shoulder, > and back > stress as I fought to keep control of the bikes. > > Recently a friend and I went for a ride and he has a DR650 which is > slightly > better in the loose stuff than a KLR but he ran off and left me in > an almost > effortless fashion when we hit some of the loose stuff. > > The next time we stopped for a breather I asked him why he didn't > seem to > know. All he could say was that the bike was handling a lot better > that day. > > We started snooping around the bike looking at this and that and > suddenly I > had a bright idea to check his tire pressures. > > Sure enough. His front tire was down to 15 pounds. He has a slow > leak in his > front tube and the "good" result from this was greatly improved sand > performance. > > I had been airing my D606's down to 22 in the rear and 18 in the > front and > had achieved marginally improved loose sand results but on that day I > decided to get aggressive and air down a bunch more, keeping in > mind that I > was running the risk of spinning my tires on my rims unless I used > rim locks > and thereby ruining tubes. > > I took my rear tire down to 18 pounds and my front down to a > radical 12 > pounds and VOILA!!! Suddenly my 500 pound pig which wallowed in > every sand > pit it could find was transformed into a sure footed cat. > > Well... That may be a bit of an exaggeration but I CAN tell you > the > difference was HUGE and I can now ride the sand much easier than > before and > fight the bike much less. > > I know that 12 pounds in the front tire is radical and my on road > handling > can be nothing short of dangerous but I forgot (I'm old and > forgetful) to > change my tire pressures when I slabbed it home that day and have > been on a > couple rides since then and no bad effects. > > Don't forget that the D606 has such a strong sidewall that it can > be "run > flat" for mile upon mile anyway. > > Anyway... I want to make sure than anyone that reads this doesn't > immediately air down and head out for a ride and get hurt. You should > approach this "airing down" technique VERY VERY carefully and don't > come > running to me if you wreck and kill yourself. > > So... There you have it. After 40 years of riding dual sports I > learned > something this week. > > $bob$ > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]