battery charger question

[revmaaatin]

26 June 09 NLT 0700 departure. The bike is 98% loaded. Throw the shaving kit on tomorrow. Got new skins--D607's on my spare wheels. Tire pressure checked. Check again in the morning Fresh Oil: Rotella 15/40. Not looking for much gravel this trip. Just secondary roads that will allow me to make some decent time, 60+ mph without a continuous look at the same bumpers at 75mph on I-90, I-29, etc. I am beginning to hate interstates in a cage. Doing a mental inventory-- where is my Wolfman fender pack, with tubes. Sigh. I wonder: is it trail candy somewhere, or did someone lift it? It has ridden there without a hitch for over a year, 10K+ miles--and much of that year it was just parked! Nevertheless--I am grateful that I discovered it tonight, and not 'at a flat'. sigh. Routing: Down through the river-breaks parallel to the N/S portion of the Missouri as it routes from Pierre to Pittstown. Then, Some fair twisties along the SD/NE border that follows the Missouri River, then, well, its NE and KS. Not many twisties from Yankton to Platte City, MO, just North of KCMO. Should be a two-piece pie journey. smile. You pie eaters know what I mean. You others: stop twice to eat. Order pie first, don't want to ruin the pie with a hamburger.... Looks to be a 1400+ mile trip to see my 13.5y/o son graduate from Civil Air Patrol Encampment in Nevada, MO, on Saturday at 1430. I'll be the proud pappa in the audience with the big head. Got the routes plotted on paper, backup on the Garmin 60csx. And the thunder is rolling continuously outside my window. Perfect. revmaaatin.

[revmaaatin]

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

> > 26 June 09 > NLT 0700 departure. > > The bike is 98% loaded. Throw the shaving kit on tomorrow. > Got new skins--D607's on my spare wheels. > Tire pressure checked. Check again in the morning > Fresh Oil: Rotella 15/40. > Not looking for much gravel this trip. > Just secondary roads that will allow me to make some decent time, 60+ mph without a continuous look at the same bumpers at 75mph on I-90, I-29, etc. I am beginning to hate interstates in a cage. > > Doing a mental inventory-- > where is my Wolfman fender pack, with tubes. Sigh. > > I wonder: is it trail candy somewhere, or did someone lift it? It has ridden there without a hitch for over a year, 10K+ miles--and much of that year it was just parked! > Nevertheless--I am grateful that I discovered it tonight, > and not 'at a flat'. sigh. > > Routing: > Down through the river-breaks parallel to the N/S portion of the Missouri as it routes from Pierre to Pittstown. > Then, > Some fair twisties along the SD/NE border that follows the Missouri River, then, well, its NE and KS. Not many twisties from Yankton to Platte City, MO, just North of KCMO. > > Should be a two-piece pie journey. smile. > You pie eaters know what I mean. > You others: stop twice to eat. Order pie first, don't want to ruin the pie with a hamburger.... > > Looks to be a 1400+ mile trip to see my 13.5y/o son graduate from Civil Air Patrol Encampment in Nevada, MO, on Saturday at 1430. I'll be the proud pappa in the audience with the big head. > > Got the routes plotted on paper, backup on the Garmin 60csx. > > And the thunder is rolling continuously outside my window. > > Perfect. > > revmaaatin. >

0625 26 July 09 Loading the water. Wx check. I'm gone. revmaaatin.

[Jud Jones]

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

> 0625 26 July 09 > Loading the water. > Wx check. > I'm gone. > revmaaatin. >

Looks like the rev slipped through a time warp to gain a month on the rest of us. What's the trick, Rev?

[revmaaatin]

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

> > --- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "revmaaatin" wrote: > > > > 26 June 09 > > NLT 0700 departure.

Massive SNIP

> > > > 0625 26 July 09 > Loading the water. > Wx check. > I'm gone. > revmaaatin. >

I'm home. Safe without bodily harm. If monkey butt doesn't count-- or major, permanent, long-term KLR harm. 1100+ miles, two riding days 20+ hours of seat time as recorded by the moving/GPS time. A few adjustments in the schedule. A few adjustments in the route- not ever lost, just advancing oddly-- Like all KLR rides-- A few moments of epiphany. and Just like flying-- long hours of pleasant boredom-- interspersed with a few moments of stark terror. It time for a ride report. Not the report that you normally envision. A report filled with pictures of Nice vistas, places, towns, fine mom/pop restaurants. Pie. That sort of thing. Unfortunately, hardly any pictures. Why not pictures? Camera quit on me. Twice. spit. Yet I digress. And there was a KLR-rescue. Rescue? I did mention that I have been KLR-rescued twice. Guess when the 2d time happened? Well, sort of three times. I usually don't count the first time--because I rode the bike 27 miles with a broken collar bone and 6 broken ribs before I quit--going to a truck-cage cowboy Cadillac the last 25 miles. That was 13 days in the hospital. This is the epilogue first. When I get the rest sorted out, hopefully, I can tell you about day 1, 2 (a non-riding day), and day 3 that ends with a KLR-rescue. Hopefully, I'll tell you about the moments of terror. Hopefully I won't forget the deer, the turkey, the farm planter/sprayer, the three cars passing one slower vehicle--all of those creatures, vehicles which were occupying MY lane during the trip south. Or the rain. and the trucks hurling sheets of filthy spray on my beloved KLR. So begins the (epilogue)ride report-- Home. (last night about 2300hrs) Some 4 hours later than projected arrival time suggested by the 0730 departure- A crippled KLR-- 57 miles short of home plate-- the end was not pretty. The good: When the beast gives clues that something is not quite right-- stop and investigate. I stopped and glad I did. Ignoring it could have been ugly. mugly, ugly. I am riding the last 50 miles of North bound SD 45 between Kimball and Miller, SD into a 20 mph headwind, all the while watching a beautiful sunset over a cloud less sky. At the end of this 50 miles, I will turn W for 23 more miles and have a 20 mph crosswind and a panoramic view of a beautiful South Dakota, prairie sunset. The bike has been running for hours, flawlessly some 20 hours at 5-5500 rpms, effortlessly, as I squirm to find a 'painless' sitting position. Next time, I leaving the dipped Corbin at home. Good for short trips, but this is ridiculous. I have been in pain the last 6 hours of the first day, since the first 30 minutes of today's ride, but home is less than and hour away- or so I think.... The bike began surging, (not an ignition miss) surging--which I would desperately like to ignore. But the surge is persistent, then quite rapidly, constant-- Nutz. Check the fuel to reserve, back and forth, back off the throttle, surge decreases increase throttle, surge increases. Hmmm. Thoughts immediately to--"chain"--due to recent discussion/personal experience talked about/described here at DSN. I limped 1-2 miles to a very safe place with a solid parallel/paved road bed at Gann Valley, SD. This Gann Valley location, is as you might imagine, in a valley, not on top of the hill-- where the wind has been blowing steady enough to make flags stand straight out. No, Gann Valley is in a spot protected from the wind-- and it has the un-advertised, additional benefit of plenty of mosquitoes, also protected from the wind. and thankfully, I have 5 cans of DEET, at home. sigh. Stopped, safe, and out of harms way. Bike up on the center stand and take a look. Swing at a mosquito. Hmmm. Spin the wheel, viewed from the rear, a few rollers missing. swat another mosquito. (repeat 4023 times next 90 minutes) Hmmm. Look at the sprocket. YIKES! Catastrophic drive sprocket failure and many missing chain rollers. Catastrophic = points are nearly all gone. Yes, a very good place to break down. Cell phone coverage, and someone that will come help me. "Daddy just had to have a motorcycle" No, my beloved did not say that--at least not out loud. With the additional benefit of a host of witnesses-- aka mosquitoes, I probably just imagined her saying that. One phone call, and things are looking up--except, the truck owner has no tie downs. My beloved is teaching a class--so she was not available to do anything more than claim my corpse after the 4023 mosquitoes have their way with me. (Hopefully, I won't forget to tell you later that I had 'put away' the receiver/ball-hitch to her car--and would have not been able to tell her where it was--or that she could hook up the m/c trailer without help. More lessons learned here.) I usually carry a set of tie down straps-- and almost, almost, had removed them for this trip. [MIND TALK FOLLOWS--while loading the bike] "45K miles and never needed them! --time for them to go!" I got distracted, and forgot to remove them from the tail bag. True to form--many people have a truck, few have tie down straps. (RECOMMENDATION: Carry tie down straps!) So my second real haul-the-bike rescue is moving forward nicely-- Friends with a truck arrive about 1:20 later, we are actually parked next to a machinery loading dock, load the bike and strap the beast down. Perhaps the blood suckers will give us a break. Note to self: re-pack the DEET. Initial evaluation back at home this morning, kibitzing with Jeff Saline on the phone, he suggests: "It appears the 'hardening' on the rear sprocket failed, leading to catastrophic tooth failure--and subsequent chain roller failure." I'll try to get some of the pictures posted--(providing my bride can help me do it (hang head low).) I like talking to smart people. People with real-world experience that are willing to share their experience with friends here at DSN. smile. When I bought my KLR in Oct 2003, I went out an read every post at DSN_KLR650 from the very beginning--and what I have read has been very helpful--and at times, amusing. I was in grad school at the time--and what else was a boy to do--go to class or read the class text? Nay. Read DSN_KLR650 Chain History: This was a new, riveted, take-off OEM chain from a Marine Corps bike bought on EBay, and a new 43T OEM rear sprocket both installed ~13/14K miles ago (need to check the data sheets to be exact, but very close). Many suggest that this is what they typically get for mileage--I have gotten 18K out of mine, so was a little surprised that it had all failed. shrug. Nice to be in a safe place when it all falls apart. Nice to have another set of chains and sprocket on the shelf at home, waiting their own destruction.... Meanwhile, back at the Gann Valley mosquito depot: Three other observers (non-motorcyclist) have suggested, the rollers began failing and took out the sprocket. Could be- or not. I had a OEM chain begin to grenade last year, took out lots of rollers (=1/2 of the rollers)and the sprocket kept going...so I am sticking with the Saline solution as the most likely. This was on a new to me bike, without the benefit of previous chain history.... Now back to our story, 530 miles prior to this mosquito rendezvous point: upon my arrival, in at KC, MO, this KiLeRista did a thorough inspection/wd-40 cleaning of every link/o-ring/tooth. The only thing I noticed was the odd coating of 'dust' on the vertical sides of the sprocket. Hmmm. I'm gathering data, but not sure of what I am seeing. Note to self, 'keep an eye on this' I attributed the dust to 6 miles of limestone marsh road that I took to reconnect two paved roads. From 20/20 hindsight, it was very fine sprocket dust. In retrospect/lessons learned-- Quite a surprise that it all fell apart so fast after a thorough inspection 530 miles prior. Jeff's comment: That is what failure of case hardening does-- looks good, looks good, looks good, BAM! does not look so good. Oddly, the steel 15T JT C/S sprocket shows very little 'damage' or wear considering what has happened to the rear. The front does not have that many total miles, as I vary the sprockets from 13,14,15T depending on where I am riding. An additional data point: this failed-sprocket had been 'flipped' 2500 miles prior, hoping that the flipping would increase the sprocket life. It had not began hooking, but the points were leaning a tad--which admittedly could effect roller life. Flipping the rear sprocket has been a routine of mine for several years, used with good results--so I am not thinking that is a contributing factor. There are many tight links this morning--as could be attributed to the chain slipping on the sprocket and bending the link-pins. Epilogue plus+: 45K+ KLR miles and have only had to be rescued twice. Last year, 3 days after commenting-- "Flats?!?!?!? Never had one on a KLR." Yeah, Then I had one. A doo-zee. --shredded the HD tube with a 16p nail. On that day, my wife had the help of the 12y/o son who knew how to hitch up the trailer...today he is some 700 miles away--and the car hitch is 'put-away'. yeah, daddy just had to have a motorcycle. Rescue? I did mention that I have been rescued twice. Guess when the 2d time happened? And a fine rescue it was-- I hope yours goes as well. smile. revmaaatin. did I mention the mosquitoes? Apparently I taste better than chicken

[Greg May]

Hi Eddie, I'm not quite sure why you are charging your battery so much ( I charge mine once before I get it out in the spring) but since you are I assume you are using a Battery Tender or similar and you don't have a charging issue. Anyway one option that no one mentioned is a small solar cell charger, I believe I paid maybe 20 or 30 bucks tops for the one I have. If you are only leaving it on for short periods there is no need for a charge controller but you will need one if you are going to leave it connected for long periods of time. I believe the one I have came with an SAE 2 wire connnector that will connect to the existing connector I use for my Battery Tender. A note of possible interest about batteries the OEM on my '04 died over the winter and I was definitely tired of having to fill it with water everytime I checked it so I wanted to go with an AGM battery. The Yuasa battery to fit a KLR here in Canada was a princely price of 135.00 plus the blood sucking taxes, I read somewhere about a Deka AGM and called the local Deka dealer and was pleasently surprized to find my cost to be 89.00. Sad to say I've been swamped this spring and ashamed to say that I have yet to turn a wheel on KLR this year yet so from a performance point of view I can only assume that it will woek at least as well as the original without the need to keep filling it up with water......Have a great evening...Greg

--- On Mon, 6/29/09, eddiebmauri wrote: From: eddiebmauri Subject: [DSN_KLR650] Battery Charger Question To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com Received: Monday, June 29, 2009, 1:53 PM Hi, all . I have a wet battery (not maintenance free) and I keep it plugged up to a battery charger in the garage. I am moving to place with no garage, so no more keeping the battery attached to the charger. My question is, "my solution is to leave the bike sitting with no charger, then hooking up the charger for a few hours every week." I'll have to run an electric cord to where I park it. Anyone have any spin on that approach? Is that a good or a bad idea; to hook up the charger for a few hours once a week? Eddie (03' KLR "la poderosa") __________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Canada Toolbar: Search from anywhere on the web, and bookmark your favourite sites. Download it now http://ca.toolbar.yahoo.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]