horns, was: stebel/klr650

[Thor Lancelot Simon]

On Thu, Feb 04, 2010 at 09:42:22PM -0000, Dooden wrote:

> > Don't forget to remove brake caliper and chain of course..

Yeah, but if you've just mounted new tires, you'll have had the wheel off and have done that anyway! I can't remember who on this list used to advocate balancing the wheel on the bike, but it makes a lot of sense to me. The whole KLR as a system is, um...approximate...enough in terms of balance and alignment that it's hard to see how a less than 100% perfect wheel balancing job will matter much, especially with the knobby or semi-knobby tires people here generally use. Basically, after mounting new tires, and putting the wheel physically back on the bike, but *before* hooking all that drag-creating stuff (brakes, chain) back up, or cranking down the axle bolt, just give the wheel a few spins for balance and put weights where they seem to be wanted so the wheel doesn't always stop in the same place. Of course you have to be able to get both axles relatively straight and level to do this but that's not too tough if you are working on the bike on a centerstand or motorcycle lift.