Wilsons Sandbox

Lew's bike was drastically rejetted for high altitude, and was then way too lean for sea level. When he got to a lower elevation, the lextreme leanness combined with his agressive riding style melted the piston. That one was not Kawi's fault. The wrong jet was installed, something like a 130. That is LEAN. Mariola, as far as I could see reading her report, had somebody else adjust her chain the day before or so. The countershaft seal failed shortly afterwards, and she didn't notice the loss of oil until it killed her motor. Did the mechanic overtighten her chain? Don't know. But developing-world countries don't see kawasakis very often. Had Mariola had a Honda she might have had it repaired locally, to add insult to injury. As for the viking, he had a balancer failure. Whether the severe engine damage happened immediately, or he kept riding despite the awful racket I don't know. Devon Harry Thames wrote:

> What's happened to Mariola and Roma? Did she desert Roma in South America? > Has she returned home? When will she resume the journey? Will she ride the > KLR or will she choose another brand? > > Looks like the KLR 650s didn't do too well on their trips to the "End of the > Road". Lew, Viking, and Mariola all had major engine troubles. What do you > think, poor maintenance, poor engineering, or just bad luck? > > Harry > SC

Funny you should ask... Mariola called me yesterday, safe and sound from her loving families arms in Chicago. Mariola is doing fine and is excited to be home to witness her children's graduation from school but she is anxious to be back on the road again. She plans on resuming her adventures as soon as she gets a bike to ride. The plans are to fix up Roma in Chicago and continue her adventures in Europe. Chris Cichon (Mariola's husband) explained to me what he thought was the cause of her engine failure. He said there was a piece of wire stuck into the engine case in front of the counter shaft sprocket. He thought that this wire might have been picked up by the chain and forced into the cases letting out Roma's life blood. Before Mariola noticed the problem, the damage had been done. He has the bike in the shop and will be tearing it down soon. If you have been keeping up on Mariola's travels, you will remember her friend Michael from Germany http://www.grobmotorik.de/ that she had met on her trip. Michael was in my shop today, continuing his travels through North America up to Alaska. He told me he had fallen three times on his TT350 Yamaha. Once in South America, once in Central America and once in Moab. I sold him a front brake lever and with some friendly conversation, he was on his way again. Michael was also a traveling companion to the German gal that was broke down in Venezuela who I helped out with parts last year. http://www.geocities.com/pandoras_tour/index_en.html Michael tried to convince Mariola to choose a Suzuki DR350 or Yamaha XT/TT350 for her travels. I guess Mariola has decided to stick with the KLR. (that should tell you something about what she thinks about the KLR) ps. There is a great trip report from Mariola in this months DUAL SPORT NEWS. If you want a free DSN, I have been including one edition in most orders from my shop. Fred http://www.arrowheadmotorsports.com http://www.canyonlandsmotorclassic.com

----- Original Message ----- From: "Harry Thames" To: DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Saturday, June 08, 2002 4:26 PM Subject: [DSN_klr650] Rest of the Story? NKLR > What's happened to Mariola and Roma? Did she desert Roma in South America? > Has she returned home? When will she resume the journey? Will she ride the > KLR or will she choose another brand? > > Looks like the KLR 650s didn't do too well on their trips to the "End of the > Road". Lew, Viking, and Mariola all had major engine troubles. What do you > think, poor maintenance, poor engineering, or just bad luck? > > Harry > SC > >

I'd say too tight a chain for Mariola and wrong jetting for Lew. The kind of miles they were putting on these bikes in that short of time too is a lot to ask of essentially a one cylinder sudo cheap sort of a dirt bike. Criswell. Harry Thames wrote:

> What's happened to Mariola and Roma? Did she desert Roma in South America? > Has she returned home? When will she resume the journey? Will she ride the > KLR or will she choose another brand? > > Looks like the KLR 650s didn't do too well on their trips to the "End of the

I dunno bout that.... My riding buddy made two trips to Alaska in one year from here on the Mississippi Coast. Those trips are the reason I bought the KLR over yet another XR650L. Ray

----- Original Message ----- From: "ron criswell" The kind of > miles they were putting on these bikes in that short of time too is a lot to > ask of essentially a one cylinder sudo cheap sort of a dirt bike.