Wilsons Sandbox

Myself and another KLR owner from Richmond (VA) rode our A16's up to a fella's place outside of Luray Friday night, to camp, and swap our our doohickeys on Saturday. This would be my first trip on the KLR loaded down with camping gear and the TOTL rack worked out perfectly. A couple of Rider Wearhouse D-Type Cargo Straps cinched everything down and kept it in place. I'd installed the BigCee frame up-grade kit a week earlier so I wasn't worried about the extra loading the stuff on the back would pose. Once underway, I couldn't even tell it was all back there. The next morning the wx wasn't so good (rain/wind), but we had the luxury of being protected in a nice comfy shop to do the deed. Once the bikes were apart, my 4306 mile 'hickey was still intact. My friend's 13,000 mile A16 was not; it had come apart. Both of us had Sagebrush doohickeys to install. Mine needed minor filing to fit onto the shaft, my friend's did not. Both cleared their respective starter gears with room to spare. In addition, the chains were close to the case but showed no indication of contact so we didn't do the case mod to provide the extra clearance. The gaskets on both bikes remained intact during disassembly and were re-used. New rotor bolts were installed. By the time the bikes were buttoned back up a couple of hours later, the weather had cleared and sun had come out to provide a nice warm afternoon in the '70's. There was one freak, but brief, heatwave that took the temps above 100, but you had to be there to understand. It was awful. This was the last of the absolute must-dos on my bike, and look forward to many trouble-free miles in the future. I trust it will be as reliable as my 80,000 mile '95 Concours. To the lurkers out there, I haven't shared this little story just to run my mouth, but to try and reiterate what's been said here before about the importance of replacing this fragile OEM part. Its eminent failure has the potential for ruining your whole day - and - the balance in your checkbook should it occur once the bike is out of warranty. JUST DO IT!! A side note: During reassembly, my friend found that his oil drain plug was striped. We managed to clean up the threads in the case and the plug to where it would hold. It was leaking slightly so I made a gasket from filter box paper and it stopped. Somewhere I have run across a replacement rubber drain plug that works like a wellnut. It's also akin to those Thermos bottle plugs where to flip the little lever past center on top that expands its body to provide a seal. Insert the plug in the hole and tighten a screw/bolt that causes the plug body to expand to fill into the case threads that are left. Does anyone know of a source for these? Guy A16 '95 Concours Richmond, VA