saddles, and also the '08

[btsmokincat]

I was at lunch yesterday and in the middle of making a very tight slow u-turn, I hear this *ping* and the A6F suddenly goes berzerk! Picture a chicken with it's head cut off, legs flailing, bike jerking and wobbling side to side with the driver suddenly coming to a very quick -squish the twig and berrys- stop! All that in front of a super wal-mart. I get off the bike and realize that my clutch cable had broke where it connects to the arm on the motor. I hang my head and push my bike to a parking space. Needless to say I had to order a clutch cable from the dealer for ten bucks which takes a week to get. Cutting my fall riding short. C'est la vie. Anyone else lose a clutch cable on a four month old bike with 3700 miles? Quick tire question... It's about time to replace my rear OEM tire and want to go with a more road oriented replacement. My front tire still has a lot of life left so if I go with a gripster or a MT90 will it affect handling? Should I buy front and rear together? Thanks for the great advice Jim W A6Fingerprint Oakland, ME

[E.L. Green]

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

> head and push my bike to a parking space. Needless to say I had to > order a clutch cable from the dealer for ten bucks which takes a > week to get. Cutting my fall riding short. C'est la vie. Anyone else > lose a clutch cable on a four month old bike with 3700 miles?

Sounds odd. Like a misrouted cable or something. If it's a new bike, a clutch cable failing within four months sounds like a defect. Might want to work with your dealer to see if you can get KHI to eat the cost of the new cable.

> Quick tire question... It's about time to replace my rear OEM tire > and want to go with a more road oriented replacement. My front tire > still has a lot of life left so if I go with a gripster or a MT90 > will it affect handling? Should I buy front and rear together?

I've run a more street-oriented tire with a more dirt-oriented front tire before, and it worked fine. Didn't seem to affect the handling at all, at least not on the highway, it basically handled at about the level of the least common denominator (the front tire). The other way around doesn't work so fine, having a dirt tire in back and a street tire up front seems to make the back end want to swing around on the street -- quite disconcerting. -E

[matteeanne@yahoo.com]

Gripster M-24, I cant say enough good things about this tire, and I have tried em all! --- btsmokincat wrote:

> I was at lunch yesterday and in the middle of making > a very tight > slow u-turn, I hear this *ping* and the A6F suddenly > goes berzerk! > Picture a chicken with it's head cut off, legs > flailing, bike > jerking and wobbling side to side with the driver > suddenly coming to > a very quick -squish the twig and berrys- stop! All > that in front of > a super wal-mart. I get off the bike and realize > that my clutch > cable had broke where it connects to the arm on the > motor. I hang my > head and push my bike to a parking space. Needless > to say I had to > order a clutch cable from the dealer for ten bucks > which takes a > week to get. Cutting my fall riding short. C'est la > vie. Anyone else > lose a clutch cable on a four month old bike with > 3700 miles? > > Quick tire question... It's about time to replace my > rear OEM tire > and want to go with a more road oriented > replacement. My front tire > still has a lot of life left so if I go with a > gripster or a MT90 > will it affect handling? Should I buy front and rear > together? > > Thanks for the great advice > > Jim W > A6Fingerprint > Oakland, ME > > > > >

Sean Brown International Order of the KLR. "yeh, unto the ride, the thumper, yeh, and it was good, and thine did rejoice" amen matteeanne@... __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

[Andrew]

In response to the post about saddles: I recommend having your stock saddle rebuilt by Sargent. Its about $300. and far better than any aftermarket thing that you can buy for the price. They'll talk it over with you at length. I just took a look at the '08's and I have to say that I'm disappointed. The changes appear to be largely cosmetic. The so- called "up-rated suspension and brakes" appear to be very, very minor upgrades. The engine and tranny are largely the same. I'm very happy with my '04, full of aftermarket upgrades. But I expected that when Kawi redesigned the KLR, it would be a blank page engineering project that would give us the elusive as an angel PERFECT DUAL-SPORT BIKE: something like a KTM LC4 but with KLR style plastic, etc. and with a comfortable saddle (or at least a pan that can be rebuilt. Instead, it looks like the same old design (which is GREAT) but warmed over with BS updates-- kind of like when the put a "modern" facade on a classic building and think that its an improvement. Maybe though, the upgraded charging system might be worthwhile. Otherwise it all seems like eye candy, and not too appealing at that. Here's a question: After you buy an '08, do you still have to do a doohickey job? I'll bet the answer is: yes. Cheers, Andrew