what to doo next? balancer chain within spec...suspect two sproc

[kusstj]

Riding with a brother . . . I try to get a few rides in with one of my brothers when I can. We're all heading into mid life these days and must take the opportunity to ride for the sake of riding when we can. You know, sometimes it is tough to get the time to just ride for the sake of riding. And if you can't take time to get a ride in with your brother once in a while . . . well, why ride at all? This is a true story I heard from a fellow lister, but I can't recall his name. So it is his story I am trying to recall and share, not mine. I did correspond with him with a personal email though after he shared his story on the KLR list. It was a true story about riding with his brother. He recalled riding with his brother. And that this ride was different. His brother typically liked to ride fast and so it was a pain to try to keep up. His brother would never pay much attention if you complained, or he just tell you to shut up and ride. Sometimes the brother would complain if you wouldn't keep up or you thought the trail was lousy. Today he didn't ride too fast. There was no complaining. Sometimes the brother would be running low on gas or would stop to putz with something on his bike. He wouldn't care if you complained that we ought to be riding, he always worked to his own agenda. He wasn't one to listen to you, and he really couldn't give a crap about what you thought about him. Sometimes he would take the lead and then take a strange turn. You never knew where he was headed. He really didn't care if you wanted to get to the destination. He rode wherever the hell he felt like going. The lister told how today the ride went smooth. There were no complaints. Things were quiet and the ride went like clockwork. The were no problems with the bikes. We had plenty of gas. We arrived at our destination without incident. His brother wasn't one for small talk. He was his own man. If you wanted to go for a ride fine. But he wasn't going to wait around for you if you were late. Sometimes he'd be an ass and let you know if he thought you didn't know anything about bikes or how to ride. If you didn't fix or maintain your bike they way he would have, he'd let you know. If you took too long to work on something, he'd ride you and give you a hard time. Today's ride was different. There was no disagreement. Somehow today was a peaceful ride with his brother. The ride ended at a favorite destination in the country. A place they would go where they could relax, breath country air, ride trails, putter with the bikes, hang out with the campfire, and let some peaceful time pass. And this is the best I can recall of this fellow KLR listers story. . . After arriving at their favorite destination, he took the urn holding his brother's ashes and spread them, some on the main drive in, some on the trails, some by the creek, some where they would sit by the campfire pit. Today things were peaceful. His brother had issues and demons he had battled for many years. Now the battles were over. I'll never forget this guy sharing his story. It reminds me, I need to give my brother a call. Peace Todd in Chaska, A16

[Reverend]

Some say that the worst ride is the one you don't go on. I don't know, I've had my share of mishaps, I've even had an accident. Would I think different if I had lost limbs after a wreck? Possibly. Over the last more-than-two-decades of owning and riding a wildly varying steed of bikes, I find that almost every bike brings a particular charm to the table. The CB 250 was a bike you could do anything, and with a binary throttle. It was all or nothing. The Gilera looked great, performed worse. It was for putting around but looking mean. The Aprilia was fairly similar. The Hayabusa was one of the most sedate bikes I've ever ridden, yet with the most potential. The KLR - it's the second time it's in my possession. I rode it for a while back in 2003 and then this year the owner decided to sell it to me. I think the KLR is very similar to the CB 250 in that it's binary. Full throttle or idle. If you take it anyway, with the small engine you need to keep it pinned to get somewhere, yet that doesn't kill you like if you were on a modern bike. There's a lot of fun in that, the wide open throttle no matter where you go. Sitting up high and looking down on people, negotiating curbs, railroads and lawns with the same aplomb as the river beds and rugged fields. The rides are almost always great, maybe just because the rides adapt with the bike and the mood. Whatever steed hides in the garage, pick a ride suited for it and go for a spin. You'll rarely regret it.

> -----Original Message----- > Behalf Of kusstj > > Riding with a brother . . . > I try to get a few rides in with one of my brothers when I can.

[Ron Moorhouse]

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry -----Original Message----- From: "kusstj" Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2008 21:08:51 To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com> Subject: [DSN_KLR650] riding with your brother Riding with a brother . . . I try to get a few rides in with one of my brothers when I can. We're all heading into mid life these days and must take the opportunity to ride for the sake of riding when we can. You know, sometimes it is tough to get the time to just ride for the sake of riding. And if you can't take time to get a ride in with your brother once in a while . . . well, why ride at all? This is a true story I heard from a fellow lister, but I can't recall his name. So it is his story I am trying to recall and share, not mine. I did correspond with him with a personal email though after he shared his story on the KLR list. It was a true story about riding with his brother. He recalled riding with his brother. And that this ride was different. His brother typically liked to ride fast and so it was a pain to try to keep up. His brother would never pay much attention if you complained, or he just tell you to shut up and ride. Sometimes the brother would complain if you wouldn't keep up or you thought the trail was lousy. Today he didn't ride too fast. There was no complaining. Sometimes the brother would be running low on gas or would stop to putz with something on his bike. He wouldn't care if you complained that we ought to be riding, he always worked to his own agenda. He wasn't one to listen to you, and he really couldn't give a crap about what you thought about him. Sometimes he would take the lead and then take a strange turn. You never knew where he was headed. He really didn't care if you wanted to get to the destination. He rode wherever the hell he felt like going. The lister told how today the ride went smooth. There were no complaints. Things were quiet and the ride went like clockwork. The were no problems with the bikes. We had plenty of gas. We arrived at our destination without incident. His brother wasn't one for small talk. He was his own man. If you wanted to go for a ride fine. But he wasn't going to wait around for you if you were late. Sometimes he'd be an ass and let you know if he thought you didn't know anything about bikes or how to ride. If you didn't fix or maintain your bike they way he would have, he'd let you know. If you took too long to work on something, he'd ride you and give you a hard time. Today's ride was different. There was no disagreement. Somehow today was a peaceful ride with his brother. The ride ended at a favorite destination in the country. A place they would go where they could relax, breath country air, ride trails, putter with the bikes, hang out with the campfire, and let some peaceful time pass. And this is the best I can recall of this fellow KLR listers story. . . After arriving at their favorite destination, he took the urn holding his brother's ashes and spread them, some on the main drive in, some on the trails, some by the creek, some where they would sit by the campfire pit. Today things were peaceful. His brother had issues and demons he had battled for many years. Now the battles were over. I'll never forget this guy sharing his story. It reminds me, I need to give my brother a call. Peace Todd in Chaska, A16 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[boulder_adv_rider]

Jeff, here are my responses to your >. Note I've included a link (below) to the KLR parts diagram. Find the diagram (#8) entitled BALANCER to help facilitate our discussion. > Yes. If the spring is not tensioned, it's not putting pressure on the lever that rotates the eccentric idler lever shaft (rotates clockwise) to force down the sprocket that removes slack. > The issue here isn't the doohickey itself but the eccentric idler shaft that controls the sprocket responsible for mitigating slack. The doo (p/n 13168-0046) is merely a locking mechanism that locks the idler shaft in a certain, fixed position and prevents the spring from stretching/compressing during operation. If the spring has tension, it means it's pulling on the idler lever (p/n 13168-1238) which is rotating the eccentric idler shaft clockwise which forces the idler sprocket down. Again, this sprocket going down is what removes slack. Now, imagine this sprocket can only go down so far before the chain running on it strikes the bottom of the case. Smartly, engineers designed the idler shaft to rotate only so far and coincidentally this limit is when the smallest spring no longer has tension. After this the small spring is useless (and at increased risk of falling off) as is adjustment to the doohickey itself. It's at this point in the arc where the sprocket is already so low the chain is rubbing the bottom of the case. Therefore, once the smallest spring can't pull anymore, it's the end of the line because the sprocket would have to grind through the bottom of the case to continue taking up anymore slack (which the limit of the idler shaft's rotation/arc prevents). > I do. I also examine the magnet in the oil plug. Nothing ever notable or discernible. The oil screen is a different question. Bits and peices of black plastic (dampening material) could indicate the balancer sprockets are wearing. I cleaned it a long time ago when I did the doo upgrade and found black plastic bits-n-peices. My guess is some time later it's got stories to tell. > I can't scientifically measure wear in any of the four sprockets involved without new ones in-hand. Note there is a sprocket on the crankshaft not displayed in the "Balancer" parts diagram. It's p/n 13037-5088 and found on the CRANKSHAFT diagram (#17). It rides the balancer chain just above balancer guide (p/n 12053-1175) in the BALANCER diagram but the sprocket has no dampening material. Visually, the only thing you can assess is whether or not the dampening material on the other 3 sprockets: front balancer sprocket (p/n 13164-1007), top balancer sprocket (12046-1165) or idler sprocket (p/n 39133-1060) is gone or otherwise worn-out. In my case, 13164-1007 is shot and 12045-1165 is oddly worn. I'm going to replace it both of these and then re-inspect. Seeing the balancer chain is within spec, all that's left is (and hopefully not!) a worn crankshaft sprocket. But without some way to measure it/compare it to new (there is no procedure in the service manual re: crankshaft sprocket wear limit), I'm going assume it's ok and that the dampening material on the other sprockets is meant to wear first and help preserve the crank sprocket. Now, if you're going into the engine case to switch to the torsion spring and you've already installed the small spring, you might assess whether or not your idler shaft's rotation is approaching or at the service limit. If so, the torsion spring isn't going to give you any benefit other than [through endless tension] perhaps reducing the risk of a slack spring disconnecting and causing havoc. You should consider doing the same thing I'm doing now: examine how much more idler shaft rotation/arc remains and what's the main source of slack. Excess slack is either: (4) sprockets and/or chain itself. https://www.kawasakiepc.com/SystemSearch_Frames.cfm? QuickSearch=1&SearchFor=KL650% 2DA18&SearchBy=Model&cGroupID=&CFID=1817281&CFTOKEN=33323465 Brian