klr650 : was bent handle bar now is cracked handle bar !!

[Richard Bassett]

RE GRIPS - a friend just gave me the following tip: Try petrol (OK, "gas" to you Yanks - gas is dry stuff that mixes immediately with the air as far as I'm concerned), both to remove the grips and to lube them to get them on. I've used "contact-adhesive" (solvent-based general-purpose glue that dries rubber-like while losing most of its volume, colour usually yellowish) to apply & hold grips. Nice and slimy when first applied but be quick! Electrical insulation tape on the bar is another retaining idea. If there's no other easy way, cut the grips off to remove them. Glue or tape can go slimy with age and allow grips to move, but I don't know about the petrol idea. RE FORK OIL - If you've damaged the fork cap and are forced to fill it via the valve hole, use a largish syringe, preferably with a largish-bore hypodermic. If you are in an even less-enlightened country than ours (Australia) where availability is restricted, turn up with your oil plus a file to blunt the sharp bit right in front of the vendor. You might try a vet clinic or even an inkjet printer refill kit. As for oil level. I've only ever completely drained, flushed and then refilled forks with the manufacturer's recommended volume. Too much and you may get too much air pressure above oil when fork is fully compressed, too little and you'll increase the risk of foaming and decresed damping. I havn't serviced KLR forks but on most others the cap oil seal uses an O-ring, so the cap does not have to be tight at all to seal, and the clamp pinch bolts will stop the cap falling out anyway. Good servicing tips in this thread, guys!