Your story relates to one of the characteristics of the KLR that
makes it such a great bike. Like the old BMW airheads of the pre-
90's, they were built in a manner that allowed do it yourself
repairs, using whatever is available. Unlike a fuel injected,
multicylinder, fancy-forked, electronic dashboard (and on, and on)
like most contemporary bikes, the KLR is repairable by the average
hammer-mechanic anywhere in the world. You gotta love this bike!
By the way Mark, good luck on your ride. This sounds like the trip of
a lifetime. I'm envious.
(--- In
DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, Mark Harfenist
wrote:
>
> Thanks for the many responses, here and privately, to my
characteristically long-winded query about adding fork oil through
the air valve insert in my fork caps.
>
> The gist of the responses was thus: loosening the clamp nuts might
allow removal of the cap, and oil can indeed be added through the
small hole in the cap where the air valve insert goes....but that
this would be difficult to accomplish, as well as difficult to
measure properly.
>
> FWIW, loosening the clamps did not allow removal of the fork cap in
question, which remained as stuck as ever. Possibly, the dealership
which did a warranty replacement of the fork seals about 25000 miles
ago installed the cap with an excess of zeal (but....do you sense
that I might have been a bit neglectful on some of my scheduled
maintenance?).
>
> Just as I was preparing to drain the forks completely in order to
add measured fork oil via syringe or straw or prayer or whatever (the
manual gives a precise-sounding amount to add when merely changing
the oil, not disassembling the forks for rebuild--something like .355
liters), I found a reliable mechanic through a translator. He, in
turn, found fork seals--somewhere; he explained this in rapid-fire
Bulgarian in my translator's absence--and removed the now thoroughly
mangled cap with hammer and chisel, replaced it with a used one off
an unrelated bike, and delivered the bike back to me within a few
hours. Oh yes, and he found new brake shoes as well, since these had
been rendered useless. And installed them. And test road the bike up
and down a few cobblestoned hills.
>
> This was all accomplished (including initial house call, then
showing up the next morning to lead me from my hotel to his shop,
following which he dropped me back at the hotel, plus the final
delivery of the bike) for about what my local dealership in the
States charges for a single hour of book time.
>
> The bike feels good, based on my own test ride up and down a few
more cobblestoned hills. If the repair survives another 8k miles or
so I'll have the bike back in the States, where it's got another
couple of years on extended warranty. Next stops: Turkey, Greece,
Macedonia, Kosovo.....
>
> Thanks again to all for making this forum one of the most
supportive, least harsh or critical experiences on the internet.
>
> enjoy,
>
> Mark
>