--- In
DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "Jud Jones" wrote:
wrote:
> >
> > Anyone have one to sell?
> >
> > OEM part is painfully expensive.
> >
> > From a 97 KLR650.
> >
> > Hit a tree, bent the housing, and the motor melted the impeller
when it couldn't move.
> >
> > Michael
> > 917-331-0757
> >
> If you can't find one here or on eBay, you might try
reconstituting the original. A number of
> owners have successfully repaired a melted fan core with JB Weld.
You might also try
> adapting a pancake fan, like those used to cool computers. They can
be had at electronics
> surplus stores for about five bucks.
Michael,
My fan was repaired exactly as Judd describes using JB weld. Jeff
Saline suggested it (it was something that he remembered reading)--a
repair previously described here at DSN (perhaps Mark VanHorne, Zack,
Devon or CaStu)--after we discovered the wayward fan during the
initial battle damage assessment following my return from the GDR.
Jeff poured the JB weld while I was changing the clutch pac.
Probably took longer to remove the fan and straighten the shroud than
mix the goo and 'pour' the repair. shrug. Works very well, without
concern for balance, etc.
The up side: The fan went 'south' very quickly (sometime between the
1st and umpteenth time it was taking a dirt nap--and did very little
damage to the fan or the fan/hub--making the repair an easy fix. For
your repair: Depending on how much damage was done to your fan
assembly, will affect the overall outcome. For ~$3 JB Quick, it
would be worth a try.
Many thanks to all the 'years-years' of experience that is found here
on the board and the tireless hours of effort given by those who
sponsor tech days. It builds a better bike, and even better
friendships.
ACCITIONAL REFLECTION:
The 'C' shaped radiator protector protected the leading edge of the
radiator, but the trailing edge of the radiator was slightly bent,
forcing the fan shroud into the fan, ripping the fan from the
aluminum hub.
Oddly enough, I could hear the fan motor cycle occasionally--just
like it should, based on OAT and airflow but not a 'peep' or squeek
from the assembly that would give you a clue that something was
amiss. There was minimal marking of the radiator by the rotating fan-
-it parted from the aluminum hub very quickly--which is a good
thing. I would like to think it was the last 'nap', when I dropped
the bike in a parking lot after the kickstand folded up--It had been
nearly 5 years since I had had that happen! The temps were much
cooler, and I don't have a recollection that the fan ever cycled
again after that. The needle never got near hot, and the thermobob
kept the water cycling at 195F.
In all likely hood, HT PD Nerf bars would have protected the radiator
better. My other KLR has them installed--it never occurred to me to
take the time to switch them out to this bike, thinking the 'C'
shaped guard was adequate. In most circumstances--they would have
been.
Of course, defining adequate is a proportional/situational
description and is relative--if nothing gets broken. Adventure
motorcycling, by definition and experience: something is likely to
get bent, broken, or warped.
revmaaatin.