western hem run

[ltslpr]

'91 KLR650 with about 40k on the odometer; ridden only on the street; only thing approaching abusing the bike is often allowing the bike to accelerate as hard as it can to less than redline once in gear. No drag-style starts, no dumping the clutch, no banging the gears during gear change, etc. Just normal spirited riding with the boys. Sometime near the middle of a ride I became aware that the power delivery felt "funny." I'm unable to describe what that feeling was, just that I was aware something was wrong, something different about the feel of the vibration coming from the motor maybe more high frequency vibration, less "thumping" vibration. The combustion note sounded OK, power on take-off was OK. Also, I heard a "whirring" noise emanating from the left engine case. I did the balancer chain slack take-up adjustment, no effect. I did the doohickey and spring replacement over 15k miles previous. Still, all I could image was that there was a problem with the doohickey or spring. Took off the exterior and intermediate left side cases; doohickey and spring appeared as-new with adequate spring tension, all chains appeared appropriately taut, all chains/sprockets appeared as-new. Looking closer, I observed a slight amount of wear on the inside of the back run of links on the balancer chain. Started looking closer at the sprockets. Found the source of the strange "whirring" noise and slightly different power feel: two of four dogs on the front balancer weight (#13041-1078) had broken off, and three of the four springs on the rollers on the gear behind the weight were chewed up and some pieces were missing. The tiny rollers were still captive in their slots in the sprocket. The sprocket behind the weight was not damaged. Found most of the parts, including the broke-off two large dogs/tabs, four tiny rollers, and one complete tiny spring. Found enough broken spring parts to put together nearly two more springs. Missing parts for (1+) spring. Nothing came out in the oil nothing in the filter I let the oil run through. No luck fishing around in cavities with the magnetic probe. Figure the tiny (really tiny) parts are stuck up against the oil screen or in the bottom of the sump. Also noticed the balancer chain links were starting to rub against the boss for the case screw under the doohickey; that boss now sports a serious flattop. I strongly recommend a prophylactic filing of this boss during doohickey replacement (grease on cutting surface of file, grease on small shop rag stuffed into hole behind the boss). FYI, before removing the damaged parts, my initial visual observation showed there was not much clearance between the chain and the boss; using a set of feeler guages, I found the clearance between the boss and THAT PARTICULAR part of the balancer chain to be around 0.40mm; obviously, the clearance was less than 0.00 at at least one other area of the chain, as I observed the wear marks after pulling off the doohickey shaft. So, a $100 bill to Ron Ayers and (10) days, and the KLR should be back on the road. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Gary]

Good for you!. You are repairing your KLR instead of parting it out and buying a newer one.I wish more people did that.

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "ltslpr" wrote: > > > '91 KLR650 with about 40k on the odometer; ridden only on the > street; only thing approaching abusing the bike is often allowing the > bike to accelerate as hard as it can to less than redline once in gear. > No drag-style starts, no dumping the clutch, no banging the gears during > gear change, etc. Just normal spirited riding with the boys. > > > > > Sometime near the middle of a ride I became aware that the power > delivery felt "funny." I'm unable to describe what that > feeling was, just that I was aware something was wrong, something > different about the feel of the vibration coming from the motor > maybe more high frequency vibration, less "thumping" vibration. > The combustion note sounded OK, power on take-off was OK. Also, I heard > a "whirring" noise emanating from the left engine case. I did > the balancer chain slack take-up adjustment, no effect. > > > > > I did the doohickey and spring replacement over 15k miles previous. > Still, all I could image was that there was a problem with the doohickey > or spring. > > > > > Took off the exterior and intermediate left side cases; doohickey and > spring appeared as-new with adequate spring tension, all chains appeared > appropriately taut, all chains/sprockets appeared as-new. Looking > closer, I observed a slight amount of wear on the inside of the back run > of links on the balancer chain. Started looking closer at the sprockets. > > > > > > Found the source of the strange "whirring" noise and slightly > different power feel: two of four dogs on the front balancer weight > (#13041-1078) had broken off, and three of the four springs on the > rollers on the gear behind the weight were chewed up and some pieces > were missing. The tiny rollers were still captive in their slots in the > sprocket. The sprocket behind the weight was not damaged. > > > > > Found most of the parts, including the broke-off two large dogs/tabs, > four tiny rollers, and one complete tiny spring. Found enough broken > spring parts to put together nearly two more springs. Missing parts for > (1+) spring. Nothing came out in the oil nothing in the filter I > let the oil run through. No luck fishing around in cavities with the > magnetic probe. Figure the tiny (really tiny) parts are stuck up against > the oil screen or in the bottom of the sump. > > > > > Also noticed the balancer chain links were starting to rub against the > boss for the case screw under the doohickey; that boss now sports a > serious flattop. I strongly recommend a prophylactic filing of this boss > during doohickey replacement (grease on cutting surface of file, grease > on small shop rag stuffed into hole behind the boss). FYI, before > removing the damaged parts, my initial visual observation showed there > was not much clearance between the chain and the boss; using a set of > feeler guages, I found the clearance between the boss and THAT > PARTICULAR part of the balancer chain to be around 0.40mm; obviously, > the clearance was less than 0.00 at at least one other area of the > chain, as I observed the wear marks after pulling off the doohickey > shaft. > > > > > So, a $100 bill to Ron Ayers and (10) days, and the KLR should be back > on the road. > > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] >

[Mike]

You can replace the multi-piece balancer weights of the early model with the laterunit parts. It's a bit more expensive. I don't have the part numbers handy as I'm at teh airport right now. You can compare the part fiche for your 1991 and the 1996 and later. To do it right you'd need the front balancer weight/sprocket, the rear sprocket, and one washer from the later model. You might also want to replace the circlips. all the best, Mike

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "ltslpr" wrote: > > > '91 KLR650 with about 40k on the odometer; ridden only on the > street; only thing approaching abusing the bike is often allowing the > bike to accelerate as hard as it can to less than redline once in gear. > No drag-style starts, no dumping the clutch, no banging the gears during > gear change, etc. Just normal spirited riding with the boys. > > > > > Sometime near the middle of a ride I became aware that the power > delivery felt "funny." I'm unable to describe what that > feeling was, just that I was aware something was wrong, something > different about the feel of the vibration coming from the motor > maybe more high frequency vibration, less "thumping" vibration. > The combustion note sounded OK, power on take-off was OK. Also, I heard > a "whirring" noise emanating from the left engine case. I did > the balancer chain slack take-up adjustment, no effect. > > > > > I did the doohickey and spring replacement over 15k miles previous. > Still, all I could image was that there was a problem with the doohickey > or spring. > > > > > Took off the exterior and intermediate left side cases; doohickey and > spring appeared as-new with adequate spring tension, all chains appeared > appropriately taut, all chains/sprockets appeared as-new. Looking > closer, I observed a slight amount of wear on the inside of the back run > of links on the balancer chain. Started looking closer at the sprockets. > > > > > > Found the source of the strange "whirring" noise and slightly > different power feel: two of four dogs on the front balancer weight > (#13041-1078) had broken off, and three of the four springs on the > rollers on the gear behind the weight were chewed up and some pieces > were missing. The tiny rollers were still captive in their slots in the > sprocket. The sprocket behind the weight was not damaged. > > > > > Found most of the parts, including the broke-off two large dogs/ tabs, > four tiny rollers, and one complete tiny spring. Found enough broken > spring parts to put together nearly two more springs. Missing parts for > (1+) spring. Nothing came out in the oil nothing in the filter I > let the oil run through. No luck fishing around in cavities with the > magnetic probe. Figure the tiny (really tiny) parts are stuck up against > the oil screen or in the bottom of the sump. > > > > > Also noticed the balancer chain links were starting to rub against the > boss for the case screw under the doohickey; that boss now sports a > serious flattop. I strongly recommend a prophylactic filing of this boss > during doohickey replacement (grease on cutting surface of file, grease > on small shop rag stuffed into hole behind the boss). FYI, before > removing the damaged parts, my initial visual observation showed there > was not much clearance between the chain and the boss; using a set of > feeler guages, I found the clearance between the boss and THAT > PARTICULAR part of the balancer chain to be around 0.40mm; obviously, > the clearance was less than 0.00 at at least one other area of the > chain, as I observed the wear marks after pulling off the doohickey > shaft. > > > > > So, a $100 bill to Ron Ayers and (10) days, and the KLR should be back > on the road. > > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] >

[Paul Statham]

Larry Have a look at this site . http://www.advrider.com/forums/index.php Lots of info there on that type of thing Paul ________________________________ From: "sourdoughmedic@..." To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com Sent: Sunday, January 18, 2009 8:27:44 PM Subject: [DSN_KLR650] Western hem run Who would like to ride from Point Barrow(starting in june) along the continental divide down through south america to the Horn? When I retire from the Army (20 in 2011) I want to take a trip. Just thought I would get some planning in, routes and all that stuff. Not sure if the audience has ever done such a thing but if you would like to hit the road we have plenty of time to consider it. And that's also depending on when the Army will let me go. Once again, its a plan, plenty of time to work the logistics and passport stuff. If anyone would be interested just reply. DTG (date,time group) not solid but in the breeze. How's it sound? Larry Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile __________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Canada Toolbar: Search from anywhere on the web, and bookmark your favourite sites. Download it now at http://ca.toolbar.yahoo.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]