--- In
DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "revmaaatin" wrote:
Massive SNIP
> >
>
> 0625 26 July 09
> Loading the water.
> Wx check.
> I'm gone.
> revmaaatin.
>
I'm home.
Safe without bodily harm.
If monkey butt doesn't count--
or major, permanent, long-term KLR harm.
1100+ miles, two riding days
20+ hours of seat time as recorded by the moving/GPS time.
A few adjustments in the schedule.
A few adjustments in the route-
not ever lost, just advancing oddly--
Like all KLR rides--
A few moments of epiphany.
and
Just like flying--
long hours of pleasant boredom--
interspersed with a few moments of stark terror.
It time for a ride report.
Not the report that you normally envision.
A report filled with pictures of
Nice vistas,
places, towns, fine mom/pop restaurants.
Pie.
That sort of thing.
Unfortunately, hardly any pictures.
Why not pictures?
Camera quit on me.
Twice.
spit.
Yet I digress.
And there was a KLR-rescue.
Rescue?
I did mention that I have been KLR-rescued twice.
Guess when the 2d time happened?
Well, sort of three times.
I usually don't count the first time--because
I rode the bike 27 miles with a broken collar bone and 6 broken ribs before I quit--going to a truck-cage cowboy Cadillac the last 25 miles.
That was 13 days in the hospital.
This is the epilogue first.
When I get the rest sorted out,
hopefully, I can tell you about day 1, 2 (a non-riding day), and day 3 that ends with a KLR-rescue.
Hopefully, I'll tell you about the moments of terror.
Hopefully I won't forget the deer, the turkey, the farm planter/sprayer, the three cars passing one slower vehicle--all of those creatures, vehicles which were occupying MY lane during the trip south.
Or the rain.
and the trucks hurling sheets of filthy spray on my beloved KLR.
So begins the (epilogue)ride report--
Home. (last night about 2300hrs)
Some 4 hours later than projected arrival time suggested by the 0730 departure-
A crippled KLR--
57 miles short of home plate--
the end was not pretty.
The good:
When the beast gives clues that something is not quite right--
stop and investigate.
I stopped and glad I did.
Ignoring it could have been ugly.
mugly, ugly.
I am riding the last 50 miles of North bound SD 45 between Kimball and Miller, SD into a 20 mph headwind, all the while watching a beautiful sunset over a cloud less sky. At the end of this 50 miles, I will turn W for 23 more miles and have a 20 mph crosswind and a panoramic view of a beautiful South Dakota, prairie sunset.
The bike has been running for hours, flawlessly some 20 hours at 5-5500 rpms, effortlessly, as I squirm to find a 'painless' sitting position.
Next time,
I leaving the dipped Corbin at home.
Good for short trips, but this is ridiculous.
I have been in pain the last 6 hours of the first day, since the first 30 minutes of today's ride, but home is less than and hour away-
or so I think....
The bike began surging, (not an ignition miss)
surging--which I would desperately like to ignore.
But the surge is persistent, then quite rapidly, constant--
Nutz.
Check the fuel to reserve,
back and forth,
back off the throttle,
surge decreases
increase throttle,
surge increases.
Hmmm.
Thoughts immediately to--"chain"--due to recent discussion/personal experience talked about/described here at DSN. I limped 1-2 miles to a very safe place with a solid parallel/paved road bed at Gann Valley, SD.
This Gann Valley location,
is as you might imagine,
in a valley,
not on top of the hill--
where the wind has been blowing steady enough to make flags stand straight out.
No,
Gann Valley is in a spot protected from the wind--
and it has the un-advertised,
additional benefit of plenty of mosquitoes,
also protected from the wind.
and thankfully, I have 5 cans of DEET,
at home.
sigh.
Stopped, safe, and out of harms way.
Bike up on the center stand and take a look.
Swing at a mosquito.
Hmmm.
Spin the wheel,
viewed from the rear,
a few rollers missing.
swat another mosquito. (repeat 4023 times next 90 minutes)
Hmmm.
Look at the sprocket.
YIKES!
Catastrophic drive sprocket failure and many missing chain rollers.
Catastrophic = points are nearly all gone.
Yes, a very good place to break down.
Cell phone coverage, and someone that will come help me.
"Daddy just had to have a motorcycle"
No, my beloved did not say that--at least not out loud.
With the additional benefit of a host of witnesses--
aka mosquitoes, I probably just imagined her saying that.
One phone call, and things are looking up--except, the truck owner has no tie downs. My beloved is teaching a class--so she was not available to do anything more than claim my corpse after the 4023 mosquitoes have their way with me.
(Hopefully, I won't forget to tell you later that I had 'put away' the receiver/ball-hitch to her car--and would have not been able to tell her where it was--or that she could hook up the m/c trailer without help. More lessons learned here.)
I usually carry a set of tie down straps--
and almost,
almost,
had removed them for this trip.
[MIND TALK FOLLOWS--while loading the bike]
"45K miles and never needed them!
--time for them to go!"
I got distracted, and forgot to remove them from the tail bag.
True to form--many people have a truck, few have tie down straps.
(RECOMMENDATION: Carry tie down straps!)
So my second real haul-the-bike rescue is moving forward nicely--
Friends with a truck arrive about 1:20 later, we are actually parked next to a machinery loading dock, load the bike and strap the beast down.
Perhaps the blood suckers will give us a break.
Note to self: re-pack the DEET.
Initial evaluation back at home this morning, kibitzing with Jeff Saline on the phone, he suggests:
"It appears the 'hardening' on the rear sprocket failed, leading to catastrophic tooth failure--and subsequent chain roller failure."
I'll try to get some of the pictures posted--(providing my bride can help me do it (hang head low).)
I like talking to smart people.
People with real-world experience
that are willing to share their experience
with friends here at DSN.
smile.
When I bought my KLR in Oct 2003, I went out an read every post at DSN_KLR650 from the very beginning--and what I have read has been very helpful--and at times, amusing.
I was in grad school at the time--and what else was a boy to do--go to class or read the class text?
Nay.
Read DSN_KLR650
Chain History:
This was a new, riveted, take-off OEM chain from a Marine Corps bike bought on EBay, and a new 43T OEM rear sprocket both installed ~13/14K miles ago (need to check the data sheets to be exact, but very close).
Many suggest that this is what they typically get for mileage--I have gotten 18K out of mine, so was a little surprised that it had all failed.
shrug.
Nice to be in a safe place when it all falls apart.
Nice to have another set of chains and sprocket on the shelf at home, waiting their own destruction....
Meanwhile, back at the Gann Valley mosquito depot:
Three other observers (non-motorcyclist) have suggested, the rollers began failing and took out the sprocket.
Could be- or not.
I had a OEM chain begin to grenade last year, took out lots of rollers (=1/2 of the rollers)and the sprocket kept going...so I am sticking with the Saline solution as the most likely. This was on a new to me bike, without the benefit of previous chain history....
Now back to our story,
530 miles prior to this mosquito rendezvous point: upon my arrival, in at KC, MO, this KiLeRista did a thorough inspection/wd-40 cleaning of every link/o-ring/tooth. The only thing I noticed was the odd coating of 'dust' on the vertical sides of the sprocket.
Hmmm.
I'm gathering data,
but not sure of what I am seeing.
Note to self, 'keep an eye on this'
I attributed the dust to 6 miles of limestone marsh road that I took to reconnect two paved roads. From 20/20 hindsight, it was very fine sprocket dust.
In retrospect/lessons learned--
Quite a surprise that it all fell apart so fast after a thorough inspection 530 miles prior. Jeff's comment: That is what failure of case hardening does--
looks good,
looks good,
looks good,
BAM!
does not look so good.
Oddly, the steel 15T JT C/S sprocket shows very little 'damage' or wear considering what has happened to the rear. The front does not have that many total miles, as I vary the sprockets from 13,14,15T depending on where I am riding.
An additional data point:
this failed-sprocket had been 'flipped' 2500 miles prior, hoping that the flipping would increase the sprocket life. It had not began hooking, but the points were leaning a tad--which admittedly could effect roller life. Flipping the rear sprocket has been a routine of mine for several years, used with good results--so I am not thinking that is a contributing factor.
There are many tight links this morning--as could be attributed to the chain slipping on the sprocket and bending the link-pins.
Epilogue plus+:
45K+ KLR miles and have only had to be rescued twice.
Last year, 3 days after commenting--
"Flats?!?!?!?
Never had one on a KLR."
Yeah,
Then I had one. A doo-zee.
--shredded the HD tube with a 16p nail.
On that day, my wife had the help of the 12y/o son who knew how to hitch up the trailer...today he is some 700 miles away--and the car hitch is 'put-away'.
yeah, daddy just had to have a motorcycle.
Rescue?
I did mention that I have been rescued twice.
Guess when the 2d time happened?
And a fine rescue it was--
I hope yours goes as well.
smile.
revmaaatin. did I mention the mosquitoes? Apparently I taste better than chicken