Attachments : I’ve run tech days at my home and so have performed, assisted or observed [b]dozens[/b] of doohickey replacements. Many of these replacements have resulted in broken springs and/or broken doohickeys removed. I personally would not want to ride a KLR into the backcountry without knowing the state of the doohickey and spring. The new parts are cheap, the replacement is easy if you can follow well-documented instructions and the new Eagle Mike parts are a quantum improvement over the stock parts. Catastrophic failures are relatively rare since the broken quadrant arc typically finds it was past the moving balancer chain, balancer etc. But the broken quadrant [b]could[/b] jam into the chain/gear interstice and that would certainly ruin your entire day if not worse. Non-catastrophic failures might take the form of a balancer system that gradually becomes less efficient as the chain stretches. Another common form of failure is that the owner will loosen the doohickey bolt on a bike with a broken spring only to find that the bike runs much rougher after the “adjustment” since the doohickey moved making the balancer chain much looser. I have never seen broken spring parts come out in the oil change or adhere to a magnetic drain plug. Much more common is for the broken bits to be found in the oil screen, along with chunks of sealant. This screen is typical of what I have seen at tech days:
http://johnbiccum.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/Misc-KLR-photos/497409_5HfHR#20342804_xY6tQ-A-LB On balance, there are many reasons to do this simple procedure and precious few reasons not to do it. How lucky do you feel? [b]From:[/b]
DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com [mailto:
DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com] [b]On Behalf Of [/b]spike55_bmw
[b]Sent:[/b] Friday, January 01, 2010 6:24 AM
[b]To:[/b]
DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com
[b]Subject:[/b] [DSN_KLR650] Re: How do I tell if my doohicky has been upgraded? Jeff x 2:
I have an '06 from new and did change the OEM doohickey out for an Eagle Mike version plus I used the torsion spring rather than replace the the stock tension spring with an upgraded tension spring.
But first, calm down. Although I'm a relative short-timer on the list, there are very few accounts of a broken doohickey causing a catastrophic failure along the road, resulting in someone becoming wolf-bait. Many riders never change their doohickies, probably don't even know that they have one, and probably never go through the procedure to allow the system, which the doohickey is part of, to adjust itself.
Yes, the pre-2008 doohickies were a crappy design of very brittle metal welded on to a hub. And, yes, the OEM tension spring can fail 5 miles off of the dealer's lot or it can become ineffectual, over time, to properly take slack out (tension) of the counter-balance system's chain when going through the self-adjusting procedure, but a little here or a little there isn't going to hurt you.
Some may differ with me on this but most of us, me included, aren't trained mechanics and somewhere along the line we adopted several axioms to live by, like 'bigger is better', 'if tight is good, tighter is better', and then there is the one about blondes. I think most OEM doohickies are broken by their owners when they over-tightening them at the end of the adjustment procedure. You should be following the prescribed procedure and use a torque wrench at the end, so as not to over-tighten the bolt / over-flex the OEM doohicky / snapping it into pieces but eventually the spring needs replaced for a shorter one.
I would first look at your aftermarket magnetic oil pan drain plug after some miles and some heavy leaning (falling down). That should shake things up. If that plug doesn't collect any big metal which is sharply squared off = doohickey; round and spring-like = the tension spring, you are probably OK for many more miles.
Over the years, I've seen some sort of tubular scope that allows you to look in and around the adjustment bolt to inspect the doohickey but I have no experience with it.
Changing the doohickey over to the stainless steel billet unit isn't easy the first time but it isn't that hard either. During this time of the year (North America) you have plenty of 'non-riding' time and plenty of friends here to help you through it.
Don R100, A6F
--- In DSN_KLR650%40yahoogroups.com, "Jeff" wrote:
>
> Jeff,
>
> thanks for raising this question. I'm in a similar state of confusion. I
recently picked up a 2000 KLR that's a bit longer in the tooth than yours, with 35k miles racked up in the redwood forests of northern california.
>
> I did find a very expert analysis of the balancer system problems, which
lists your year -- 1996 -- as a time when kawasaki partially addressed the problem.
the doohickey procedure recommends itself, and 2) whether the procedure needs repeating over time and, if so, under what circumstances.
>
> i too await expert guidance from this forum!
>
> warm regards,
> Jeff in Sonoma County, CA
>
>
>
>
> --- In DSN_KLR650%40yahoogroups.com,
Jeff Hartman wrote:
> >
> > This is my first attempt to ask a question on this list, so I hope I
am posting this correctly. I bought a 95 KLR this fall, and and the seller did not know if the previous owner had performed the doohicky upgrade. In reviewing other KLR sites, I see lot of descriptions of how to change it out, but no easy check to find out if it has been previously upgraded. Is there some painless and non-invasive way to determine if it has been changed out? It has about 13.5 K on it, and runs great especially after new sprockets, brake pads, chain, throttle and clutch cables, and a little basic maintenance.
> >
> > This KLR looks like it has had a full life traveling around Southeast
Alaska, but I would like to be confident that I could run up on the ferry to Haines, and explore around the back roads of the Yukon without being stranded.
> > Thanks for any advice you have,
> > Jeff - Juneau, Alaska
> >
>
