Wilsons Sandbox

This was the 405 freeway at about 6:30 pm. That would have been suicide.  -Jeff Khoury

On Mar 12, 2010, at 5:23 AM, mark ward wrote:

  Ok I know I shouldn't ask this BUT, Am a just a Putz? OR should the guy in the SUV have ran back and gotten the piece OUT OF THE ROAD BEFORE, changing His tire, to stop others from hitting it and maybe a FATAL accident? [b]From:[/b] revmaaatin [b]To:[/b] DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com [b]Sent:[/b] Fri, March 12, 2010 12:53:35 AM [b]Subject:[/b] [DSN_KLR650] Re: Unexpectedly Airborne   --- In DSN_KLR650%40yahoogroups.com, Jeff Khoury wrote: > > OK, so it's nighttime and I'm in moderate traffic on the 405. With about a second's notice, I see a 5"x5"x12" piece of black cast iron lying in the middle of my travel lane. (Imagine a chunk of a concrete parking stop for reference) With nowhere to swerve I brace for the impact at about 40MPH. > > The KLR handled the impact pretty well, if by well you mean leaping 2 feet straight into the air. It leapt so quickly, my shoulder broke the mirror loose as the front end headed for the sky. > > It wasn't very graceful, but I managed to stick the landing. I pulled to the side of the road next to a guy changing a beautifully bent 21" polished aluminum wheel on his SUV.... See More > > Amazingly, it did not cut the tire or the tube! Kudos to Kenda for making awesome tubes and tires. When I saw the wheel, I was SURE I had to replace them as well. A close inspection shows no real damage to the rubber. > > If I had been on any other type of bike it would have been a different story. There would not have been enough suspension travel to soak it up and if I had tubeless tires I would have had to land it on a flat front tire. > > My brother is going to go down to one of the big local bike shops in the morning to see if they have a new (or aftermarket) rim in stock. Excel makes the sock rims on the KLR and they're pretty common with the dirt-bike crowd, so they may have one. If they do, I'll lace it up this weekend. > > I'll probably replace the tube "just because" and inspect the tire VERY carefully. If it's even questionable, I'll replace it. > > Pictures of my bent wheel: > > [url=http://bit.ly/]http://bit.ly/[/url] bGCBXS > > -Jeff Khoury > Wow. Glad you kept riding until all violent motion stopped. More than just the little engine says, "I think I can." Give us an update when you can see it in the light. I suspect the wheel is cracked as well. revmaaatin.

Take that to any independent bike shop and they'll be able to beat it back into shape for you, bent rims are pretty common. Don't worry about the tire or tube, if you had damaged the tube it would have went flat on the spot (pinch flat). I reckon yoiu should checyour tire pressure, however. Ride fast and take chances Thanks CA Stu A13

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, Jeff Khoury wrote: > > > Pictures of my bent wheel: > > http://bit.ly/bGCBXS > > -Jeff Khoury >

On Thu, Mar 11, 2010 at 09:32:47PM -0800, Jeff Khoury wrote:

> > OK, so it's nighttime and I'm in moderate traffic on the 405. With > about a second's notice, I see a 5"x5"x12" piece of black cast > iron lying in the middle of my travel lane. (Imagine a chunk of a > concrete parking stop for reference) With nowhere to swerve I brace > for the impact at about 40MPH.

On the first day of a long climbing trip with the bikes about 5 years ago, my friend Eric and I were enjoying the end of the torrential rain that had had us crawling up the shoulder of I-80, through the puddles, around the stalled traffic who couldn't see, most of the way from Chicago to Iowa. It was a really beautiful early summer evening, clear, crisp, etc...and NO RAIN. Then the deer came out. Well, they must have come out some time before, since there were carcasses literally all over the road. I'm riding along in the left lane and I see the car in front of me swerve to the right -- I can't, there's a container truck right next to me -- and then go DIP BUMP anyway as it hits the other dead deer that's also in the middle lane. And then I'm on it, at about 70MPH with a bike fully loaded with side boxes full of camping and climbing gear -- I don't even have time to try to shift my weight and lighten the front wheel a little bit -- and I ride straight over the center of a rather large deer at 70MPH. Behind me I hear my buddy do the exact same thing. We pull off at the next exit and we're both primarily amazed that our bikes went over a 6" high obstacle at 70MPH and didn't even blink. I guess now we know what the true design goal for the KLR was: to ride over whatever crap might be lying on the highway, in the dark, without ever quite getting you killed. If you pick up a standard Excel rim in the same size you'll find it's more heavily built than the Kawasaki rim -- they have Excel make lighter, cheaper rims for the KLR stock setup. I guess concrete is a little more rigid than dead deer are, eh? Nice work sticking the landing!

Have you ever drove on the 405 ? Hell even the police drive likes nuts.. had a motorcycle cop come up on me outta nowhere ( I was doing about 85mph ) he darted outta the HOV lane almost and ran inbetween me and the car next to me and darted back into the HOV lane and pretty much just rolled outta sight. No lights, looked like was just out for a ride. But yes typically in most places somebody would have removed the object from the roadway, at least I would if it was possible to do in a safe manner. Dooden A15 Green Ape

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, mark ward wrote: > > Ok I know I shouldn't ask this BUT, Am a just a Putz? OR should the guy in the SUV have ran back and gotten the piece OUT OF THE ROAD BEFORE, changing His tire, to stop others from hitting it and maybe a FATAL accident? > > > > > ________________________________ > From: revmaaatin > To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Fri, March 12, 2010 12:53:35 AM > Subject: [DSN_KLR650] Re: Unexpectedly Airborne > > > > > --- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogro ups.com, Jeff Khoury wrote: > > > > OK, so it's nighttime and I'm in moderate traffic on the 405. With about a second's notice, I see a 5"x5"x12" piece of black cast iron lying in the middle of my travel lane. (Imagine a chunk of a concrete parking stop for reference) With nowhere to swerve I brace for the impact at about 40MPH. > > > > The KLR handled the impact pretty well, if by well you mean leaping 2 feet straight into the air. It leapt so quickly, my shoulder broke the mirror loose as the front end headed for the sky. > > > > It wasn't very graceful, but I managed to stick the landing. I pulled to the side of the road next to a guy changing a beautifully bent 21" polished aluminum wheel on his SUV.... See More > > > > Amazingly, it did not cut the tire or the tube! Kudos to Kenda for making awesome tubes and tires. When I saw the wheel, I was SURE I had to replace them as well. A close inspection shows no real damage to the rubber. > > > > If I had been on any other type of bike it would have been a different story. There would not have been enough suspension travel to soak it up and if I had tubeless tires I would have had to land it on a flat front tire. > > > > My brother is going to go down to one of the big local bike shops in the morning to see if they have a new (or aftermarket) rim in stock. Excel makes the sock rims on the KLR and they're pretty common with the dirt-bike crowd, so they may have one. If they do, I'll lace it up this weekend. > > > > I'll probably replace the tube "just because" and inspect the tire VERY carefully. If it's even questionable, I'll replace it. > > > > Pictures of my bent wheel: > > > > http://bit.ly/bGCBXS > > > > -Jeff Khoury > > > Wow. Glad you kept riding until all violent motion stopped. > More than just the little engine says, "I think I can." > Give us an update when you can see it in the light. I suspect the wheel is cracked as well. > revmaaatin. >

Have you ever been on the 405? That would have been absolutely insane! Thanks CA Stu

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, mark ward wrote: > > Ok I know I shouldn't ask this BUT, Am a just a Putz? OR should the guy in the SUV have ran back and gotten the piece OUT OF THE ROAD BEFORE, changing His tire, to stop others from hitting it and maybe a FATAL accident? >

#ygrps-yiv-1936315287 p {margin:0;}Rev, In the light of day I found the wheel not to be cracked but it is bent beyond all repair.  I tried to hammer it back with a brass hammer, but no luck. I then glanced at the rear and found it to be bent even more than the front! *%&^!!!! I called around to all the bike shops locally and no one carries rims in stock.  A friend recommended I try calling Eagle Mike.  I found he was in San Diego, so I called him.  He happened to have a used (good condition) front AND a rear lying around the shop and offered them to me for a reasonable price.  After a few "thank yous" we arranged to meet at his shop tomorrow morning. My brother let me borrow the tires and wheels off his KLR so I can ride to San Diego to pick up the rims.  I just finished swapping them at last light.  I'm off to go gas up so I can leave early in the morning to meet Eagle Mike. Thanks to all for the well wishes The saga continues... -Jeff Khoury

----- Original Message ----- From: "revmaaatin" To: "DSN KLR650" DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2010 9:53:35 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific Subject: [DSN_KLR650] Re: Unexpectedly Airborne   --- In DSN_KLR650%40yahoogroups.com, Jeff Khoury wrote: > > OK, so it's nighttime and I'm in moderate traffic on the 405. With about a second's notice, I see a 5"x5"x12" piece of black cast iron lying in the middle of my travel lane. (Imagine a chunk of a concrete parking stop for reference) With nowhere to swerve I brace for the impact at about 40MPH. > > The KLR handled the impact pretty well, if by well you mean leaping 2 feet straight into the air. It leapt so quickly, my shoulder broke the mirror loose as the front end headed for the sky. > > It wasn't very graceful, but I managed to stick the landing. I pulled to the side of the road next to a guy changing a beautifully bent 21" polished aluminum wheel on his SUV.... See More > > Amazingly, it did not cut the tire or the tube! Kudos to Kenda for making awesome tubes and tires. When I saw the wheel, I was SURE I had to replace them as well. A close inspection shows no real damage to the rubber. > > If I had been on any other type of bike it would have been a different story. There would not have been enough suspension travel to soak it up and if I had tubeless tires I would have had to land it on a flat front tire. > > My brother is going to go down to one of the big local bike shops in the morning to see if they have a new (or aftermarket) rim in stock. Excel makes the sock rims on the KLR and they're pretty common with the dirt-bike crowd, so they may have one. If they do, I'll lace it up this weekend. > > I'll probably replace the tube "just because" and inspect the tire VERY carefully. If it's even questionable, I'll replace it. > > Pictures of my bent wheel: > > http://bit.ly/bGCBXS > > -Jeff Khoury > Wow. Glad you kept riding until all violent motion stopped. More than just the little engine says, "I think I can." Give us an update when you can see it in the light. I suspect the wheel is cracked as well. revmaaatin.