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close but not close enough, thankfully. nklr
Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 7:02 am
by Eddie
If I'd driven my car, I wouldn't be writing this. I'd still be at the accident scene.
If I'd ridden my KLR650 home today, I probably wouldn't be writing at all.
Neither could've stopped in time.
The car has ABS, which actually increases stopping distances vs. non-ABS systems.
The KLR has stock brakes and tires meant mostly for off road.
Fortunately I was riding my other bike, a FZ8 with BIG dual front discs and warmed-up, sticky radials.
You see, while I was riding at just 35mph, a woman looked right but turned left - straight out in front of me from a side street.
I clamped on the brakes firm enough that the rear tire hovered just off the ground for a blink.
I then did a hard U-turn and pulled along side her at a red light.
Before she could even get the window down to speak, I hollered, "You just scared the **** out of me, lady! "
and then I left her to ponder how close she came to injuring or killing me outright.
Once the adrenaline wears off, I'm going to get some sleep.
Today's the co-owner of my favorite bike shop's birthday and I'm joining her at Red Lobster for lunch.
Thankfully.
-eddie
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
close but not close enough, thankfully. nklr
Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 7:14 am
by ron criswell
A friend has modified his KLR front and rear by putting V-Strom 650 (I think) brakes on it. Mucho better for street. He offered to do mine but I haven't yet as they are fine for dirt and gravel....but after riding on the street yesterday, maybe I will. He had to make brackets to make it work.
Criswell
Sent from my iPad
On Apr 13, 2012, at 7:02 AM, "eddie" wrote:
>
> If I'd driven my car, I wouldn't be writing this. I'd still be at the accident scene.
> If I'd ridden my KLR650 home today, I probably wouldn't be writing at all.
> Neither could've stopped in time.
> The car has ABS, which actually increases stopping distances vs. non-ABS systems.
> The KLR has stock brakes and tires meant mostly for off road.
> Fortunately I was riding my other bike, a FZ8 with BIG dual front discs and warmed-up, sticky radials.
> You see, while I was riding at just 35mph, a woman looked right but turned left - straight out in front of me from a side street.
> I clamped on the brakes firm enough that the rear tire hovered just off the ground for a blink.
> I then did a hard U-turn and pulled along side her at a red light.
> Before she could even get the window down to speak, I hollered, "You just scared the **** out of me, lady! "
> and then I left her to ponder how close she came to injuring or killing me outright.
>
> Once the adrenaline wears off, I'm going to get some sleep.
> Today's the co-owner of my favorite bike shop's birthday and I'm joining her at Red Lobster for lunch.
> Thankfully.
>
> -eddie
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
close but not close enough, thankfully. nklr
Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 8:15 am
by david zawadzki
Yea, the back brake is horrible as well. Are there any options for that? I know the front is 70% of braking power and if someone can recommend a replacement without emptying my checking account I would greatly appreciate it.
Also make sure you don't have any moisture in you brakefluid. I read that with 3% of moisture/water in the fluid, your braking power is reduced by 40-50%
If true - it's scary!
-David Z
mobile: 646.267.1109
On Apr 13, 2012, at 8:14 AM, Ron Criswell wrote:
> A friend has modified his KLR front and rear by putting V-Strom 650 (I think) brakes on it. Mucho better for street. He offered to do mine but I haven't yet as they are fine for dirt and gravel....but after riding on the street yesterday, maybe I will. He had to make brackets to make it work.
>
> Criswell
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> On Apr 13, 2012, at 7:02 AM, "eddie" wrote:
>
> >
> > If I'd driven my car, I wouldn't be writing this. I'd still be at the accident scene.
> > If I'd ridden my KLR650 home today, I probably wouldn't be writing at all.
> > Neither could've stopped in time.
> > The car has ABS, which actually increases stopping distances vs. non-ABS systems.
> > The KLR has stock brakes and tires meant mostly for off road.
> > Fortunately I was riding my other bike, a FZ8 with BIG dual front discs and warmed-up, sticky radials.
> > You see, while I was riding at just 35mph, a woman looked right but turned left - straight out in front of me from a side street.
> > I clamped on the brakes firm enough that the rear tire hovered just off the ground for a blink.
> > I then did a hard U-turn and pulled along side her at a red light.
> > Before she could even get the window down to speak, I hollered, "You just scared the **** out of me, lady! "
> > and then I left her to ponder how close she came to injuring or killing me outright.
> >
> > Once the adrenaline wears off, I'm going to get some sleep.
> > Today's the co-owner of my favorite bike shop's birthday and I'm joining her at Red Lobster for lunch.
> > Thankfully.
> >
> > -eddie
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
> >
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
close but not close enough, thankfully. nklr
Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 10:24 am
by RobertWichert
And you can thank your quick reacting brain too, eh?
(and you avoided sliding the rear wheel too. Nice work.)
Robert Wichert P.Eng. LEED AP BD&C
+1 916 966 9060
FAX +1 916 966 9068
===============================================
On 4/13/2012 5:02 AM, eddie wrote:
>
>
> If I'd driven my car, I wouldn't be writing this. I'd still be at the
> accident scene.
> If I'd ridden my KLR650 home today, I probably wouldn't be writing at all.
> Neither could've stopped in time.
> The car has ABS, which actually increases stopping distances vs.
> non-ABS systems.
> The KLR has stock brakes and tires meant mostly for off road.
> Fortunately I was riding my other bike, a FZ8 with BIG dual front
> discs and warmed-up, sticky radials.
> You see, while I was riding at just 35mph, a woman looked right but
> turned left - straight out in front of me from a side street.
> I clamped on the brakes firm enough that the rear tire hovered just
> off the ground for a blink.
> I then did a hard U-turn and pulled along side her at a red light.
> Before she could even get the window down to speak, I hollered, "You
> just scared the **** out of me, lady! "
> and then I left her to ponder how close she came to injuring or
> killing me outright.
>
> Once the adrenaline wears off, I'm going to get some sleep.
> Today's the co-owner of my favorite bike shop's birthday and I'm
> joining her at Red Lobster for lunch.
> Thankfully.
>
> -eddie
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
brighter headlight
Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 10:33 am
by mark ward
Who did you get your KIT from?
--- On Fri, 4/13/12, Jeffrey wrote:
From: Jeffrey
Subject: [DSN_KLR650] Brighter Headlight
To:
DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com
Date: Friday, April 13, 2012, 3:19 PM
Pre08 The ONLY way to go is the HID kits. Some purists may say the fixtures are not made for HID bulbs but so you scorch a few cagers.
You only use 30 to 35 watts and they are cheap. My slim ballast HID kit was $3 and $20 shipping.
Also, I added a switch to turn off the lights while I was doing it.
Bank for buck, even if you have to pay $20 more, THERE IS NO COMPARISON.
j#3
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
close but not close enough, thankfully. nklr
Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 10:41 am
by Eddie
Re:
part 1 - small miracle. I'd just gotten off work from a 13 hour shift
monitoring computer processing.
part 2 - I don't remember hitting the back brake. But, thanks! I guess you
really do do in panic what you practice in peace.

eddie
> [Original Message]
> From: RobertWichert
>(snip)>
> And you can thank your quick reacting brain too, eh?
>(and you avoided sliding the rear wheel too. Nice work.)
close but not close enough, thankfully. nklr
Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 10:48 am
by RobertWichert
Well, I never hit the back brake, so maybe we are the same. On road anyway.
Panic can be a good thing, as long as it moves you to action!
Good job!
Robert Wichert P.Eng. LEED AP BD&C
+1 916 966 9060
FAX +1 916 966 9068
===============================================
On 4/13/2012 8:40 AM, eddie wrote:
>
>
> Re:
> part 1 - small miracle. I'd just gotten off work from a 13 hour shift
> monitoring computer processing.
> part 2 - I don't remember hitting the back brake. But, thanks! I guess you
> really do do in panic what you practice in peace.

> eddie
>
> > [Original Message]
> > From: RobertWichert >
> >(snip)>
> > And you can thank your quick reacting brain too, eh?
> >(and you avoided sliding the rear wheel too. Nice work.)
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
close but not close enough, thankfully. nklr
Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 11:44 am
by John Biccum
I would be very interested in a set of those brackets, I think he should consider making them commercially.
I have a KLR and a Wee and I upgraded the Wee brakes by replacing the Wee calipers with a pair off a GSXR sport bike. So I have a pair of Wee calipers in my garage.
I think that there a quite a few Wee owners that have done the GSXR caliper upgrade and I suspect that there are a fair amount of folks that own both a KLR and a Wee.
I have upgraded the KLR brakes as well by swapping the rotor and relocating the wimpy caliper to suit the new larger rotor. But a better upgrade IMHO would be to use the stock rotor and a better, two-pot caliper. I think the Wee caliper would be perfect.
From:
DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com [mailto:
DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Ron Criswell
Sent: Friday, April 13, 2012 5:15 AM
To: transalp1@...
Cc: KLR650 list
Subject: Re: [DSN_KLR650] close but not close enough, thankfully. NKLR
A friend has modified his KLR front and rear by putting V-Strom 650 (I think) brakes on it. Mucho better for street. He offered to do mine but I haven't yet as they are fine for dirt and gravel....but after riding on the street yesterday, maybe I will. He had to make brackets to make it work.
Criswell
Sent from my iPad
On Apr 13, 2012, at 7:02 AM, "eddie" > wrote:
>
> If I'd driven my car, I wouldn't be writing this. I'd still be at the accident scene.
> If I'd ridden my KLR650 home today, I probably wouldn't be writing at all.
> Neither could've stopped in time.
> The car has ABS, which actually increases stopping distances vs. non-ABS systems.
> The KLR has stock brakes and tires meant mostly for off road.
> Fortunately I was riding my other bike, a FZ8 with BIG dual front discs and warmed-up, sticky radials.
> You see, while I was riding at just 35mph, a woman looked right but turned left - straight out in front of me from a side street.
> I clamped on the brakes firm enough that the rear tire hovered just off the ground for a blink.
> I then did a hard U-turn and pulled along side her at a red light.
> Before she could even get the window down to speak, I hollered, "You just scared the **** out of me, lady! "
> and then I left her to ponder how close she came to injuring or killing me outright.
>
> Once the adrenaline wears off, I'm going to get some sleep.
> Today's the co-owner of my favorite bike shop's birthday and I'm joining her at Red Lobster for lunch.
> Thankfully.
>
> -eddie
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]