nklr: body armor / chest protector

[Jim Franklin]

On Mon, Dec 31, 2001 at 05:45:58AM -0000, bohdansdad wrote:

>Hi all! > >I have developed an intermittent engine noise when my KLR is between >3,000 and 4,000 Rpm. It most often occurs when the engine has been

Mine too. It sounds vaguely like "muahahahaha"...ohwait that's me.

> The sound is hard to discribe, it sorta sounds like a draging >disk, or worse yet a bad bearing. It fades in and fades out and is >quite noticeable to myself and others. It's to the point where I am >worried so much that I do not want to ride my bike. Although the last >time I rode it, about 4 mile, the sound did not occur once. I'm >racking my brain trying to figure it out.

My initial thoughts are that you haven't adjusted your cam chain and balancer shaft chain, and one (both?) is flapping around at that RPM especially when the oil gets warm and thin. Have you adjusted these? Acute bearing failure will usually show up as metal flakes in your oil. Some of my bikes have a magnet on the drain plug; maybe one is available that fits the KL[R]s. If you can pinpint the source better, that would help..

> The noise first occured after an extended dirt road ride. On >this ride I was concerned about running out of fuel so I shut the >motor off for about 10 miles of downhill which I coasted down. This >is where the bad bearing idea crossed my mind. Did coasting down the >mountain instead of leaving the motor running stop oil getting to the >bearings? Could this have fried one of them? Help!

If it was a very steep downhill, like 45 degrees or more, it's possible, but since there was no pressure on the gearbox I highly doubt it. How many miles on the bike? Also, did you remove the brake pads and make sure there are no rocks caught in there? Unlikely source since you said it was consistent with RPM, but worth a quick peek. jim

[Ted Palmer]

bohdansdad wrote: [...]

> The noise first occured after an extended dirt road ride. On > this ride I was concerned about running out of fuel so I shut the > motor off for about 10 miles of downhill which I coasted down. This > is where the bad bearing idea crossed my mind. Did coasting down the > mountain instead of leaving the motor running stop oil getting to the > bearings? Could this have fried one of them? Help!

The output shaft bearing at the front sprocket is fed oil by the engine's oil system, like some other models of Kawasakis. I knew someone that did damage an output shaft bearing on a GPz900 by doing a bit of neutral-racing down a hill, so it could be possible that you have damaged yours. Once the engine is running and the bearing gets oil, I would expect it to run quiet-ish but with some play. If the bearing is knackered then I would expect some oil leakage to show up as the shaft moves around in the oil seal. Mister_T Melbourne Australia

[kawboy15]

Don't know if this will help but I had the same problem with my A15 at around 400 mi, I found that the Idler shaft would move in and out of it's mount including the Tensioner lever and cause the large washer next to the idler sprocket to make a whirring noise when accelerating, it would not do this when cold because the oil being thick would muffle the sound. I got rid of the noise by putting two punch marks on the face of the Tensioner lever right next to where the idler shaft passes through it, in doing this the shaft will no longer move the 1/8 inch or so that can cause this noise. The excess metal around the punch marks keep it from moving in and out. You will have to pull the flywheel to get the Tensioner lever off. I do know that this amount of play varies from one bike to another since my A13 when I had it apart had much less movement of this shaft and made no noise. A heavier wt. oil will help but your bike won't go into gear all that well when cold. Hope this helps. Dan.

[bohdansdad]

> Acute bearing failure will usually show up as metal flakes in your

oil. Some

> of my bikes have a magnet on the drain plug; maybe one is available

that

> fits the KL[R]s. >

How much metal flake is too much? Just drained my oil looking for flakes and it was time anyway. This is the bikes first change and the total mileage on the bike is around 350. The filter was pretty scuzzy and the oil was rather dark, but not that much metal if any. In the cavity where the filter rests, there was some flakes though. They were resting in one small spot that was about the size of a pencil eraser diameter. The flakes were small enough that they almost looked like paint chips (best description I could think of, no chunks!) Do any of you think this small amount of flake indicates that a bearing failed? If so, is the bearing something that I might be able to change? I am fairly handy with tools, have restored a 75 bronco and 74 land crusier. David Beyea A15 Santa Maria, Ca

[RM]

On Tue, 1 Jan 2002, bohdansdad wrote:

> Do any of you think this small amount of flake indicates that a >bearing failed? If so, is the bearing something that I might be able to >change? I am fairly handy with tools, have restored a 75 bronco and 74 >land crusier.

A new bike is gonna spew metal flakes all over the place. I had them, too. Just put fresh oil back in and go ride. I did my first change at 70 miles and I saw plenty of crap in there. RM

[rbaugh70]

Anyone own a Thor Aftershock chest protector? Am considering purchase, curious to hear feedback on pros/cons ... alternatives. Thanks .... Roger Baugh http://www.adport.com/backroads