p d nerf engine guard

[snslawr]

Pretty damn convenient!? Sorry, but sounds pretty damn INconvenient to me if you're talking about things that don't work right and might break. OTOH if you're talking about just adding accessories to make it more comfortable and/or functional for individual tastes, that's entirely different. Yes, most people do that to any bike they get. I know they do build some bikes these days that work right straight from the factory, almost all the time, and you don't have to apply a lot of "remedies" to them. If I wanted to spend a lot of time tinkering with the inherent shortcomings of a design frozen in time by the manufacturer, I'd do it up right and get an Enfield or Ural Which are you saying applies to the KLR650, chronic tinkering due to failure to address design flaws, or just enhancements to suit the individual rider?

--- In DSN_klr650@y..., "Lujo Bauer" wrote: > > Not a damn thing, other than replacing them under warranty when > > applicable. > > > > Every single subsystem on the KLR has cheaply remedied shortcomings > and/or > > defects yet KHI is happy to keep banging out the same bike year after > year > > - and people are buying them. > > Of course, since everything *does* have a cheap remedy, I think it's still > pretty damn convenient to get a KLR and then apply a few hundred bucks > worth of remedies, rather than the thousands that it'd cost to get a BMW > or some such, which will need its own buch of remedies. Which is not to > say that I'd turn down a GS or GS/PD if someone offered to trade. > > -Lujo > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[RM]

On Tue, 23 Jul 2002, snslawr wrote:

>Which are you saying applies to the KLR650, chronic tinkering due to >failure to address design flaws, or just enhancements to suit the >individual rider?

Design flaws, mainly: * Dangerous front brake (undersized plus a stretchy brake line) * Rear subframe attachments * weak headlight adjuster bracket * very lossy electrical system (doesn't bother most people, though) * brake calipers that seem prone to binding up on their sliding pins * clutch and sidestand safety switches that fail with regularity * the doohickey * Carb float-bowl vent tube that clogs up in the rain * weak handlebars (not an issue if the bike is never dropped) * Speedometer that often fails on higher-mileage bikes * speedometer gear drive that often fails on higher-mileage bikes taking the hub's splines with it. * tweety * Rear preload adjuster that doesn't deal with frequent adjustment very well. * Spring rates which are inadequate for damn near everyone. * license plate placement * shift lever weld and quality of materials * wheel bearings not fully sealed (not really an issue for a street rider) * No grease fittings on rear suspension. Requires the rear suspension to be disassembled for lubrication and cleaning in order to prevent the pivot bolts from rusting in place. * unusual number of problems with water pump seals and/or impeller. * poor quality fasteners for front brake fluid reservoir cap. Did I leave anything out?

[gpokluda]

--- In DSN_klr650@y..., RM wrote:

> Design flaws, mainly: > > * Dangerous front brake (undersized plus a stretchy brake line) > > * Rear subframe attachments > > * weak headlight adjuster bracket > > * very lossy electrical system (doesn't bother most people, though) > > * brake calipers that seem prone to binding up on their sliding pins > > * clutch and sidestand safety switches that fail with regularity > > * the doohickey > > * Carb float-bowl vent tube that clogs up in the rain

blah, blah, blah

> > Did I leave anything out?

Oh puleeez. Give me a break. Out of the box, the KLR is a good bike. Not a great bike, but a good bike that can do a lot of things well. Sure it has shortcomings, so does every bike. I also know lots of KLR riders who have done nothing to their bikes and have accumulated thousands of trouble free miles. Are you sure your initials aren't RN... Ralph Nader. ROTFLMAO. Gino

[RM]

On Tue, 23 Jul 2002, gpokluda wrote:

>Oh puleeez. Give me a break. Out of the box, the KLR is a good bike. >Not a great bike, but a good bike that can do a lot of things well. >Sure it has shortcomings, so does every bike. I also know lots of KLR >riders who have done nothing to their bikes and have accumulated >thousands of trouble free miles.

...and just how are they using their bikes? If you treat your KLR like a Harley, meaning that you ride 20 miles on pavement on Saturday, polish it on Sunday, and park it for the rest of the week, then of course it's going to be trouble-free and reliable. As an example, how do you think those short-lived Galfer organic/kevlar pads ever became the darling of the list? It's because, in general, people aren't doing real mileage on their KLR's. A pad that dies in 4000 (or less) miles won't get any notice if it takes a year to reach that figure. When you do 2000+ miles a month for 18 months and you USE the KLR as a dual-purpose motorcycle (as was intended), you become very aware of something new breaking every 1-2 months and you aren't happy about it. Better brakes cost real money, so maybe I can understand that one since KHI wants to keep prices down and all. Many of the other problems are just plain chickenshit engineering and a lack of desire to pay one engineer about three days wages to redesign a faulty part. We should probably consider ourselves lucky that KHI bothered to ditch the two-part counterbalancer sprockets and give us a better clutch basket in the 90's. There were probably some considerable re-tooling costs involved, and I'm not sure that the old clutch basket had anything wrong with it anyway. If bikes were cars, none of this would ever be acceptable. KHI foists this garbage on us because the motorcycling public, who has been marginalized since day one, accepts it. Gino, I don't know what kind of mileage you put on your KLR or how you used it, but I'd gather that your tolerance for mechanical woes is fairly high, or else you didn't stress your KLR very much. RM

[Ray Fagan]

I've got to toss in my $.02 here... If you buy ANY big bore single cylinder motorcycle there will be quite a bit of maintenance. It's inherent in the basic engine design. The things vibrate and shake. ALL of them! Doesn't matter whether it's a low dollar bike like the KLR or some high zoot scooter from Italy. That inherent vibration is caused by that single syrup bucket sized piston pumping up and down without the benefit of another cylinder to offset the pounding. Therefore, singles don't last as long as most current multi's do. On top of that, put ANY bike in the dirt and stuff wears out fast. Over the years I've owned dozens of motorcycles. I currently have four very different bikes in the garage that I use regularly. All of them have some sort of manufacturing glitch that has to be taken care of by the owner. If you want the perfect vehicle I suggest you see your Caddy dealer. The ST1100 has a problem with steering head bearings, fork seals, and front wheel bearings. The GL1500 Goldwing has a mushy front end and a battery that occasionally just dies for no obvious reason. The recently departed BMW R1100RT had so many problems that it made the current KLR doohickey discussion seem like child's play. The 750 Nighthawk has a chain size that is too small for the engine's torque characteristics. Let's put the KLR in perspective. It's a dirt cheap bike. The fit and finish are typical Kawasaki. It's a pitiful dirt bike if pitted against any of the popular enduro weapons. It's a horrible road bike if compared to most any touring oriented bike. The handling sucks when compared to the gee whiz technology in today's sport bikes. But you know what? The damned thing is a hoot to ride. Mine gets far more daily use than all the others combined. It makes me grin, and that's an easy trade out for constantly tinkering with it. It's someone else's turn on the soap box. I'm going for a ride. Ray

----- Original Message ----- From: "snslawr" > Pretty damn convenient!? Sorry, but sounds pretty damn INconvenient > to me if you're talking about things that don't work right and might > break.

[Lujo Bauer]

> If you treat your KLR like a Harley, meaning that you ride 20 miles on > pavement on Saturday, polish it on Sunday, and park it for the rest of

the

> week, then of course it's going to be trouble-free and reliable.

I dunno, I'd be afraid my KLR might sponaneously collapse if I tried to polish it. -Lujo [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[sherparider]

> If bikes were cars, none of this would ever be acceptable. KHI

foists

> this garbage on us because the motorcycling public, who has been > marginalized since day one, accepts it.

So tell us, why do you ride a KLR? If you're so pissed-off with Kawasaki, and can't stand the cheezy-ass design issues, why haven't you sold off the bike and purchased some other dual-sport? (Frankly, I suspect anyone who regularly takes *any* bike into the backcountry, hammering down washboard roads, slamming into waterbreaks, ripping through mud, is gonna have maintenance issues.)

[jazranch]

--- In DSN_klr650@y..., RM wrote:

> > On Tue, 23 Jul 2002, gpokluda wrote: > > >Oh puleeez. Give me a break. Out of the box, the KLR is a good

bike.

> >Not a great bike, but a good bike that can do a lot of things well. > >Sure it has shortcomings, so does every bike. I also know lots of

KLR

> >riders who have done nothing to their bikes and have accumulated > >thousands of trouble free miles. > > ...and just how are they using their bikes? > > If you treat your KLR like a Harley, meaning that you ride 20 miles

on

> pavement on Saturday, polish it on Sunday, and park it for the rest

of the

> week, then of course it's going to be trouble-free and reliable. > > As an example, how do you think those short-lived Galfer

organic/kevlar

> pads ever became the darling of the list? It's because, in general, > people aren't doing real mileage on their KLR's. A pad that dies in

4000

> (or less) miles won't get any notice if it takes a year to reach

that

> figure. > > When you do 2000+ miles a month for 18 months and you USE the KLR as

a

> dual-purpose motorcycle (as was intended), you become very aware of > something new breaking every 1-2 months and you aren't happy about

it.

> > Better brakes cost real money, so maybe I can understand that one

since

> KHI wants to keep prices down and all. Many of the other problems

are

> just plain chickenshit engineering and a lack of desire to pay one > engineer about three days wages to redesign a faulty part. We

should

> probably consider ourselves lucky that KHI bothered to ditch the

two-part

> counterbalancer sprockets and give us a better clutch basket in the

90's.

> There were probably some considerable re-tooling costs involved, and

I'm

> not sure that the old clutch basket had anything wrong with it

anyway.

> > If bikes were cars, none of this would ever be acceptable. KHI

foists

> this garbage on us because the motorcycling public, who has been > marginalized since day one, accepts it. > > Gino, I don't know what kind of mileage you put on your KLR or how

you

> used it, but I'd gather that your tolerance for mechanical woes is

fairly

> high, or else you didn't stress your KLR very much. > > RM

Is this passion or am I reading between the lines? Love it!.............I love it! That's why all the others call us 'a cult'. We get passionate about our 20year old, outdated design, KLR......... So, how long have we been a Bic disposable throw away society now? The world isn't ready for indestructable anything anymore..... .....especially since that meteorite is supposed to hit us in about 2008......read all about it in Dual Sport News(just kidding).... Give me a Massey-Ferguson!..... and no that's not a hand weapon, or a particular breed of cow. Toby

[RM]

On Tue, 23 Jul 2002, sherparider wrote:

>So tell us, why do you ride a KLR? If you're so pissed-off with >Kawasaki, and can't stand the cheezy-ass design issues, why haven't >you sold off the bike and purchased some other dual-sport?

Two reasons. First, the US motorcycling public underappreciates bikes of this nature, which means that choices here are limited. There is no real replacement for a KLR in the US market. I suppose a DR650 can come fairly close if you throw enough money at it. Second, buying another bike is not financially feasable at this point. RM

[Frosty]

So, now would be the time to just hit the delete key rather than feeding the ... -----Original Message----- From: RM [mailto:rm@...] Sent: Tuesday, July 23, 2002 5:30 PM To: sherparider Cc: DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [DSN_klr650] Voice of reason was Re: doohickey miles

On Tue, 23 Jul 2002, sherparider wrote: >So tell us, why do you ride a KLR? If you're so pissed-off with >Kawasaki, and can't stand the cheezy-ass design issues, why haven't >you sold off the bike and purchased some other dual-sport? Two reasons. First, the US motorcycling public underappreciates bikes of this nature, which means that choices here are limited. There is no real replacement for a KLR in the US market. I suppose a DR650 can come fairly close if you throw enough money at it. Second, buying another bike is not financially feasable at this point. RM Checkout Dual Sport News at http://www.dualsportnews.com Be part of the Adventure! Visit the KLR650 archives at http://www.xmission.com/~dkenison/cgi/lwgate.cgi/KLR650/archives/ Post message: DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: DSN_klr650-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Unsubscribe: DSN_klr650-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com List owner: DSN_klr650-owner@yahoogroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/