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[Wendell L McCallie]

Hi all: I lowered the wife's KLR 250 and was wondering if what I did would have any ill effects. I loosened the fork covers on the front, slid them down and loosened the upper and lower frame brackets. Then I let the tubing where the air valves are slide up 1 1/4". On the back, I simply loosened the big lock washer on the spring surronding the shock, and then loosened the other washer which took some of the tension off the spring. All of this lowered the bike to the point where the wife is quite happy with the setup. My questions are: Will any of this damage the shocks? She will be riding mostly street and getting no air time. How about handling? Will this cause any dangerous situations? Thanks for any input. Wendell 02 KLR 650 Wanda 02 KLR 250

[Devon Jarvis]

From your description, it seems like you used the preload adjustment to lower the rear of the bike. This could be a problem if you slacked off the preload until the spring is totally loose when the suspension is unloaded. Put the bike on a work stand or milk crate, with the rear wheel off the ground and nothing touching the linkage. With the rear wheel hanging down, see if you can wiggle or move the spring at all. If you can, the preload collars are going to come loose. But if the spring is still preloaded, even if it's only a tiny bit, it should work. Also, unless your wife is extremely petite, the rear suspension will have a lot of sag. If she's not riding offroad, she may like how the suspension works. It shouldn't affect handling if you lowered the front about the same amount as the rear. The "proper" way to lower a bike is to either get a shorter shock, or get lowering links and fit a bigger bottoming spacer so you don't hit the inside of the fender on full compression. I don't know the 250, maybe the wheel just won't hit. Devon A15 Wendell L McCallie wrote:

> > Hi all: > I lowered the wife's KLR 250 and was wondering if what I did would have any > ill effects. > I loosened the fork covers on the front, slid them down and loosened the > upper and lower frame brackets. > Then I let the tubing where the air valves are slide up 1 1/4". > On the back, I simply loosened the big lock washer on the spring surronding > the shock, and then loosened > the other washer which took some of the tension off the spring. > All of this lowered the bike to the point where the wife is quite happy > with the setup. > My questions are: Will any of this damage the shocks? > She will be riding mostly street and getting no air time. > How about handling? Will this cause any dangerous situations? > Thanks for any input. > > Wendell 02 KLR 650 > Wanda 02 KLR 250 >

[kevin betts]

so glad to find you all , good to know I am not alone thinking the KLR is a fine machine .I have a 1989 KLR 650 with 21k and running strong . but I need to do more than enjoy it . I have been reading about the chain doohicky ,is the 89 KLR have the same weakness as the newer ones and what other things should I look for before I head out on the open road ? Most of my riding has just been local here in western colorado , but I would like to go for a longer cruise . the bike has mostly standerd original parts but so far thats work but it's old . has been very reliable never left me stranded always started right up , but i am not very demanding just a cruiser on the back roads of Colorado, hopefully many more miles left in her . Would like find riders in this area .thanks for for a great site . Kevin B