busy weekend working w/ dusty ( my a16 klr)

[Mike T]

Hi guys. Well, Santa was good to me - hope your "Santa's" were good to all of you! Well, travel (overnight) security is not yet dealt with on my KLR650, again known in the house as "Dusty" - I ran it west of the house again, enjoying the better off-road conduct of the IRC-GP110 over the now-in-storage Avon Distanzia front tire, and, ya, even after the rain yesterday, I got it ALL 'unclean' again ( looks better that way . SO, on the web I see cute little motion detectors, disk brake rotor locks, mini-automotive type alarms, etc. Moteling seems easy - pull all the gear, incl. panniers and bags into motel room. Engage fork lock and pray all night no one messes w/ the bike or the vital fluids. Camping - same, and what if it falls over early, and the gas leaks, or . Thoughts? Thanks, and happy holidays! Mike T A16 Las Vegas [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[monahanwb]

--- In DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com, "Mike T" wrote:

> Hi guys. Well, Santa was good to me - hope your "Santa's" were good

to all

> of you!

He didn't stop at my house but I did get a case of the blues from somewhere.

> Moteling seems easy - pull all the gear, incl. panniers and bags

into motel

> room. Engage fork lock and pray all night no one messes w/ the bike

or the

> vital fluids. > Camping - same, and what if it falls over early, and the gas leaks,

or . Hmmm, I've never worried about that and nothing's ever happened.

[verlenelson@earthlink.net]

Camping, done correctly, poses no security problems. Check it out: http://home.earthlink.net/~verlenelson/cave/ (deep sand) and http://home.earthlink.net/~verlenelson/camp/ (slick rock) and http://home.earthlink.net/~verlenelson/KLR/DeathValley.htm (surrounded by RVs). ____________________________________________________________________________ :-). SO, on the web I see cute little motion detectors, disk brake rotor locks, mini-automotive type alarms, etc. Moteling seems easy - pull all the gear, incl. panniers and bags into motel room. Engage fork lock and pray all night no one messes w/ the bike or the vital fluids. Camping - same, and what if it falls over early, and the gas leaks, or . Thoughts? >> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Mark Sampson]

My best (but not only) method for securing my bike and gear when I'm away from it, is to simply put a bike cover over it. Mark Sampson www.bigdogadventures.com

[Keith Saltzer]

> Hmmm, I've never worried about that and nothing's ever happened.

Well I sure did! After reading about one unlucky rider on the list not too long ago losing his machine one night at a motel. Right in the middle of his trip too. THAT WOULD SUCK!! And there was no way that I was gonna let something like that ruin my killer trip to Disneyland and back. I was really sweating it too I gotta tell ya. I mean it just goes to show you how much I love this KLR of mine. Not only is it the best bike that I have ever owned, but I have now got well over $3000 in parts, and goodies, and more importantly, I've got 100's of hours in work on her, dialing her in and getting her juuuuuuust right, and she ain't gonna git away fermee THAT eeezzzzz. I got a MacGiver kinda idea on my trip, and went to the local liquor store, and got me about 25 feet of free, almost invisible, fishing line. With the bike parked close to my door, about 5 feet away, facing the hotel door, I tied one end of the line to my front tire, down low, then just ran it across the sidewalk, through the corner of the door where it could easily slide, and then tied the other end to one of 3, cheap plastic ice buckets that was in my room, and then stacked a whole bunch of crap ontop of it that would come crashing down and wake me up, if some sorry s.o.b. tried to hike my bike. MrMoose A8 (Barbie and Ken special)

[sflklr]

--- In DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com, "Keith Saltzer" wrote:

> > Hmmm, I've never worried about that and nothing's ever happened. > > > Well I sure did! After reading about one unlucky rider on the

list

> not too long ago losing his machine one night at a motel. Right

in

> the middle of his trip too. THAT WOULD SUCK!! And there was no

way

> that I was gonna let something like that ruin my killer trip to > Disneyland and back. > > I was really sweating it too I gotta tell ya. I mean it just goes

to

> show you how much I love this KLR of mine. Not only is it the

best

> bike that I have ever owned, but I have now got well over $3000 in > parts, and goodies, and more importantly, I've got 100's of hours

in

> work on her, dialing her in and getting her juuuuuuust right, and

she

> ain't gonna git away fermee THAT eeezzzzz. > > I got a MacGiver kinda idea on my trip, and went to the local

liquor

> store, and got me about 25 feet of free, almost invisible, fishing > line. With the bike parked close to my door, about 5 feet away, > facing the hotel door, I tied one end of the line to my front

tire,

> down low, then just ran it across the sidewalk, through the corner

of

> the door where it could easily slide, and then tied the other end

to

> one of 3, cheap plastic ice buckets that was in my room, and then > stacked a whole bunch of crap ontop of it that would come crashing > down and wake me up, if some sorry s.o.b. tried to hike my bike. > > MrMoose > A8 (Barbie and Ken special)

Hehehe, MrMooseGiver.. Wish I'd of seen that in person. Sean A17

[bobm_dr350se]

My KLR is parked outside my RV every night as we are currently travelling around N. America for 2 years. I use a Dowco Guardian bike cover - which fits over the saddlebags as well - and use the steering lock. The cover has reinforced gromments which take my 6' Kryptonite Bike lock through the bottom of the cover and the wheel. This makes it difficult to see what type of bike it is, plus hinders anyone trying to steal it quietly. Bob / ON, Canada (currently in Tucson) A15

--- In DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com, "Mike T" wrote: > Hi guys. .... > Well, travel (overnight) security is not yet dealt with on my KLR650, again .. > Camping - same, and what if it falls over early, and the gas leaks, or . > > Mike T >

[Chris Kirk]

Mike, I've never really worried too much about getting ripped off until last April. Typically, for peace of mind, I use normal precautions such as finding a Motel with doors that open out into the parking lot, or if not; asking the motel operator if I can park the bike in view of the front desk. My normal bike for road miles & motels is a Ducati ST, as I've logged 72k in the last 3.5 years & have experience no problems using these common sense methods. Well having said that ... last April I had two track days down at Spring Mountain Raceway in Pahrump, NV. I was staying at the Best Western Pahrump Station as I normally do. They had full occupancy so they couldn't honor my request for a ground room that opened onto the parking lot but were able to give me a ground room whose window opened to the back lot. I kept the track bike, trailer & Jeep at the racetrack & was using the new to me but used '98 KLR to commute myself back & forth to the track. I parked the steering head locked KLR 12 feet from my sleeping head behind a slightly opened window & out of all the race bikes, nice sport bikes & sport touring bikes in the lot they stole the KLR ... & I never woke up to hear it being wheeled away. I now carry a heavy duty plastic covered cable which I use as I feel necessary but I certainly like the idea of covering the bike that others have mentioned. Best - Chris BTW - Here's a web page about the bike: http://www.onewest.net/~ckirk/Bikes/STowners/Kirk/klr_stolen.htm Never heard from the bike again. It's either in Mexico or working a Nevada ranch somewhere I hope ... as opposed to being burned in the desert. I have a ken & barbie replacement that is no-where near as good as this one & I'd still like to catch the c**ksucker that stole it!

--- In DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com, "Mike T" wrote: > Hi guys. Well, Santa was good to me - hope your "Santa's" were good to all > of you! > Well, travel (overnight) security is not yet dealt with on my KLR650, again > known in the house as "Dusty" - I ran it west of the house again, enjoying > the better off-road conduct of the IRC-GP110 over the now-in-storage Avon > Distanzia front tire, and, ya, even after the rain yesterday, I got it ALL > 'unclean' again ( looks better that way . > SO, on the web I see cute little motion detectors, disk brake rotor locks, > mini-automotive type alarms, etc. > Moteling seems easy - pull all the gear, incl. panniers and bags into motel > room. Engage fork lock and pray all night no one messes w/ the bike or the > vital fluids. > Camping - same, and what if it falls over early, and the gas leaks, or . > Thoughts? > Thanks, and happy holidays! > Mike T > > A16 > > Las Vegas [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Keith Saltzer]

--- In DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com, Chris Kirk wrote:

> Mike, > I've never really worried too much about getting ripped off until

last

> April. Typically, for peace of mind, I use normal precautions such

as

> finding a Motel with doors that open out into the parking lot, or

if

> not; asking the motel operator if I can park the bike in view of

the

> front desk. My normal bike for road miles & motels is a Ducati ST,

as

> I've logged 72k in the last 3.5 years & have experience no

problems

> using these common sense methods. > > Well having said that ... last April I had two track days down at

Spring

> Mountain Raceway in Pahrump, NV. I was staying at the Best Western > Pahrump Station as I normally do. They had full occupancy so they > couldn't honor my request for a ground room that opened onto the

parking

> lot but were able to give me a ground room whose window opened to

the

> back lot. I kept the track bike, trailer & Jeep at the racetrack &

was

> using the new to me but used '98 KLR to commute myself back &

forth to

> the track. > > I parked the steering head locked KLR 12 feet from my sleeping head > behind a slightly opened window & out of all the race bikes, nice

sport

> bikes & sport touring bikes in the lot they stole the KLR ... & I

never

> woke up to hear it being wheeled away. > > I now carry a heavy duty plastic covered cable which I use as I

feel

> necessary but I certainly like the idea of covering the bike that

others

> have mentioned. > > Best - Chris

HEY! You were the one that I was talking about in my prior post on this subject. Every single night that I was down in southern Ca, I thought of your story. Made me shudder just thinking about it. One of the reasons that I came up with, and mentioned the fishing line idea, was because I was a repoman for 2 years. You just CAN NOT believe the crap that I got away with. I would be working on, and towing away, peoples cars parked right next to an open window on a hot summer night, and they were sleeping on the couch with their head right next to the window. I could here them snoring as soon as I got next to their car! I took cars, trucks, bikes, and boats of ALL kinds, and I for one KNEW, that NO ALARM, NO COVER, and NO STEERING LOCK DEVICE was going to stop me......and it never did. For those reasons, and the fact that I did not want to purchase, mount, and maintain an electical alarm, or carry a heavy chain/lock, or a bulky bike cover anyway, I stayed away from them. So when I thought about how I would want to "protect" my bike, I knew that no one could get it away from me, IF I was awake. All I wanted to know was when the bike was moving, and I wanted to be awakened. Then I could protect it in person (with weapon of choice) and not have to trust other devices to work FOR me as I slept. Trust me when I say that " It is a really sick feeling to come out to where you parked your vehicle last, and see that your anti theft devices did not work, and your wheels are gone. I've repoed many cars/trucks, and then hid around the corner, or down the street with binoculars, and watched the actions and expressions after the fact. VERY unhappy customers. Enter fishing line. It's hella cheap, super light, super compact, almost invisible, (and at night, when a thief's adrenaline is pumping, he is NOT going to see it, or even be looking for it) super strong, so you can tie it up to some pretty big stuff and know that it won't just break. (just don't tie off the other end to your toe, finger, male parts) I slept much better knowing that if the bike moved, I was going to know about it. And you can bet your a$$ that the first thing the s.o.b. would have done, the second he saw ME whipping the door open, is let go of my bike! MrMoose A8 (Barbie and Ken special)

[Mike T]

Hey guys. Well, what started out as spark-plug checkup has developed into a 10 hour project made up of "well I got the tank off - -so now I have disassembled the rear of the bike. A few things - If you purchased a bike that has the oversized Big Cee sub-frame bolt kit installed, check on the workmanship of the frame mounting hole enlargement - Mine was done very poorly and resulted in a pear shaped enlargement - Yuck. A re-weld up and correct re-drilling are in order. Spark plugs that are not coated w/ anti-seize on the treads are un-cool! It took liquid wrench and a lot of patience to get it out and keep the spark plug valley clean so that the combustion chamber would have zero unwelcome guests and the treads would remain in good condition. My IMS tank w/ a near full load of Chevron weighs 60 pounds! Emissions material was about 2.5 pounds. Almost like racing before, instead of after, lunch! Removing the air box screen is time consuming. And oh, when cleaning out the air box, remember the side chamber (where crankcase vent hose connects). The rear sub-frame is easy to drop when the rear-wire connections are disconnected - obvious when you do it the first time. Watch the rear brake line too. Progressive shock spring pre-load is much easier to get at w/o emissions control/ side stand switch gear attached. Masking tape and a Sharpie permanent marker are still AOK for part id and little sandwich bags, labeled, are good for tracking bolts. My radiator fins were full of dead bugs - easy to clean when the tank and protector screen were removed (duh). Carb can be removed w/o sub-frame removal - the rubber hose between the air box and the carb can be worked free. But even easier w/ the tank off. And best w/ sub-frame dropped per manual (duh). Adding the rubber flap rear shock protector 'thingee' to the leading edge of the rear fender is max easy when the fender is off the bike (duh). Emission control removal is easy (duh). Sourdough turkey sandwiches taste Ok even with a bit of Orange Clean hand cleaner added from recently cleaned fingertips. SO citrus (yummy). Have a great week! Mike T A16 Las Vegas [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]