insurance: shop around!

[ravenrider66]

Hi Guys, I've been riding my '02 KLR for about a year now (bought used) and love it. However, I've had my first issue that I can't figure out. I topped off the tank and went for about a 90 mile ride. During the ride, I felt a "jerking" sensation. It was slight, but noticeable. Towards the end of the ride (about 1 mile from my house), the bike acted like it was running out of gas. Well, I found out that it was ! Somehow, I had gone through a full tank of gas in 90 miles (and I usually get 50+ mpg). I haven't had the valves adjusted (bike has about 8K miles on it). I didn't notice any fuel leaking, etc. Could that much gas have gone through the carb without a huge difference in engine performance ? Guys..I'm at a loss...

[Blake Sobiloff]

On 4/10/07, ravenrider66 wrote:

> I > topped off the tank and went for about a 90 mile ride. During the > ride, I felt a "jerking" sensation. It was slight, but noticeable. > Towards the end of the ride (about 1 mile from my house), the bike > acted like it was running out of gas. Well, I found out that it was ! > Somehow, I had gone through a full tank of gas in 90 miles (and I > usually get 50+ mpg).

My first thought is that you didn't get the tank full when you filled up. Are you certain you saw gas near the bottom of the filler neck? I can't imagine that you'd burn double (or more) the normal amount of gas and not notice gas pouring out of the carb or the bike running incredibly rich. As a sanity check, how's your oil level? -- Blake Sobiloff http://sobiloff.typepad.com/> http://sobiloff.typepad.com/klr_adventure/> San Jose, CA (USA)

[Max Sinklair]

Another thing you might check is a sticking float. This would cause gas to come out the overflow tube and drain at the bottom of the bike. Also check your oil and make sure you havn't polluted it with gas. I would think if you were flooding the engine out you would notice a darker smoke due to the rich mixture. There is a good chance that you are overflowing and not knowing. -Max A4 (Thought it was an A5, silly rabbit) ____________________________________________________________________________________ 8:00? 8:25? 8:40? Find a flick in no time with the Yahoo! Search movie showtime shortcut. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/shortcuts/#news

[Jeff Saline]

On Tue, 10 Apr 2007 21:19:15 -0000 "ravenrider66" writes:

> Hi Guys, > I've been riding my '02 KLR for about a year now (bought used) and > love > it. However, I've had my first issue that I can't figure out. I > topped off the tank and went for about a 90 mile ride. During the > ride, I felt a "jerking" sensation. It was slight, but noticeable. > > Towards the end of the ride (about 1 mile from my house), the bike > acted like it was running out of gas. Well, I found out that it was > ! > Somehow, I had gone through a full tank of gas in 90 miles (and I > usually get 50+ mpg). I haven't had the valves adjusted (bike has > about 8K miles on it). I didn't notice any fuel leaking, etc. > Could > that much gas have gone through the carb without a huge difference > in > engine performance ? Guys..I'm at a loss...

<><><><><><><> <><><><><><><> Ravenrider66, Just making a guess here since you didn't comment on lube level in the engine or signs of fuel movement from vent hoses... Maybe pull the vacuum line off the petcock and see if there's any fuel in it. I'm not sure where on the carb it hooks up but guess it has to be after the throttle butterfly in the intake tract. I suppose that could allow fuel to atomize as it gets sucked into the intake and actually burn. The cause could be a split diaphragm in the petcock. That's just a quick thought on the issue. If you figure you may have used close to 2 1/2 gallons of fuel extra in one hour that's about a gallon every 24 minutes. That's not a lot of fuel flow and I suppose if you were riding the entire time with good engine rpms you might not really notice it. That might also be the reason for the jerking sensation as the fuel would be flowing even more when the throttle was shut as the vacuum would go increase. If you also noticed a sluggish throttle response and if your muffler outlet is kind of sooty that might be an explanation. I'm looking forward to hearing what you discover. Best, Jeff Saline ABC # 4412 South Dakota Airmarshal Airheads Beemer Club www.airheads.org The Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota 75 R90/6, 03 KLR650, 79 R100RT

[Norm Keller]

Blake beat me to the answer. 90 miles/5 gallons = 18 mpg. I doubt that you could put a full tank of gas through a KLR in 90 miles of normal road riding without being aware of severe driveability issues. It is easy to misread the level of fuel in the tank while filling. If there is no smoking, normal idle, etc. I suggest that you try another tank of fuel and go from there. Please keep us posted. Norm [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[revmaaatin]

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "Blake Sobiloff" wrote:

> > As a sanity check, how's your oil level? > -- > Blake Sobiloff

Hmmph. I appreciate you asking, but it is entirely irrelevant. Now, if you had asked, "Where is your snow shovel?" I could have been part of that discussion. revmaaatin. where its snowing, still. 911 Careflight Aberdeen SD whose big whirly bird dual sport is also affected by this latest global warming incident ;~O

[Erik]

I also got the best rate by far through bike-line.com. And they treated me pretty well when I needed to use them. erik

> you need to try Merkel Bike-line.com > full coverage on my 07 for $35 a month. Progressive wanted $85 a month and I have my > auto insurance through them. > > Kerry > > > --- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "Jud Jones" wrote: >> >> --- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "John Biccum" wrote: >>> >>> I recently had my motorcycle insurance come up for renewal. I haven't had >>> any claims or tickets, and thought that my KLR has certainly depreciated in >>> the 4 years that it had been insured by my present carrier. So I was >>> surprised when Progressive demanded an 11 percent increase in the premium at >>> renewal time on top of a similar-sized increase last year. I decided to >>> shop around. >>> >>> >>> >>> I was astounded at the range of quotes that I received. I've got a sterling >>> driving record. am a homeowner and an AMA member. I was insuring both the >>> KLR and another bike ('94 DR350) on the same policy and was carrying high >>> limits of liability and full coverage on both bikes. The rates quoted me >>> should not be considered representative of what any other KLR owner might >>> have to pay in any particular geographic area but the rates DO serve to >>> illustrate the tremendous RANGE I saw from carrier to carrier. The highest >>> quote was more that 3 times the lowest quote! I also noted a few >>> inconsistencies such as Alstate insisting that my '94 Suzuki DR350 warranted >>> a premium 40% HIGHER than that of my '02 KLR! When I called Allstate on >>> that inconsistency I was told that " early 90's Kawasaki's tend to be rated >>> higher due to steering and handling concerns." Apparently Allstate thinks >>> that '94 Suzuki DR350s were made by Kawasaki! >>> >>> >>> >>> I contacted a few of the carriers thru their websites but eventually found >>> one site that generated 5 quotes for me, including the lowest quote. The >>> site is https://www.insurancetracker.com/applications/app_motorcycle.html> >>> https://www.insurancetracker.com/applications/app_motorcycle.html (NJ >>> residents excluded for some reason) . All the quotes are for annual >>> coverage. I gave up on getting a quote out of Dairyland, I needed to CALL >>> them during their east coast bankers hours in order to get a quote. >>> >>> >>> >>> AIG 206 >>> >>> Allstate 533 >>> >>> Am Family 611 >>> >>> Dairyland *** >>> >>> Farmers 411 >>> >>> Foremost 455 >>> >>> Geico 345 >>> >>> Nationwide 158 >>> >>> Progressive 226 >>> >>> >>> >>> It certainly pays to shop around. I'm going to enjoy telling Progressive >>> what they can do with their 11% rate increase J >>> >>> >>> >>> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] >>> >> >> I don't see the much maligned State Farm in there, and I don't know where you are, but >> Nationwide is the only one there who comes close to what I pay for full coverage on my >> LC4, the only DS I keep full coverage on. This is for a good-sized metro area, not a rural >> rate. >> > > >