new forks

[scarysharkface]

G'day, all! I just returned from a 3-week bike trip to Newfoundland and back, and need to report that all was not well with my engine. As I have time, I'll put together a ride report with all the gnarly details over on advrider.com and ridetherock.com, but for now (and for general information) I'll give a quicky description of what happened to my A18.. I was passing a truck when the motor simply went silent. I thought initially that this was a dandy time for the kill switch to fail, but that wasn't it. When I got stopped I realized my right leg was covered with oil. Upon investigation, I couldn't find any problems with the case, and the oil had come from somewhere up top, buried under the tank. Removing the tank, there was a big hole in the cylinder head cover above where the right exhaust cam should be. Upon disassembly, the mechanic who performed the launchendectomy says the exhaust cam sprocket bolt had loosened and allowed the sprocket to get sideways and either catch the chain or wedge itself enough to force the opposite end of the exhaust cam shaft up through the cover. Ugly, 1800 miles from home, in a foreign country. Sweet. Amazingly, the damage to the top side of the head was purely cosmetic. The piston did not kiss any of the valves, and no nasty bits were found in the crankcase. The cam sprockets have not been touched since assembly of the motor by Kawasaki, and the bolt which came out didn't have any locktite on it. The motor had at least 3k miles on it since I did the valves, so that wasn't a factor. I'll post pictures when I post the ride report(s), and a parts list of what needed to be replaced to get me back on the road again. SlowPhil and Geode of advrider really came to my rescue with the elusive cylinder head cover. Geode rode one up 500+ miles from Maine, and SlowPhil located one at his favorite parts stash. Tree let us crash at his place in Halifax while reassembly was underway. I'm posting this because I'm an attention-whore, but we can pretend that I'm posting it so that this might become something that gets checked when the top is off to do the valves... Oh, and I've got a happy 3k miles on it since Ronnie at Fundy Power Sports (a Kawi-only dealer) in Truro (actually North River, I believe), Nova Scotia, rebuilt it. If you're ever in the area, give Ronnie, Mark and Danny a shout and tell them the guy who (literally) camped at their doorstep sent you. They are awesome. John

[Tengai Mark Van Horn]

At 3:15 AM +0000 7/24/07, scarysharkface wrote: < the

>mechanic ...says the exhaust cam >sprocket bolt had loosened and allowed the sprocket to get sideways >and >either catch the chain or wedge itself enough to force the opposite >end >of the exhaust cam shaft up through the cover. Ugly, 1800 miles from >home, in a foreign country. Sweet. > >Amazingly, the damage to the top side of the head was purely >cosmetic.

I'll wait for the pix, but my knee-jerk reaction is to say that the mechanic is full of crap. Sounds to me like your KACR mechanism on the right end of the exhaust cam exploded. They've been known to do that. Mark

[Zachariah Mully]

Tengai Mark Van Horn wrote:

> At 3:15 AM +0000 7/24/07, scarysharkface wrote: > < the > >> mechanic ...says the exhaust cam >> sprocket bolt had loosened and allowed the sprocket to get sideways >> and >> either catch the chain or wedge itself enough to force the opposite >> end >> of the exhaust cam shaft up through the cover. Ugly, 1800 miles from >> home, in a foreign country. Sweet. >> >> Amazingly, the damage to the top side of the head was purely >> cosmetic. >> > > I'll wait for the pix, but my knee-jerk reaction is to say that the > mechanic is full of crap. Sounds to me like your KACR mechanism on > the right end of the exhaust cam exploded. They've been known to do > that. > > Mark >

I agree with Mark, unless you saw that it was still on the end of the exhaust. I would make sure to check the cam chain when you get a chance, since that type of damage might have done a number on your chain. Z

[John Ford]

Either seems plausible to me, and as I stated, my initial thought was the same as yours. If that's what happened, then that could easily have caused the mess at the sprocket end of things as well. I'm not enough of a mechanic to really have an informed opinion about this. The cam chain was toast, and was replaced, as were lots of other components. When I get the free minutes to write up the ride report, I'll include the list of new parts. I'm just terribly, terribly pleased that I was able to get it fixed and continue my trip on the bike! John

On 7/23/07, Zachariah Mully wrote: > Tengai Mark Van Horn wrote: > > At 3:15 AM +0000 7/24/07, scarysharkface wrote: > > < the > > > >> mechanic ...says the exhaust cam > >> sprocket bolt had loosened and allowed the sprocket to get sideways > >> and > >> either catch the chain or wedge itself enough to force the opposite > >> end > >> of the exhaust cam shaft up through the cover. Ugly, 1800 miles from > >> home, in a foreign country. Sweet. > >> > >> Amazingly, the damage to the top side of the head was purely > >> cosmetic. > >> > > > > I'll wait for the pix, but my knee-jerk reaction is to say that the > > mechanic is full of crap. Sounds to me like your KACR mechanism on > > the right end of the exhaust cam exploded. They've been known to do > > that. > > > > Mark > > > > I agree with Mark, unless you saw that it was still on the end of the > exhaust. I would make sure to check the cam chain when you get a chance, > since that type of damage might have done a number on your chain. > > Z >

[Terry Hamrick]

And, don't forget lucky that you were not alone 1000km from nowhere when it happened. albatross

On 7/24/07, John Ford wrote: > > Either seems plausible to me, and as I stated, my initial thought was > the same as yours. If that's what happened, then that could easily > have caused the mess at the sprocket end of things as well. I'm not > enough of a mechanic to really have an informed opinion about this. > > The cam chain was toast, and was replaced, as were lots of other > components. When I get the free minutes to write up the ride report, > I'll include the list of new parts. > > I'm just terribly, terribly pleased that I was able to get it fixed > and continue my trip on the bike! > > John > > > On 7/23/07, Zachariah Mully > > wrote: > > Tengai Mark Van Horn wrote: > > > At 3:15 AM +0000 7/24/07, scarysharkface wrote: > > > < the > > > > > >> mechanic ...says the exhaust cam > > >> sprocket bolt had loosened and allowed the sprocket to get sideways > > >> and > > >> either catch the chain or wedge itself enough to force the opposite > > >> end > > >> of the exhaust cam shaft up through the cover. Ugly, 1800 miles from > > >> home, in a foreign country. Sweet. > > >> > > >> Amazingly, the damage to the top side of the head was purely > > >> cosmetic. > > >> > > > > > > I'll wait for the pix, but my knee-jerk reaction is to say that the > > > mechanic is full of crap. Sounds to me like your KACR mechanism on > > > the right end of the exhaust cam exploded. They've been known to do > > > that. > > > > > > Mark > > > > > > > I agree with Mark, unless you saw that it was still on the end of the > > exhaust. I would make sure to check the cam chain when you get a chance, > > since that type of damage might have done a number on your chain. > > > > Z > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Mike Peplinski]

Be patient. KLR parts show up regularly, including forks. If you get a new one, an 08, let us know what you like or dislike about it. By the way, which part got washed? Not too much information, please.

>From: Mike Frey >To: matteeanne@... >CC: dsn_klr650@yahoogroups.com >Subject: Re: [DSN_KLR650] New Forks >Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2007 19:04:11 -0400 > >If you can find them, KLX-650 forks are an easy conversion, and way >better than the KLR forks. They're hard to find, though. > >matteeanne@... wrote: > > After my wreck, I am looking for parts to rebuild my baby (even if I do >get a new one). The forks are wasted, is there an aftermarket fork I should >consider? Is an old fork a good fork? Are there other types that will work? >How much do new stock ones cost? Did you know when you wreck, it hurts a >lot more the next day? I took a shower this morning and was not able to >reach 50% of my body because my neck and shoulders and legs hurt so bad I >cant twist. > > At least 1/2 of me smells good. > > > > > > > > >____________________________________________________________________________________ > > Need a vacation? Get great deals > > to amazing places on Yahoo! Travel. > > http://travel.yahoo.com/ > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > > > > List sponsored by Dual Sport News at: www.dualsportnews.com > > List FAQ courtesy of Chris Krok at: www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html > > Member Map at: http://www.frappr.com/dsnklr650 > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > > > > > > >List sponsored by Dual Sport News at: www.dualsportnews.com >List FAQ courtesy of Chris Krok at: www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html >Member Map at: http://www.frappr.com/dsnklr650 >Yahoo! Groups Links > > >

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[Mike Peplinski]

Great report on a nasty disaster. Good luck and ride safe.

>From: "scarysharkface" >To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com >Subject: [DSN_KLR650] catastrophic cam failure >Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2007 03:15:49 -0000 > >G'day, all! > >I just returned from a 3-week bike trip to Newfoundland and back, and >need to report that all was not well with my engine. As I have time, >I'll put together a ride report with all the gnarly details over on >advrider.com and ridetherock.com, but for now (and for general >information) I'll give a quicky description of what happened to my >A18.. > >I was passing a truck when the motor simply went silent. I thought >initially that this was a dandy time for the kill switch to fail, but >that wasn't it. When I got stopped I realized my right leg was >covered >with oil. Upon investigation, I couldn't find any problems with the >case, and the oil had come from somewhere up top, buried under the >tank. > >Removing the tank, there was a big hole in the cylinder head cover >above where the right exhaust cam should be. Upon disassembly, the >mechanic who performed the launchendectomy says the exhaust cam >sprocket bolt had loosened and allowed the sprocket to get sideways >and >either catch the chain or wedge itself enough to force the opposite >end >of the exhaust cam shaft up through the cover. Ugly, 1800 miles from >home, in a foreign country. Sweet. > >Amazingly, the damage to the top side of the head was purely >cosmetic. >The piston did not kiss any of the valves, and no nasty bits were >found >in the crankcase. > >The cam sprockets have not been touched since assembly of the motor >by Kawasaki, >and the bolt which came out didn't have any locktite on it. The >motor >had at least 3k miles on it since I did the valves, so that wasn't a >factor. > >I'll post pictures when I post the ride report(s), and a parts list >of >what needed to be replaced to get me back on the road again. >SlowPhil >and Geode of advrider really came to my rescue with the elusive >cylinder head cover. Geode rode one up 500+ miles from Maine, and >SlowPhil located one at his favorite parts stash. Tree let us crash >at >his place in Halifax while reassembly was underway. > >I'm posting this because I'm an attention-whore, but we can pretend >that I'm posting it so that this might become something that gets >checked when the top is off to do the valves... > >Oh, and I've got a happy 3k miles on it since Ronnie at Fundy Power >Sports (a Kawi-only dealer) in Truro (actually North River, I >believe), >Nova Scotia, rebuilt it. If you're ever in the area, give Ronnie, >Mark >and Danny a shout and tell them the guy who (literally) camped at >their >doorstep sent you. They are awesome. > >John > > > >List sponsored by Dual Sport News at: www.dualsportnews.com >List FAQ courtesy of Chris Krok at: www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html >Member Map at: http://www.frappr.com/dsnklr650 >Yahoo! Groups Links > > >

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[Tengai Mark Van Horn]

At 8:10 AM -0400 7/24/07, John Ford wrote:

>Either seems plausible to me, and as I stated, my initial thought was >the same as yours. If that's what happened, then that could easily >have caused the mess at the sprocket end of things as well. I'm not >enough of a mechanic to really have an informed opinion about this.

This is the part that sounds like BS: "... (the chain) wedge itself enough to force the opposite end of the exhaust cam shaft UP through the cover." This is NOT going to happen without either cracking the cam bearing cap and/or ripping the cap retaining screws out of the head. I'm guessing that a piece of the cam chain found its way over there and got slung through the cover. Mark