one more doohickey bites the dust

[Mark Harfenist]

Last summer I rode my new (2007) KLR across North America and shipped it from New York to Europe. There (and in North Africa), I rambled around for several months, trying to evade the incessant cold winds, rain and snow which followed me everywhere I went. In January I left the bike in Andalusia, in the care of a Horizons Unlimited participant who also happens to be a mechanic (and all-around Nice Guy). He is doing some work on the bike in preparation for my return, using parts sourced locally as well as some which I shipped over. On my way across Canada last summer at about 9000 miles the bike died without warning or preamble: late at night, on a lonely highway, in the cold, just as it started raining, without cellphone coverage. You can imagine the rest: a good samaritan, hundreds of dollars worth of towing, hotel bills, car rentals, revised vacation plans......etc. etc. etc. Details of exactly what happened mechanically are sketchy. Repairs were done under warranty in a small town in North Ontario, and the service writer there described a doohickey failure which caused the timing chain to jump and break, trashing valves, guides, piston, the cylinder head itself, and various ancillary parts. Repairs took a long time: parts were declared unavailable (though they were easily found across the border in the States) and had to be ordered from Japan. I was dismayed, but resigned, to find that the dealership doing the repairs refused to install aftermarket parts; they replaced the destroyed doohickey and spring with identical Kawasaki parts, zipped everything shut again and had me sign off on the (free) repair. This took about 4 weeks altogether, but it was 8 weeks before I finally got the bike to Munich and began riding again. So .following a month or two of waylaid plans, I retrieved my bike and carried on with my trip. In another ten thousand miles, more or less, the bike performed reasonably well, with only a few instances of transitory (and still mysterious) electrical and mechanical failures. Of course, that brand new doohickey was never far from my consciousness. Every 2000 miles I changed my oil and adjusted the balancer mechanism per Kawasaki instructions, and every time I did so I wondered about the absence of any indication that anything was happening inside the engine case when I did so. I tried not to think about this too carefully, particularly when far afield. Fast forward to mid-June. My friend in Spain has just replaced the doohickey the one installed last fall in North Ontario with the Eagle Mike upgrade kit I sent over. The Kawasaki part was broken, and he had to open the right case to fish the missing piece out of the engine sump. In so doing, he was also able to retrieve a washer mysteriously also present in the sump, which had been too big to fish out from the left side. Photos (linked, or cut and paste): http://autos.ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/DSN_KLR650/photos/view/a044?b=1 and http://autos.ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/DSN_KLR650/photos/view/a044?b=2 . He wonders whether someone recognizes the washer in the second photo, or would like to speculate about its history: an artifact of the warranty repairs? Of the original assembly? I know it didn't fall down the cam tunnel during the valve adjustment, because I did this myself (I'm not much of a mechanic, but I'm very attentive). I'll post separately asking more succinctly if anyone can identify the washer. Add my voice to the chorus encouraging all and sundry to deal with their doohickey before it deals with you! FWIW, I'm returning to Europe in another month or two to resume my tour. Enjoy, Mark

[nakedwaterskier]

The Dual Star seems splines seem to get loose. I have taken it off a few times and sanded between the clamp mating surfaces and this works for awhile but it seems to come loose again and I don't want to have to change out a shift shaft. I got approx. 16k miles on the Dual Star but the stock one seems to come with more room between the mating surfaces for longer life and less problems. However, my stock one hasn't had the acid test yet by me and could go through the side case if I dump it on that side badly. Some engineertype might want to test the hardness of the metals but I don't have time and this seems the easiest fix. Jeffrye

[Jeff Saline]

On Tue, 17 Jun 2008 04:04:12 -0000 "nakedwaterskier" writes:

> The Dual Star seems splines seem to get loose. I have > taken it off a few times and sanded between the clamp mating > surfaces and this works for awhile but it seems to come loose > again and I don't want to have to change out a shift shaft. > I got approx. 16k miles on the Dual Star but the stock > one seems to come with more room between the mating surfaces > for longer life and less problems. However, my stock one > hasn't had the acid test yet by me and could go through > the side case if I dump it on that side badly. Some engineertype > might want to test the hardness of the metals but I don't have > time and this seems the easiest fix. > > Jeffrye

<><><><><><><><><><> <><><><><><><><><><> Jeffrye, You could take a large washer and cut it into thirds. Then weld one piece to the engine side of the stock shift lever and get similar results as what you get with the DS lever and it's wide piece. I did that last year on two new 2006 models. As far as I know they are still going strong. Might be worth looking at the weld on the stock lever at the same time. 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 ____________________________________________________________ Fabulous Spa Getaway! Enter for your chance to WIN great beauty prizes everyday! http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/JKFkuJi7UrqC8F8phS0AYWwzxBTfWv55TDt48fYpacvOPodO5N2Qgk/