tire pressure, service manual, or psi on side of tire?

[Jeffrey]

I have the older regular spring doohickey setup. I now have the shortest spring pulling. It still pulls strongly at 30K miles. When would you estimate that I run out of tension and have to install the torsion spring doohickey update; 60K or 70K miles? Or at that many miles, you could change the balancer shaft chain without changing the sprockets? Last time I adjusted the valves at Eagle Mike's was 15K miles ago. The valves were set slightly outside the range to get maximum maintenance interval. Can you go 15K or 20K with no worries? I know it all depends on how hard you ride and how often you do oil changes and what kind of oil etc; but best guesses please. Jeffrey #3

[Jeff Saline]

On Sat, 24 Jul 2010 14:37:42 -0000 "Jeffrey" writes:

> I have the older regular spring doohickey setup. I now have the > shortest spring pulling. It still pulls strongly at 30K miles. When > would you estimate that I run out of tension and have to install the > torsion spring doohickey update; 60K or 70K miles? Or at that many > miles, you could change the balancer shaft chain without changing > the sprockets? > > Last time I adjusted the valves at Eagle Mike's was 15K miles ago. > The valves were set slightly outside the range to get maximum > maintenance interval. Can you go 15K or 20K with no worries? > > I know it all depends on how hard you ride and how often you do oil > changes and what kind of oil etc; but best guesses please. > > Jeffrey #3

<><><><><><><> <><><><><><><> Jeffrey #3, My guess is the long spring is good for about 20K smiles. The shorter spring is good for another 15K smiles or so. But to say your spring is still pulling strongly suggests you've opened the engine to check. My suggestion is next time you decide to check your spring tension you install the torsion spring and then forget about it for a long, long time. I am guessing the balance chain will last 80K smiles or longer. I'm comfortable in suggesting the EagleMike torsion spring will last that long. I put my KLR valves at the maximum specs without going over. I'm comfortable with a 12-15K smiles interval. I've currently got 29,9++ smiles on my KLR. My valves are pretty stable. I suppose you could go 30K smiles without going below spec once you've got 10K smiles on the bike. But I'm not gonna try that on my KLR. : ) 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 . ____________________________________________________________ 42" LCD TV for $29.46? Are these prices for real? YES! You WON'T Believe What We Found... http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4c4bb177dc53c8f0abm07vuc

[Jeff Khoury]

I look at it this way: who knows better what pressure should be in the tire: the people who made the bike or the dude who made the tire?  My money's on the dude who made the tire.  My personal observation concurs with Rev, I find my bike handles best near the max psi of the tire on the street. Running high pressure also has the benefits of increasing fuel mileage and keeping your tires cooler at speed.  On the trail, of course this will be different.  -Jeff Khoury...  who runs 32psi on the street and 18 or so on the trail. 

On Jul 25, 2010, at 4:11 PM, "revmaaatin" wrote:

  --- In DSN_KLR650%40yahoogroups.com, "gust0261" wrote: > > Question: > I have what I think are stock tires on my KLR650 2007. The Service manual says I should have 21 psi on the front tire but the tire says 36 psi holds a certain max carrying weight load. Do I go with the pressure on the tire or what it says in the service manual. The same goes for the rear tire. In the service manual it says 28 psi for the rear tire and the tire itself says 36psi for a certain max carrying weight load. I'm planning a 3,000 mile road trip soon (almost all on-road) so I'm wanting to avoid a blowout. I weigh 230 and will be carrying around 90 pounds of baggage with me. Any thoughts? > Hi Gust- LEG PULL switch--ON Some here will offer you technical advice. Bah-humbug. How about some hubris advice! How much thrill do you want! Just follow the OEM advice! It will be thrilling--if you survive. Use the OEM recommenced air pressures--because sure as heck, you will find them a thrill when you skid the tires and then SKID your pants. SERIOUS switch--ON Fall 2003, its a New to me, 2001 KLR650/2505 miles--woo-hoo, and me, yikes, out of the saddle some 27+ years. I asked your same question ~7 years ago when riding on OEM tires at OEM pressures, after encountering slide and squirm while riding with great spirited and reckless abandon, and at slow speeds with a steep lean angle, cough, I skidded the tires and then skidded my PANTS! not really the pants, but it was close...and the second time it happened, it was REALLY disconcerting. Like you, I turned to LIST WISDOM and said, Q. "What's up with this tire setup/skid/slide/etc?" A. "OEM tires/pressure is an 'average' for all conditions." = NOT for great spirited and reckless abandon two lane twisty roads of central KY (and I don't mean the jelly). Following list wisdom, I aired up: my tires no longer skid and my pants? well, not as often.... Like to experiment? even slightly? How technical of a rider are you? Do you ride at the edge of the envelope, or are you an 'occasional' spirited rider? smile. Your higher personal weight will suggest higher tire pressures to begin.... How about this-- Find a quiet place with a nice curve-- Air up to 32F/36 Rear and ride that curve at 45-50-55-60 and note the results. ie feel, response etc. Bleed off a lb of pressure, and ride the profile again. Note: that your tire pressure readings will go up with a warm tire. So to make the test 'even' make sure you are starting with cold pressure of 32/36, 'warm'up the tires and check again. It should be ~2-3 lbs higher (on a hot pavement, maybe even more) Also, I have found that I loose .25-.5 of pressure with a pressure check tire pressure and so that needs to be taken into account as well. Now--for more information than you asked. smile. Summary: I would imagine that you will most likely find the best results at near max tire pressures due to bike weight, body weight, plus the 90lbs of kitchen sink you are carrying. Also NOTE: sag and rear-shock rebound will play into your bikes overall performance--as well as your butt position in the saddle. ADDITIONALLY--IMO: you are a candidate for a shock upgrade; at least adding a 450/550 progressive spring. I am 200# (in costume) with 40# of camping/gear and use a 350/450 progressive spring on a std shock in good condition. 350/450 = takes 350 lbs of force to move it the first inch, 450lbs to move it the second inch (as I understand it) That spring is available from Fred, Arrowheadsports [url=http://www.arrowheadmotorsports.com/]http://www.arrowheadmotorsports.com/[/url] --disclaimer: no affiliation, just a delighted customer. Dial him up, describe to him all you have said above (he is also the list MOD), order what he recommends, and take it out of your mailbox on Wednesday. smile. You will need a professional grade spring compressor to change the spring. I did one last week at the local car dealer--no kidding, don't try it without the proper press! On a personal note, 90# is a lot of stuff; and for some that are far more experienced and humorous than I, have suggested, "Pack the bike, go for a ride of ~3 miles, come back, unload 1/2 the stuff, and then leave on your trip." That suggestion does not work for all cases, but I remember a time, one experienced camping biker helped me sort off 22# of TOOLS to mail home some 5 days into the trip. The bike was much more fun to ride, and certainly easier to pick up as well.... You should also note the placard on the pre-08's luggage rack is 22#. shrug. revmaaatin.