nklr: ugly bikes

[David McClymont]

Just been catching up on all of the posts.... been away for awhile... and noticed that the balancer DooHickey is still making news... Well I thought I would give people some information on it... First of all... before I say anything... if you can buy one of Jake's aftermarket jobs... go for it... I'm sure that will be a big improvement.... if you are keen to try and fix it yourself, here's a little information about it. Kawasaki seem to have 2 versions of the DooHicky... the earlier pressed metal version wasn't strong enough to cope with the job, and Kawasaki quickly brought out a thicker 2 piece job which was welded together. However, because this is a thicker piece, the circlip which held the original one in place could no longer be installed (someone asked about this a few days ago ). I'm not sure if this was rectified in later models... Anyway... as everyone knows... the new DooHicky still breaks! --------------------------- A SOLUTION --------------------------- Anyway... it is my believe that this piece is failing due to improper heat treatment... something that you should be able to rectify yourself. Welding a small piece like this can often lead to very fast cooling - effectively embrittling the piece... To rectify this, the DooHicky should be placed into a kiln (go to local pottery or hobby ceramics shop, or go to an engineering firm) and heated up pretty bloody hot (red hot), and let cool over a number of hours in the kiln. This will give you a nice uniform metallic grain structure, although it will be pretty weak at this stage. Once it has cooled, you should reheat it again- this time to around 200 degrees C, and then take it out and dunk (quench) it in a dish of oil (not water). This will toughen up the piece so that you shouldn't have any more problems with it. I cant guarantee that this will be the cure-all... but I have talked to some Material Engineers that I know and they seem to agree with this. Other people on this list might like to comment. cheers David McClymont A1 A1

[Ryan Newman]

> Just been catching up on all of the posts.... been away for awhile... and > noticed that the balancer DooHickey is still making news... Well I thought

I

> would give people some information on it...

Ok, exactly what piece is this? Is this the one that has a circle on one end, and then a banana shaped oblong area at the other? The one that seems to shatter into numerous pieces? Ryan

[David McClymont]

Yep...that's the one. Someone on the list called it the DooHickey and apparently its the official name for it now!! otherwise it is known as an "idler" something-or-other.. -----Original Message----- From: Ryan Newman [mailto:silverghost@...] Sent: Friday, March 22, 2002 4:05 PM To: KLR650 Subject: Re: [DSN_klr650] Important news about Balancer DooHickey!!!!!

> Just been catching up on all of the posts.... been away for awhile... and > noticed that the balancer DooHickey is still making news... Well I thought

I

> would give people some information on it...

Ok, exactly what piece is this? Is this the one that has a circle on one end, and then a banana shaped oblong area at the other? The one that seems to shatter into numerous pieces? Ryan

[hens_p]

I didn't think any aftermarket one were on the market.

--- In DSN_klr650@y..., David McClymont wrote: if you can buy one of Jake's > aftermarket jobs... go for it...

[TLrydr@aol.com]

In a message dated 3/22/02 0:55:38 AM EST, mcclymon@... writes: >>

[Mark St.Hilaire, Sr]

> My guess is B. Maybe Jake can answer this. If B is correct, should we

do a

> group heat treat. We buy a bunch of DooHickies and treat them all at

once.

> Probably makes no sense to harden a used DooHickey since it has wear on

it.

> If I remember correctly they are only about 14 bucks each??? Can anyone

get

> a price to have someone do some hardening? Who's willing to take this > project on?

Jay, you must have missed Jake's post on this: [From Jake] Patience, please, boys and girls! Now preparing the first eight balancer chain adjuster levers for the journey up to the heat treater in SLC. Several listers are torn down and waiting for theirs. You can e-mail me if you're interested, and I can shoot you a pic of the latest stage of manufacture. Trying to get these off to heat treat this weekend. ====== Jake is clearly a man with a plan, and is on the job! (Grin) Wise men still seek Him... Mark St.Hilaire, Sr A15 My Adelphia Email can be "iffy." If you don't get a response, please try: KLR6500@... HomePage: http://home.adelphia.net/~msaint/index.html KLR650 Motorcycle Pages: http://klr6500.tripod.com/

[Ryan Newman]

> > My guess is B. Maybe Jake can answer this. > Patience, please, boys and girls! Now preparing the first eight balancer > chain adjuster levers for the journey up to the heat treater in SLC

I think he was just asking if the new ones were made from steel of aluminum. Ryan

[TexasThumpin@aol.com]

In a message dated 3/21/02 10:06:28 PM Central Standard Time, DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com writes:

> This was the very first instance I had heard of, > magazines included, of anyone riding this new model. When I parked > the BMW in my yard, I took a good long look at my KLR's bodywork, or > what passes for bodywork. "Less-than-handsome" came to mind, as > did "economically-challenged". "Flimsy" also came up. Still quite > useful, however. I still love the old porker. It still runs > perfectly after 25,000 hard miles, and many road trips. >

Being completely honest, unbiased, and polite, I must disagree. There are several ugly bikes out there, in my personal opinion. Take the BMW cruiser for instance. That thing looks like an aborted Frankenstein monster, to me. I find the Duke to be unattractive to my eyes, as well. There are several others that I find distasteful on a personal level. That is why I say, it takes all kinds to make the world go round. What is ugly to some, may be attractive to others. Back when I rode a Suzuki GS1150E, many thought it was ugly when compare to the FJ1200, the V-Max, and the Kawasaki Ninja. Meanwhile, I thought my GS was gorgeous. So, what is ugly to one, may be beauty to another. Yet, that does not invalidate anyone's personal opinion. I still think the F650 is ugly. I looked at it, sat on it, walked around it, for almost a half hour. I could not bring myself to appreciate its looks or design. That is just my opinion. Jim Texas Thumpin jeepwj01 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Tengai650]

At 11:48 AM -0700 3/22/2002, Ryan Newman wrote:

>> > My guess is B. Maybe Jake can answer this. > >> Patience, please, boys and girls! Now preparing the first eight balancer >> chain adjuster levers for the journey up to the heat treater in SLC > >I think he was just asking if the new ones were made from steel of aluminum. >Ryan

They are machined from 4140 steel, unless he changed his mind. Mark B2 A2 A3

[Lujo Bauer]

> > >> Patience, please, boys and girls! Now preparing the first > eight balancer > >> chain adjuster levers for the journey up to the heat treater in SLC > > > >I think he was just asking if the new ones were made from steel > of aluminum. > >Ryan > > They are machined from 4140 steel, unless he changed his mind.

One doesn't heat treat aluminum, does one? -Lujo [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]