frame swap piece of cake....

[wcb]

I ve got a problem with a clunk in the front end of my 99 KLR650 (A13). Front end history: I had Baja Designs, here in San Diego, beef up the forks on this bike 3 years ago. They used Progressive springs, but not the standard upgrades or the Larry Roessler series. They used some stiffer ones that required them to re-port the shocks to increase their damping. I have never had any problems with them that I m aware of. About 9 months ago I added the Happy Trails K-9 fork brace. A month ago I replaced the front rotor with the MAP oversized unit and replaced the pads with the Galfer green ones. I ride off-road, but not real hard, and the bike has about 4500 miles on it. Symptom: After about 150 miles of riding I decided to test the new brake s stopping power. In the process I caused the front end to dive hard about 3 inches and noticed a mild clunk, both when the front end compressed and when it rebounded. I was able to cause the problem while not riding by just locking the front brake and pushing forward very hard. I was also able to produce the clunk without using the brake at all by simply pushing the bike forward into a wall hard enough to compress the shocks several inches. Research: I ve lifted the front end of the bike off the ground and tested for fork play by pushing and pulling hard on the forks and neither I nor a friend can detect any. We ve also checked for front wheel bearing play and can t find any. I tightened the stem nut to the point where the steering became a little stiff (it didn t flop to the side as specified in the manual) and the clunk became less loud and also seemed to stick, so that I when I pushed the bike into the wall I had to use the front brake while backing the bike up to cause the second clunk. This leads me to believe the problem is in the steering and not in the shocks. I also pulled the fork brace and that made no difference. Question: Are there any other tests that might help pin point the problem. I m thinking about pulling the steering stem and taking a close look at the bearings and faces to see if anything looks suspicious. Thanks, Bill San Diego, CA

[kdxkawboy@aol.com]

Bill, Unless, with the bike on a stand/lift, you can feel some roughness flopping the bars from side to side, or can feel free play when yanking on the triple clamps I wouldn't think the problem is in the steering stem bearings. Anything in the steering stem bearings bad enough to be clunking should be providing some feedback through the handlebars while riding. I would suspect the clunk is in the forks, possible something to do with the topping springs or where the lower cone and damping rod meet. 'Bout the only way to know what it is, is to tear down the forks and see what is going on. Pat G'ville, NV In a message dated 2003-03-18 5:26:07 PM Pacific Standard Time, bbollenbacher@... writes:

> > I ve got a problem with a clunk in the front end of my 99 KLR650 (A13). > > Front end history: > > I had Baja Designs, here in San Diego, beef up the forks on this bike 3 > years ago. > They used Progressive springs, but not the standard upgrades or the Larry > Roessler series. > They used some stiffer ones that required them to re-port the shocks to > increase their > damping. I have never had any problems with them that I m aware of. > > About 9 months ago I added the Happy Trails K-9 fork brace. > > A month ago I replaced the front rotor with the MAP oversized unit and > replaced the pads > with the Galfer green ones. > > I ride off-road, but not real hard, and the bike has about 4500 miles on > it. > > Symptom: > > After about 150 miles of riding I decided to test the new brake s stopping > power. In the > process I caused the front end to dive hard about 3 inches and noticed a > mild clunk, > both when the front end compressed and when it rebounded. I was able to > cause the > problem while not riding by just locking the front brake and pushing > forward very hard. > I was also able to produce the clunk without using the brake at all by > simply pushing the > bike forward into a wall hard enough to compress the shocks several inches. > > Research: > > I ve lifted the front end of the bike off the ground and tested for fork > play by pushing and > pulling hard on the forks and neither I nor a friend can detect any. We ve > also checked for front wheel bearing play and can t find any. I tightened > the stem nut to the point where > the steering became a little stiff (it didn t flop to the side as specified > in the manual) > and the clunk became less loud and also seemed to stick, so that I when I > pushed the > bike into the wall I had to use the front brake while backing the bike up > to cause the > second clunk. This leads me to believe the problem is in the steering and > not in the > shocks. I also pulled the fork brace and that made no difference. > > Question: > > Are there any other tests that might help pin point the problem. I m > thinking about > pulling the steering stem and taking a close look at the bearings and faces > to see if > anything looks suspicious. > >

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[Hank Pfister]

KLRisters A while back I posted about the 2002 KLR salvage bike I bought, only to find it damaged worse than I initially suspected. A bent frame, and bent forks but otherwise light damage. Well, I'm happy to report that thanks to Devon and a his replacement front forks, and to Lemon and Barretts Motorcycle Salvage in Mineral Wells, West Virgina for a titled 1988 main frame the bike is all better now. Being a "wrencin wretard" I was dreading the swap over. But it went well. Just a piece at a time and it all came apart and went back together with out a hitch. Getting the long swing arm bolt out of the replacement frame was a bitch though. Now I just have to get Virginia DMV to retitle it for me and I am set to ride. This will be my first experience with a KLR, I'm looking forward to seeing how I like it. Actually it is my first non-BMW, non shaft drive, non air cooled twin motorcycle. One thing I learned in the process is that stress marks on the plastic body parts can be removed with heat from a heat gun. My front fender had some lightened areas from its crash, and using a heat gun bought the original green back. Thanks for the help, encouragement and parts! Hank Pfister Copper Hill, VA pfestus1@... 2002 KLR 650, 1998 BMW R1100GS, 1975 BMW R90/6/Dnepr sidecar, 1973 BMW R75/5 Toaster. --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Platinum - Watch CBS' NCAA March Madness, live on your desktop! [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]