nklr: thank you

[Ken Cyr]

Hello Listers, I'm Ken Cyr in Dallas Texas. I picked up a used (2600 miles) '00 KLR650 last weekend. Price was $3900 including Kawa tail, tank and side bags. Tall windscreen, K&N filter and DynoJet kit. New Michelin T66 tires and a throttle lock. I flew to Albuquerque and rode it back to Dallas on Sunday. 730 miles total, tried to stay off major highways. I was expecting a torturous ride, but it was actually not too bad. In fact, I mowed the lawn when I got home. I could have easily gone another 270 miles for an Iron Butt, but...read on... The trip wasn't without incident though. I nearly ran out of gas a couple times. A couple towns in west Texas I passed through on reserve were ghost towns. Luckily I didn't have to push. I experienced a rear brake failure somewhere. The last time I used the rear before failure was for a panic stop to avoid a semi crossing in front of me. The very next time I applied the rear brake, say 60 miles later in the next town, the brake pulsed badly and made grinding noises and vibrations. I pulled over immediatly and noticed the caliper had gouged the rear rotor and the inner pad was *gone*. It looked like the piston had stuck and the damn thing just ground itself down. Hard to tell. I broke out the tools and released the fluid pressure and pryed back the piston. I was able to continue with just the front brake, but had some scary stops when I got closer to Dallas. Anyone have any idea what could have happened? It's still under warranty until Oct., so I'll get my local dealer to look at it. Thanks, -Ken __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Kick off your party with Yahoo! Invites. http://invites.yahoo.com/

[Guest]

I've been lurking here for months while waiting to get my KLR and finally got a 2004. My other bike is a VStrom. First of all, just wanted to say that this is a class act. I've been on a number of lists that degenerate into pissing matches over personalities (bad) instead of the merits of a procedure or part (good). There really is a wealth of great info here and in the FAQ. Speaking of which, I have tried buykawasaki, Ron Ayers, Arrowhead, and the FAQ and can't find the part number for the factory guards to be used with soft luggage. I know they had them years ago and I'm hoping they still do. I want to use my Tourmaster bags on my Alaska trip this June. By the way, I live as far north and east as you can go on the coast of Maine, so the trip to Prudhoe and Inuvik will be longish. Anyone have any idea how long the lead times are for Russell seats these days? Can't seem to get them to answer my emails. Cheers, Rich

[Mark Lewis]

"can't find the part number for the factory guards to be used with soft luggage." My dealer told me they stopped making them. Mark Lewis

[Zachariah Mully]

On Thu, 2004-03-18 at 06:50, parisdakar62 wrote:

> have tried buykawasaki, Ron Ayers, Arrowhead, and the FAQ and can't > find the part number for the factory guards to be used with soft > luggage. I know they had them years ago and I'm hoping they still > do. I want to use my Tourmaster bags on my Alaska trip this June. By > the way, I live as far north and east as you can go on the coast of > Maine, so the trip to Prudhoe and Inuvik will be longish. Anyone > have any idea how long the lead times are for Russell seats these > days? Can't seem to get them to answer my emails. >

Don't get the factory guards, they suck big time, they don't work and are expensive. If you're running soft luggage, the *best* choice are Happy Trails OSRs. Near indestructible. Z DC A5X A12X

[Gorm Larsen]

I too ordered the guard for my KLR, together with the Kawasaki bags but was told that Kawasaki no longer make them since the bags are insulated on the back of the one that hangs over the exhaust. I had those bags for a while and must say that there was no heat damage. They just didn't hold enough "stuff" so I changed to the Wolfman Alpha bags, which hold at least twie as much and do not touch or get near the exhaust when packed properly. Gorm L. parisdakar62 wrote: I've been lurking here for months while waiting to get my KLR and finally got a 2004. My other bike is a VStrom. First of all, just wanted to say that this is a class act. I've been on a number of lists that degenerate into pissing matches over personalities (bad) instead of the merits of a procedure or part (good). There really is a wealth of great info here and in the FAQ. Speaking of which, I have tried buykawasaki, Ron Ayers, Arrowhead, and the FAQ and can't find the part number for the factory guards to be used with soft luggage. I know they had them years ago and I'm hoping they still do. I want to use my Tourmaster bags on my Alaska trip this June. By the way, I live as far north and east as you can go on the coast of Maine, so the trip to Prudhoe and Inuvik will be longish. Anyone have any idea how long the lead times are for Russell seats these days? Can't seem to get them to answer my emails. Cheers, Rich List sponsored by Dual Sport News at www.dualsportnews.com. List FAQ courtesy of Chris Krok at: www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html Unsubscribe by sending a blank message to: DSN_klr650-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com . Yahoo! Groups Links Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - More reliable, more storage, less spam [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[J.A. Sherlock]

I want to send out a big Thank you to everyone that responded to my query about ride height and big bore DS bikes, especially the KLR and DR. You have provided decent food for thought. Much obliged. Jim Smithville - Texas