[dsn_klr650] sloppy manufacture???

[icemanrulz2001]

First off Thanks to all the info and help today! I went to check out the 99 KLR and the dealer had cleaned her up nice. It looked super good! Looks like it never saw a rain day or mud ever. I could not pass it up at that price (thanks to help here). Ok so I asked about the balancer and previous owner up keep....blank look staring back at me. QUESTION: Should I go ahead and open her up ASAP and check the balancer and spring? Runs great, idols real nice. Starts right up cold (no choke). Did not hear any bad sounding things...but I may not know what to listen for. This was a Honda dealer...no Kawasaki dealer local... will I need new gaskets for sure (from your exp.)? I will click some picks after I pick her up tomorrow. Thanks Steve

[bigfatgreenbike]

icemanrulz2001@... wrote:

> Ok so I asked about the balancer and previous owner up >keep....blank look staring back at me. >

Kawasaki dealers do this too.

> QUESTION: Should I go ahead >and open her up ASAP and check the balancer and spring? Runs great, >idols real nice. Starts right up cold (no choke). Did not hear any >bad sounding things...but I may not know what to listen for. >

Doesn't really make any particular noise. Some KLRs have really noisy balancer chains, some don't. They'll run sometimes thousands of miles with the doohickey or spring busted. If I were buying the bike I would check.

> This was a Honda dealer...no Kawasaki dealer local... will I need >new gaskets for sure (from your exp.)? >

I've done three myself and sat in on a few more. Never needed a gasket, but that was because I had a spare sitting on the garage shelf (according to the Murphy's Law corrollary that states if you have spent lots of money to prepare for something inevitably going wrong, nothing will). Do you feel lucky? Devon

[wannabsmooth1]

--- In DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com, "icemanrulz2001" wrote:

> First off Thanks to all the info and help today! I went to check > out the 99 KLR and the dealer had cleaned her up nice. It looked > super good! Looks like it never saw a rain day or mud ever. I

could

> not pass it up at that price (thanks to help here). > Ok so I asked about the balancer and previous owner up > keep....blank look staring back at me. QUESTION: Should I go ahead > and open her up ASAP and check the balancer and spring? Runs great, > idols real nice. Starts right up cold (no choke). Did not hear any > bad sounding things...but I may not know what to listen for. > This was a Honda dealer...no Kawasaki dealer local... will I need > new gaskets for sure (from your exp.)? > I will click some picks after I pick her up tomorrow. > > Thanks > Steve

Steve, It sure wouldn't hurt, and will put your mind at ease afterwards. A guy called me today - he had a used bike, 22K on it. Opened it up and the lever was broken. The broken piece was sucked up against the oil intake screen. He had asked the dealer about the lever, and got the usual "deer in the headlights" look. "I don't know what you are talking about - the is not a problem in there." If the factory parts have not been changed out, your bike will be a little smoother, and quiter, especiially at idle. I used to think the numbers of broken levers was about 5%. Lately, I've had to revise that upwards. All the best, Mike Eagle Mfg & Eng since 1990 San

[Jim]

Friday, September 3, 2004, 12:07:19 AM, icemanrulz2001 wrote: i> Ok so I asked about the balancer and previous owner up i> keep....blank look staring back at me. QUESTION: Should I go ahead i> and open her up ASAP and check the balancer and spring? Runs great, I'd open her up and check valves first - and while you are in there might as well do the doohickey. I'd open her up and see if you need shims, then order them and the doohickey from Fred. You'll have a little downtime but peace of mind afterwards. i> This was a Honda dealer...no Kawasaki dealer local... will I need i> new gaskets for sure (from your exp.)? Again - I'd take it apart and see if the old gaskets come off or not. If not - order them with shims and doohickey. Fred is fast so if you tear it apart one weekend, order stuff Sun/Mon - you'll get parts by Wed/Thur most likely and can have it buttoned up in a week. ------------------------------------------ jim - A12 - somewhere in central NC

[Rey Odejar]

Good grief/. Ur right, BMW? No way. Kawi - cheap and reliable and fun to ride. My son love it. I'll get another one once they change the color. Hey! what can i say, magenta is not for me. rey a17 --- Mike Peplinski wrote:

> To: DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com > From: "Mike Peplinski" > Date: Fri, 03 Sep 2004 10:39:36 -0500 > Subject: [DSN_klr650] Sloppy Manufacture??? > > In a current thread one of the readers refers to the > KLR (my beloved KLR) as > sloppy manufacturing" and I've seen other references > to "cheap" and such. To > which I say 1/ bullshit 2/ why aren't more of you up > in arms. If you want to > see shabby manufacturing methods, look at a Ducati. > They may look good on > the surface, but how about repairs? Doesn't honda > and Yamaha (Suzuki too) > have a service department to repair things that > break through no fault of > the rider? Don't they sell more of some parts than > others due to quesionable > design or manuyfacture? Every bike, ot every > machine, for that matter, has a > "doohickey" somewhere. The highly revered BMW, icon > of longevity, has many > many (many many) sore spot-trust me, I know. Shabby > manufacture? I'll grant > you there are a few gaps in places I would not > expect them, but I've never > seen a bike on the showroom floor that was > absolutely perfect. Cheap design? > From what I"ve read, right here on the list, the KLR > is damn hear bullet > proof. Some of you riders beat the living piss out > of your bike and it comes > back for more. Many of these KLR's go near 100,000 > miles before wearing out. > I Harleys did that-well I don't even know what would > happen. You can go > through 2 KLR's for the price of an F60, 3 if you > opt for the GS. True, > there may be a few corners that have been cut to > save bucks but buys, thats > mass manufacturing. How many opf you have bid on > parts for automobiles. > Luxury cars are built with the same "lowest bidder" > practice as must about > everything else in our world. I"m almost out of rant > now so those of you who > refer to the KLR as cheaply made or designed-sell it > off to someone who > appreciates it for what it is-one of the best "bang > for the buck" > motorcycles out there. Let me ask, if they raised > the price a few hundred, > put in a new design chain balance lever and made it > so the mirrors didn't > break off so easily, would you like it more? would > you have a better bike? > DONE > >

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[James]

----- Original Message ----- From: "icemanrulz2001" To: DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Friday, September 03, 2004 12:07 AM Subject: [DSN_klr650] She cleans up real good! & Doohicky question. > > First off Thanks to all the info and help today! I went to check > out the 99 KLR and the dealer had cleaned her up nice. It looked > super good! Looks like it never saw a rain day or mud ever. I could > not pass it up at that price (thanks to help here). > Ok so I asked about the balancer and previous owner up > keep....blank look staring back at me. QUESTION: Should I go ahead > and open her up ASAP and check the balancer and spring? Runs great, > idols real nice. Starts right up cold (no choke). Did not hear any > bad sounding things...but I may not know what to listen for. > This was a Honda dealer...no Kawasaki dealer local... will I need > new gaskets for sure (from your exp.)? > I will click some picks after I pick her up tomorrow. > > Thanks > Steve ____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________ Ok . What is it about the *doohickey* that MAKES it break? Is it hard shifting, speedshifting, downshifting when the RPM's are too high? WHAT? Reason being is that, some on the list are reporting that at 4000 miles they are having problems with it while others report that after 30-40-50,000 miles no problems with anything. At a Kawi dealer yesterday, the sales man and the mechanic I know there report that the engine is reliable and after all these years, "Kawasaki is still making them" So what is going on? Jim

[Ron Crandell]

--- In DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com, Jim wrote:

> Friday, September 3, 2004, 12:07:19 AM, icemanrulz2001 wrote: > i> Ok so I asked about the balancer and previous owner up > i> keep....blank look staring back at me. QUESTION: Should I go

ahead

> i> and open her up ASAP and check the balancer and spring? Runs

great,

> > I'd open her up and check valves first - and while you are in there > might as well do the doohickey. I'd open her up and see if you need > shims, then order them and the doohickey from Fred. You'll have a > little downtime but peace of mind afterwards. > > i> This was a Honda dealer...no Kawasaki dealer local... will I

need

> i> new gaskets for sure (from your exp.)? > > Again - I'd take it apart and see if the old gaskets come off or

not.

> If not - order them with shims and doohickey. Fred is fast so if you > tear it apart one weekend, order stuff Sun/Mon - you'll get parts by > Wed/Thur most likely and can have it buttoned up in a week. > > ------------------------------------------ > jim - A12 - somewhere in central NC

OR, order the shim "kit" from Fred, and no more worries. While ordering, get the "doohickey" parts/tools and order both of the gaskets then as well. Also, while on the phone, get the gasket for the right side so you can clean out the oil strainer. Now, you're ready and you can do it in one sitting.. Ron in MN (long winters here to get most of this stuff done, but I still seem to do a rush job during the riding season... oh well.)