looking for folks around lancaster/ south central pa.

[symme7ry]

This is my first ever bike, and I know basically nothing about bike or car maintenance. The bike looks pretty clean except for this rust: http://www.tc.umn.edu/~olds0011/klr2.jpg ...do I need to act quickly to take care of that? What should I do? The guy I bought the KLR from didn't have the manual, so I will be ordering one from Kawasaki soon. Until then (maybe it will arrive in 1 week?) I will probably put a hundred or so miles on it, and do nothing in terms of maintenance aside from spray WD-40 on the chain/gears if it gets wet. Let me know if there is other stuff I should be doing while I wait for the manual. The only oil change I know of happened at 1000 miles, and now it has around 2300. Also I have a cover for it, but the bike currently sits under a covered parking shelter, outside. Is there much benefit to having a cover on it in this case? I'd assume it'd only prevent dust and various particles from blowing on it, and it might even be worse to have the cover on if it rains, because some moisture could get on it just from the air, and then it'd take longer to dry out (no airflow). I was pretty sure regular unleaded fuel was the best thing for it, which is what I put in it this afternoon.

[Jeff Saline]

On Sun, 05 Mar 2006 03:31:26 -0000 "symme7ry" writes:

> > This is my first ever bike, and I know basically nothing about bike > > or car maintenance. The bike looks pretty clean except for this > rust: > > http://www.tc.umn.edu/~olds0011/klr2.jpg > > ...do I need to act quickly to take care of that? What should I do? > > > The guy I bought the KLR from didn't have the manual, so I will be > ordering one from Kawasaki soon. Until then (maybe it will arrive in > > 1 week?) I will probably put a hundred or so miles on it, and do > nothing in terms of maintenance aside from spray WD-40 on the > chain/gears if it gets wet. Let me know if there is other stuff I > should be doing while I wait for the manual. > > The only oil change I know of happened at 1000 miles, and now it has > > around 2300. > > Also I have a cover for it, but the bike currently sits under a > covered parking shelter, outside. Is there much benefit to having a > > cover on it in this case? I'd assume it'd only prevent dust and > various particles from blowing on it, and it might even be worse to > > have the cover on if it rains, because some moisture could get on it > > just from the air, and then it'd take longer to dry out (no > airflow). > > I was pretty sure regular unleaded fuel was the best thing for it, > which is what I put in it this afternoon.

M

>N>N>N>N>N>N>N>N>N>N>N>

Elliot, Congratulations! If that rust is what you're concerned about you've got a GREAT bike. I wouldn't worry about it at all. That pipe is pretty thick and they'll get that way sometimes. After you've owned it and rode it a bit you may decide to remove the rust and you could paint it with high heat paint. But that's nothing to be concerned with for a few months. If I had to buy a manual I'd probably get it from www.buykawasaki.com . I bought the factory service manuals from them a few years ago and the service was fine. If I was getting a maintenance manual I'd get the Clymer's manual. I think I bought mine from www.amazon.com but I'll bet Fred at www.arrowheadmotorsports.com has them too. I'd do an oil change soon. The oil may be fine but you'll rest easier if you know it's been replaced. Pretty easy to do so if you want a step by step procedure ask here and someone will post the steps. Maybe me. I'd also make sure I changed the filter just so I could know what it had been catching. I use Emgo filters and an inexpensive place to get them last time I checked was www.rockymountainatv.com . I suggest you buy a few of them so you cut down on shipping. Someone else can suggest what oil you should use. Just make sure you always have the correct amount of oil in the engine. Since I think you mentioned you're in Washington state I think you could probably ask for help with a visit with a local lister and someone might jump on the chance to give you a hand getting started with your bike. I can't speak to a cover for your area. Out here it's a wet day when the humidity gets over about 60%. Glad you got the bike. Please be careful as you get used to it. Try to remember what you learned in the MSF course. If you survive the first year you be doing great. Don't hesitate to ask questions here. 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

[Tony JONES]

Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii -------- That rust doesn't look bad. Corrosion of the screws that secure the small headshields to the pipe is a problem. Also, over time the clamp/bolt that secures the cannister to the header tends to badly corrode. I've tried anti-seize on the screws but it just tends to get baked off. But like I said before, rust on the KLR is somewhat of a way of life. If you're going to be leaving it regularly outside, I'd recommend always keeping a full tank of gas in the bike. I've never owned a cover but supposedly they are also useful for keeping prying eyes away for the bike, oooh, shiney, lets push it over etc. You want to make sure the cover still allows the bike to "breathe" aka vent moisture. The FAQ and archive search should answer many other questions. Oh, and if you follow Jeff's (excellent of course advice and change the filter, make sure you don't throw away the bypass valve which is inside the filter, you need to retain and reuse it. The owners manual will explain all. Tony

[ezdc66]

Hi all: I am a new KLR owner and am looking for people in and around South central Pa. who may want to ride on or off road. I am a novice at maintenance etc.. and would also really appreciate any help with oil changes and other general maintenance. I live in Lancaster an am looking to do some riding this year. I would really like to go off road too. If interested let me know Thanks, Sean '06 KLR