big gun exhaust for klr nklr

[Jake Wilson]

Thought I'd post my latest dealer interaction concerning warrantied turn signals on my KLR. I bought this 08' almost a year ago. I don't ride it much and the odometer reflects that. Maybe 5 K miles on this bike. I say maybe as the odometer was replaced under warranty last May and I think there was 3 or 4 K miles on the bike then. Now it says 1500 or so. I have other stuff to ride, eh! Some may recall the first problem I had was the rubber stalk on one of my turn signals broke and I bought one from a guy on this list that replaced his OE signals with aftermarket Not much later another turn signal stalk broke and by that time I heard this problem was epidemic with the 08' model year and the dealer said to bring it in and they'd replace the 2 broken stalks I had yet when I asked them to replace the fourth that did not break at that point, they wouldn't do it, citing 'it had to be broken for pro bono replacement' Well, that day finally came a few weeks ago so I called the service dept and they said they'd order the part and would call when they had it, and for me to bring it in then When I dropped it off, I was told that they would be replacing all 4 turn signals, that the initial replacement stalks/kits, were deemed not satisfactory? Who am I to argue, so they replaced all four signals, 3 of the four a second time When I went to pick it up, I told the service writer that I have heard (online KLR lists) that the rear shock adjustment bolt would break easily and that I have never attempted to pre-load this shock but wanted to. I further explained that I have heard that when some owners have adjusted this shock and the adjustment bolt broke (it stops adjusting and starts spinning), some dealers would not warranty the shock yet other dealers would, so I asked them to adjust it for me so if it broke, it would be on them, no questions asked about replacing/warranting. So the write up guy said 'sure, no problem, we'll adjust it for you' Guess what happened when the tech turned the adjustor? The bolt stripped. Needless to say, the write up/service guy said he'd call Kawasaki USA and get back with me What has other 08' KLR owners experience been with the OE shock? I'm curious. If your shock adjustor bolt broke, what did the dealer you took it to do for you? Did you get a completely different shock as a replacement or what? All in all I'm pretty happy with this bike. It doesn't see much off road riding but when it does, it satisfies me. Most of my riding is on pavement. When I rode it up to Birmingham last May to check out Barber's museum, I rode a lot of slab. I had a heavy duffel on the pillion which made the front light enough, sometimes when rolling at an indicated 80 MPH and above, I had to shift my weight as far forward as I could so the front end wouldn't shake. I had a good idea if I pre-loaded the rear shock fully, that would jack the back end up putting more weight on the front tire so it would steer better, and not that I didn't posses the wherewithall to pre-load the shock while on the road, I had a feeling if I did, the adjustment bolt would do nothing so I left it alone I should mention that prior to that trip, I never had to add oil to the motor but after 800 miles of high speed riding, it took better than a pint of oil to top it off. No surprises to me. It is a single cylinder and not really built for constant slab work In about 2 or 3 weeks, my original factory warranty will be gone (expired). I'm not planning on buying an extended warranty but I have to wonder what Kawi will do about the next time the turn signal stalks break, and you know they wil, after the warranty period... FWIW, some weeks ago I got spammed (snail mail) from Kawi to buy an extended warranty. It was $350 for 1 year, $400 for two years, and there was a 3 and a 4 year package as well ($500, $625) I'm not one to buy extended warranties, especially considering the KLR, with it's long track record of overall satisfactory longevity, and condsidering my lack of putting any real mileage on it, buying an extended warranty doesn't make sense to me. At least in my situation. I realize too the price for the warranty is negoitable but again, I just don't see a need for it All I've done maintaining this bike is lubrication, motor oil and oil filters, clean and lube the chain (checking chain tension) The air filter is still spotless. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to have a look see at valve clearance. I've replaced the rear tire once. If I had my druthers, I'd have more time and money so I could ride this thing across state lines and time zones. Mebbe next year? Only short term destination I'm planning is the stagecoach RTE between X-Mass and new years in Stockton AL. And I'll probabbly ride with the KLRistas south of Tallahassee this coming Jan (TdA4) Jake Reddick Fla.

[Jeff Saline]

On Mon, 10 Nov 2008 07:01:28 -0000 "Jake Wilson" writes:

> Thought I'd post my latest dealer interaction concerning warrantied > turn signals on my KLR. I bought this 08' almost a year ago. I > don't ride it much and the odometer reflects that.

SNIP

> Only short term destination I'm planning is the stagecoach RTE > between X-Mass and new years in Stockton AL. And I'll probabbly > ride > with the KLRistas south of Tallahassee this coming Jan (TdA4) > > Jake > Reddick Fla.

Jake, Thanks for a nice write up on your dealer experience with your 08. I enjoyed reading it. 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 ____________________________________________________________ Click for free information and quotes for interest only loans. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/Ioyw6i3mKu4QqMkXaxEjOY5eewYgjcqmu1DonLvoJDMNbitExutmHC/

[John Biccum]

I thought that I would share my tale of woe while attempting to put my (new-to-me) 92 XR250L back onto a quiet stock exhaust The bike came with a stock exhaust that a DPO had drilled out, it was noisy but still had a lot of backpressure. Let s call that pipe one. I read on the internet that the hot setup for this dual sport version of the XR250 is to fit the complete exhaust system from the dirt model XR (the XR250R). It supposed to be a direct bolt-on, it said so right on the website.., so it has to be true J. So I found a complete XR250R system on eBay for $75. The header fit perfectly. But the muffler and mid pipe didn t fit. So I tried to cobble together something that would make it work and then started the bike. The eBay seller neglected to mention that the muffler had no baffle or spark arrester and that the resulting noise would never pass a sound check or a spark arrester check. It did come with a huge packrat nest inside the muffler though but I digress. Let s call that it pipe two. I found a complete XR250R for sale on Craigslist , about 100 miles away. The seller mentioned that bike came with both an aftermarket exhaust installed on the bike and the stock exhaust as a loose part. I asked the seller if he would sell the stock muffler and midpipe to me instead of throwing it in with the bike for sale. He said that the bike had just sold but that he would ask the buyer if he wanted the stocker when he came that evening with his trailer to pick it up. A day later the bike seller tells me that the stocker is mine, for just $50 plus $12 UPS. The pipe arrives a few days later and it s NOT a stocker but rather a SuperTrapp full system , not the generic slip-on but rather a muffler-midpipe custom-made just for this model bike. I put in on for testing and found that the resulting sound would wake the dead, strip paint off the walls of my house and cause my neighbors to shake their fist in anger as I went by in 6th gear at 25 miles an hour, to keep the revs and the din down. I counted the discs in use and thought that if I took half of the ten discs out that the bike might be quieter. No noticeable difference, still painfully loud. Let s call that pipe three. This quest was getting old I was about to give up and sell the little XR250S, but decided to seek repacking instructions on the internet. Maybe be if I repacked it the SuperTrapp would not be so antisocially, earsplittingly, just-plain- rude LOUD While looking for repacking instructions my internet search found a Craigslist WANT add for a SuperTrap to fit an XR250R! I contacted the poster and asked him if he wanted to swap straight across for his stocker. The poster, a earnest teenager who just got his license and MC endorsement thought I was mad and wanted to come over right away to make the swap before I regained my senses. He showed up with a stock XR250R muffler and midpipe,, with a functioning spark arrester and with an intact baffle! But my celebration was short lived the midpipe fit perfectly into the header and the midpipe bolted perfectly to the bike. But the tab to hang the muffler was about three inches from where I needed it to be to fit my bike. Let s call that pipe four. No problem said the teenager, he worked at a machine shop and so cutting off and moving the tab was no problem. He would be back the following day with the modified muffler, just mark where you want the tab to be and he would be on his way. Bright and early Saturday morning my phone rings he is on the way with the muffler. It fits perfectly once I made a slight elongation of the hanger hole, the bike runs great and sounds just right. Not loud, not like a wheezing old VW, but just like a bulletproof little thumper. I bead blast the muffler and midpipe then paint it with high temperature barbecue paint. At last pipe four and is a winner. From: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com [mailto:DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Fred Hink Sent: Monday, November 10, 2008 16:46 To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com; Arden Kysely Subject: Re: [DSN_KLR650] Re: big gun exhaust for klr That's a good idea. I suggested that to a list member about ten years ago. At the time he didn't think it was so funny. :-/ Fred http://www.arrowheadmotorsports.com http://s1.zetaboards.com/arrowhead

----- Original Message ----- From: Arden Kysely To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com Sent: Monday, November 10, 2008 9:39 AM Subject: [DSN_KLR650] Re: big gun exhaust for klr I've always thought a good idea for the noise-lovers would be to run a tube from inside the exhaust exit right up to your ear. Then the rider could have all the noise they want and the rest of us don't have to listen to it. Not loud enough? Tap into the header instead of the muffler. __Arden --- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com , "Jud Jones" wrote: > > --- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com , "mikeypep" wrote: > > > . The stock exhaust is > > not only quiet, but also too tame. What sound we do get isn't very > > exciting, even from the rider seat. > > But at least it's quiet. I'd just as soon leave the life saving efforts to the Harley riders. > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]