worm~hole
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posted May 31, 2003 06:03 PM
klr650
...tell me something about the Kawasaki KLR650 and why I MUST get one soon....
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“We sleep safe in our beds because rough men
stand ready in the night to visit violence on those
who would do us harm.”
-George Orwell
  
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worm~hole
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posted May 31, 2003 06:13 PM
 Edited By: worm~hole on 31 May 2003 19:19
...or the the DR650?...
...gimme the pros and cons of either...
...already I like the Killer's 6 gal tank, but don't like the wimpy front brake and fork, but overall I like the bike for what it is and what it can do...and better braking is but an ss line and hh puck away, huh?...but I dunno nuthin' about the DR...
____________
“We sleep safe in our beds because rough men
stand ready in the night to visit violence on those
who would do us harm.”
-George Orwell
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fish_antlers
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posted May 31, 2003 09:33 PM
KLR has way more aft market support....
it appears both KLR and DR are bulletproof, but many people buy the KLR cuz it's turnkey...
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What business is it of yours where I'm from, Friendo?
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worm~hole
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posted May 31, 2003 09:34 PM
...if an ss line and hh puck doesn't quite do it, does the aftermarket make a a bigger rotor/caliper kit for it?...
...I read Racetech Emulators work well for the forks...
...BajaDesigns (45 mins. down the road from here) has some killer HID or halogen ighting systems for bikes....killer (read: EXPEN$IVE!) prices, too, but well proven (if the testimonies are to be believed) for the ultimate in super lighting...
...Corbin has two types of seats for it...
...I'm sure there's a shock mfg out there who can sell me the appropriate shock for my fat ass and whatever I'll be carrying on this motorized mule...
...this could very well be my next two-wheel toy...a Sport Utilty Motorcycle...like most SUVs...85% road/15%off-road (except when in Alaska)...
____________
“We sleep safe in our beds because rough men
stand ready in the night to visit violence on those
who would do us harm.”
-George Orwell
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Dirtybill
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posted May 31, 2003 11:04 PM
Edited By: Dirtybill on 1 Jun 2003 00:10
Travelcade makes Gel seats which I'm told are very good. I had a Progressive Suspension, Larry Roesler, shock and spring on mine with PS fork springs and a fork brace. Made an amazing difference, but if you're short of inseam the shock and spring do raise the heighth of the bike.
Also had a Big Gun Exhaust and jetted carb but my buddy's stock KLR still was faster. The Big Gun is noisy also. I'm still scratching my head as to why my bike was slower. Unless the other KLR has had something done to it and he's not telling...LOL!
I'd love to try Nos on a dual sport. Go to someplace like near Vegas and try it out on the dry lake beds.
Why must you have one? Even if you dont do any dirt on it, they're very good commuters, errand bikes and handy to have. Raining and you dont want to get your other shiny bike dirty? Take the dual purpose. They're supposed to be dirty!!
btw. On 1 of my KLRs I found a pad replacement did more than the braided brake line. The next KLR I had was a couple of years newer and the front brake worked a lot better than the other one. Kawaski never said anything but I suspect they may have changed the internals on the master cylinder.
I think you can get Wave rotors for them too.
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worm~hole
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posted June 01, 2003 01:48 AM
...altho I grew up riding and driving on carb-equiped cages and motorcycles, I know hardly anything about them...I know about them as much as F.I.s...which is basically zilch....
...since I like the way my 12R behaves when I go from sea-level to 8000 feet, I'm suspecting that a KLR that runs well below 2000 ft will run like shit at 3K+ ft, yes?...especially with all my camping gear straped to the bike...
...how does one get by this?...or do we just thump along slower?
____________
“We sleep safe in our beds because rough men
stand ready in the night to visit violence on those
who would do us harm.”
-George Orwell
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Dirtybill
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posted June 01, 2003 07:27 AM
Actually on the KLR I really didn't notice much going over mountain passes etc. I noticed it more on my enduro bike which just ran a tad rich up in the hills. Didnt really affect the performance that much. Some guys will go to the trouble of carrying extra jets for altitude changes but I couldnt be bothered.
I suppose if you were doing a lot of high altitude riding you could set up the carb a touch lean for sea level.
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worm~hole
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posted June 01, 2003 08:05 AM
...around here, if you play hookey alot  , you can go from sea level~500ft~1000ft and all the way up to 5000ft~6000ft within 1~2hours every single day...Palomar and Laguna Mts. come readily to mind...
...and I'm curious about the govt.'s USMC KLR diesel program...will it develope superior torque over its gas brother as do the diesel 8s do over the gas 8s?...my mind reels...a tiger-camo schemed KLR would look way bithcin' kewl 
____________
“We sleep safe in our beds because rough men
stand ready in the night to visit violence on those
who would do us harm.”
-George Orwell
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worm~hole
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posted June 01, 2003 02:00 PM
...hey fish & frEEK...seeing as we have a DR650.com forum, how 'bout a forum for the KLR650?...we can call it THE KiLL-ZONE.com or something to that effect...get it?...KLR...Killer...I know...I've been thinking way too much....going to work now...buh-bye.....
____________
“We sleep safe in our beds because rough men
stand ready in the night to visit violence on those
who would do us harm.”
-George Orwell
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Dirtybill
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posted June 02, 2003 09:04 AM
Edited By: Dirtybill on 2 Jun 2003 10:49
quote:
...hey fish & frEEK...seeing as we have a DR650.com forum, how 'bout a forum for the KLR650?...we can call it THE KiLL-ZONE.com or something to that effect...get it?...KLR...Killer...I know...I've been thinking way too much....going to work now...buh-bye.....
Funnily enough, that's what the shop in the Okanagan used to call the KLR....Killer...LOL.
Went for a ride on the XRL650 yesterday and I dont mean to belittle the KLR, but it really pointed out how much better the stock suspension is on the Honda. Especially off road.
If you plan on doing a lot of off road and can get an XRL, I'd seriously consider it. On the other hand the Killer is smoother on pavement. I think the KLR is in need of a suspension upgrade front and rear but as a Kwak spokesman said, "we are selling all the KLRs we make." So dont hold your breath. The ideal situation is if you could get some better forks from another bike and fit them to the KLR. I know a guy who did this to an old air head BMWGS. He put KTM yokes and forks on. The bike does well in the dirt now.
I've got a set of YZ125 forks. Don't know how they'd work. Have also seen guys put CR250 forks on various XRs.
Re diesel: I heard that they get over 100mpg easily. Don't know about the torque figures. Why hasn't Cycle World done an article about this? They had some of them converted and used in the latest Iraq thing. I think they were using them for some mail delivery. Apparantly, they used the stock KLR motor with some changes to accomodate diesel?
Oh ya, yesterday's ride into the mountains refreshed my memory. At higher altitudes you may experience stalling at idle because of the richness. The bike idles at lower rpm up in the mountains, so just turn up your idle screw and then back it off when you get back to sea level or thereabouts.
I had to turn back as the fire road near the top was still covered with snow. Saw some steaming bear shit on the way back. No bear though.
Happy Trails in Idaho make some stuff for the KLR. Sorry, don't have their url handy.
The left side guard for the radiator and fan is highly recommended...........from personal experience. The right side guard is up to you as theres only the coolant resevoir and main fuse to damage, and of course the plastic cover.
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worm~hole
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posted June 02, 2003 09:58 AM
Edited By: worm~hole on 2 Jun 2003 11:39
...thanks, Dirty...I've also perused the dual-star.com site...LOTS of KLR stuff...and the other links to commando-style home-brew mods...very ingenius, these folks...the things they do with the KLR...again, my mind reels with anticipation...my recent trip to the Sequoias and Yosemite got me all thinkin', "Need to get an SUV-type bike...get away from pavement...to the back country...need to camp more..."
...hey! even more stuff from happy-trails.com...kewl!
____________
“We sleep safe in our beds because rough men
stand ready in the night to visit violence on those
who would do us harm.”
-George Orwell
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worm~hole
Needs a life
Miles to go before I sleep....
Posts: 10623
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posted June 03, 2003 03:28 AM
Edited By: worm~hole on 3 Jun 2003 04:32
...I think:
1) brake pads
2) ss lines
3) fork brace
4) front springs
5) rear shock/springs
...that'll do it...
...and what about replacement tires after the stockers wear out?...can you install wider tires on the stock rims?...are any even available?...say for a 75/25 road/dirt split...is it even recommended?...I'm thinking that a wider tire would help...am I on the right track?...or am I wrong?...not like I'd be racing in an enduro or anything, just looking for more stabilty...
...and speaking of stability: is a steering stabilizer even needed on these things?...I read an article about the RTT system...look$ trick (dunno if they even have an application for the KLRs)...
..man, this DP-bike stuff is fascinating...I feel like a sweet-toothed kid in a candy store
____________
“We sleep safe in our beds because rough men
stand ready in the night to visit violence on those
who would do us harm.”
-George Orwell
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Dirtybill
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posted June 03, 2003 06:44 AM
Edited By: Dirtybill on 3 Jun 2003 07:49
Ya, that's another thing I like about D/P bikes. You can do whatever you want to them to customize it to your own needs. The stock Dunlops if thats what they still use are actually not bad for pavement and dry fire roads.
I've got a Michelin Baja on the front of the Honda and while its excellent for off road, it's shitty for the street. Too much vibration. Pirelli was making a whole range of dual sport tires from the radial MT 60 or 61 that came on the Guzzi Quota to the MT21 which I have on the back of the Honda now.
There's also a street legal knobby made by Dunlop which apparently ran the entire way on the Baja 1000 a couple of years ago....756 may be the model no. or 766?
If you want to go cheap, I had a Kenda Trackmaster on the DR350 which I used for a week long off road ride in the Vegas area. Crap on the street but it hooked up well in the dirt.
Re stabilizer. Do you mean a steering damper? Dont know anyone who has used one on a KLR. If you mean a fork brace, I used an ATK brace which I picked up at a wrecker for $10. I had to put longer bolts in it but it worked fine. You just have to torque it correctly because if its too tight then the forks will bind up and wont move freely.
A couple of years ago a Canadian from the Montreal area entered the Dakar rally on a near stock KLR650. He was promptly laughed at by the competitors. He finished the rally. Some of the teams were so impressed by his performance during the rally that they started helping him maintain the bike after each stage.
Burnaby Kawasaki who advertises on this forum has pictures and stories of customers riding their KLRs to the tip of South America and back.
We've neglected the DR so far. Haven't owned a 650 but some guys I know are each on their 2nd DR650. They hammer the crap out of their bikes and they're happy with the DRs. Take a look sometime at the difference in fork diameter on a DR compared to the KLR. Way better suspension on the DR. Plus a lot of guys still dont like a liquid cooled off roader. Don't know why the aftermarket doesnt do more with the DR.
I think you'll find that tires are probably the most critical thing you can get on a Dual Sport. They can make the difference!!
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worm~hole
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posted June 03, 2003 12:33 PM
____________
“We sleep safe in our beds because rough men
stand ready in the night to visit violence on those
who would do us harm.”
-George Orwell
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worm~hole
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Posts: 10623
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posted June 05, 2003 09:37 AM
...I'M IN THE KiLL-ZONE NOW!!!....YEEEEHA!!!!
____________
“We sleep safe in our beds because rough men
stand ready in the night to visit violence on those
who would do us harm.”
-George Orwell
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