From: owner-klr650-digest@lists.xmission.com (klr650-digest) To: klr650-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: klr650-digest V2 #108 Reply-To: klr650 Sender: owner-klr650-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-klr650-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk klr650-digest Tuesday, March 9 1999 Volume 02 : Number 108 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 9 Mar 1999 18:18:35 -0700 From: "Fred Hink" Subject: Re: (klr650) The stock light just stinks! - -----Original Message----- From: Jean Philippe Bagel To: 'klr650@lists.xmission.com' Date: Tuesday, March 09, 1999 10:46 AM Subject: (klr650) The stock light just stinks! >Hi all, > >Last Saturday I went riding for hours, and had to come back in the early >evening. Granted the road I was going thru was pretty deep in woods, but I >could not see anything. Boy was it an unpleasant experience... > >Some people have mentioned a 80/100 bulb, right? Fred do you carry it, and >what's the price? Any opinion to share on this? > >-JP > > Hello, Check out items 145 to 151 on my KLR parts list @ http://www.angelfire.com/ut/moab/page2.html Fred ------------------------------ Date: 09 Mar 99 19:17:37 -0600 From: Eric West Subject: (klr650) Robert Morgan's ?? Check out the web at msf-usa.org for a list of available sites by state. = After teaching about 110 of these beginner classes, I can say that I've = never had an experienced rider take the class who didn't need it and learn = from it. (save the flames-I'm sure YOU would be the first) I have had = many couples in the same situation-man is long time rider, woman wants to = get started-who had a great time taking the course together. For your own = peace I suggest you DON"T comment on your ladies riding OR give coaching = tips during the course. It is probably the best performance/$ gain you'll = make. Eric West MSF Instructor Amarillo, TX ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 09 Mar 1999 20:21:45 -0500 From: Stuart Heaslet Subject: RE: (klr650) RE: Dare I ask (no KLR content) At 07:06 AM 3/9/99 -0700, Pokluda, Gino F wrote: >Andy asks: >>Dare I ask what your views are on Harley's??????????? >>Coming from England I'd be interested in how they are viewed over there. >I have owned two Harleys. They were cool, neat and all hat stuff. But just >not worth the money. I'll take my Virago anyday. Gino, Forbes Magazine confirms that Harleys shake, rattle and leak oil. So why ride them? As a, er, die hard Harley rider said, "You get laid." Stuart ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 09 Mar 1999 20:25:15 +0000 From: Jeffrey Doyle Subject: Re: (klr650) RE: Dare I ask (no KLR content) Tom Simpson wrote: > > >Andy asks: > >>Dare I ask what your views are on Harley's??????????? > >> > >>Coming from England I'd be interested in how they are viewed over there. > > My perspective: Whelp, the build quality is there, at least in terms of > fit and finish, Paint is beautiful. You have probably figured that much. > > As for living with one...well, the last Harley I was on was my dad's '64 > XLCH Sportster, up on the tank in front of him, doing about 105 down a > country road. I was about five... > > But aside from that, well, it can be hard to say just how good a bike they > actualy are because most of the folks that own them seem to put few miles > on them. Many of their owners claim excelent service, but then they might > have 5 year old bikes that have 6,000 miles on them. Its weird. It is often > observed that many Harley owners realy arent interested in owning a > motorcycle but rather are buying into a lifestyle, a state of mind, a > myth...whatever. > > I did manage to sit down and talk with a group of aviation mechanics out > of Atlanta at a motorcycle campground. They were on big touring bikes that > averaged about five years old and 35,000-50,000 miles on the clock, so for > once I had some Harley people that were qualified to tell me what the deal > was. They reported what sounded like what struck me as a somewhat excessive > number of mechancal problems, but overall they seemed to be holding up OK. > Its not like jumping on some Honda hydraulic-valved inline four (ultra-low > maintenece) but they were decent. > > I'll stick with my KLR, thenk you. > > -Tom > '96 KLR 650 > 32,000 miles If I may Simpson, I'd like to add something, The Sportster was the American answer to the Triumph/BSA/Royal Enfield/Norton era (Andy have you ever been to any of the old works?) and was obviously a winner having continued in production since around '57. It's common knowledge that the technological developments on Harleys in general have been tremendous in the last decade since AMF got out of the house and Willy and the folks greatly improved their reliability and performance. Harley is in a trip all it's own and they are the ones that every V-Twin manufacturer can't avoid being compared to. I salute the loyal Harley faithful who did stay with their brand throughout the rough years. The oldest Sportster I ever got a chance to ride was a '59, but I owned British and Japanese machines. So this XL883 will be my first that I actually own. I see a huge marketing success going on right now by Harley that is capitalizing on a group of what I consider to be "week-end enthusiasts" who have the coin to buy into the image but aren't the image. Nobody in their right mind would remotely think of going to a Harley fashion show 25 years ago. Harley fashion was anti-establishment man! And if you paid a ton of coin for anything other than the bike you were an idiot. Excuse me for venting, but I'm keeping my KLR, and getting a Sportster because I always wanted one...period. The FLH, etc.. are nice, expensive, and way to heavy for my taste. I've always liked the Triumph/Sportster size machines. Any thing bigger and I get the VW Cabrio. Ah but I do miss the sweet smell of chain case oil burning from a Bonny under hard acceleration or the sudden feel of a sledge hammer pouding my foot from the rebounding kickstarter on a 55 inch! The "Good Old Days". Jeff A2 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 10 Mar 1999 01:22:41 +0000 From: Sarah Barwig Subject: Re: (klr650) Re: (nklr)WIFE ON WHEELS > Second, She has never even ridden on a motorcycle, let alone driven one! I > have enough respect for my wife and her temper ( six foot tall Irish > descended REDHEAD) to know better than to try to teach her how to ride it > myself. I recall when we were at the Del Mar Mile race you mentioned you > taught a motorcycle safety course in Oxnard. I was hoping you might have an > address or phone number of someone in this area who taught a similar course > that might be up to a challenge. 1-800-CC-RIDER is the california motorcyclist safety class number. http://www.msf-usa.org/ seems to be the website of choice. > Would you recommend separate courses or is there a course that comes > with a marriage counselor! I personally would recommend separate courses. I had a boyfriend show up to take pictures as I attempted to learn to execute a turn on the little course bike. Nearly wiped out and practically physically threw him out of the county. It's hard enough learning certain things (like if I lean this rather precarious little machine while traveling forward at 25 mph and push the handlebars so the wheel is pointing in the *wrong* direction, and keep the clutch covered, and make sure I can get the brakes, but remember that if the bike is leaned then it's not the optimal contact patch and i shouldn't use the brakes, oh geez, i'm supposed to accelerate through the turn, wait a minute, should I care if someone's watching me?) without other distractions. However, a friend of mine also took the class with his girlfriend, and he said it was fine. (I've never heard about it from _her_ and she's never ridden since, but she was never into bikes that much to begin with...) > Also any support from our female listers is more > than welcome. I know I had been brainwashed from birth to believe that motorcycles are inherently evil. A couple of people let me ride on the back of theirs (when I had no other way to get home) and I realized that I wasn't dead. So they weren't totally evil. Then, while I was in Patras, I rented a scooter with some traveling buddies. That day driving around the winding roads, I realized that I wanted to be able to shift. (and that a helmet, while making me feel less free, would probably be a _really_ good idea) And now i have no vehicle other than my motorcycles. (And really wet boots after this morning's commute) So make sure your wife takes the wee little steps she needs to figure out if this is really for her. But it may very well turn out that she loves it as much as you. :) > > Morgan > moving into a whole new phase in his life Good luck! We're rootin for ya... Sarah - -- Beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, There is a field. I'll meet you there. -Rumi ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 09 Mar 1999 20:31:01 -0500 From: Stuart Heaslet Subject: Re: (klr650) UltraII OOPS: Tom Jamrog's Motoport Review is at >http://www.midcoast.com/~balrog/bike/articles/Motoport_Suit_Prod_Review.txt >Stuart >KLR A12 >Juno Beach, FL ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 9 Mar 1999 20:32:04 -0500 From: "Preferred Customer" Subject: (klr650) Gas Seepage Went into the shed to get the dremmel for somethin' and smelled gas. Under the KLR (A4) was a small puddle. It's freezin cold & snowin so I didn't have time to check everything out, but it's looks like it was drippin (real slowly) off the bottom of the carb & bowl screws. Never had a leak before. The only thing different is that I dumped some stabil into the gas a week or so ago and ran it into the carb. It hasnt been cold enough for gas to freeze or anything Could that stuff be workin on a seal somewhere? Im not overly worried as I'm gonna pull it apart to jet this spring anyway, but any ideas on why it would just start leaking? BG ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 9 Mar 1999 17:41:49 -0800 From: "Arne Larsen" Subject: Re: (klr650) Re: (nklr)WIFE ON WHEELS Killarney (that would be the wife) This part would make me feel uncomfortable... Arne (still alive) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 9 Mar 1999 20:38:53 -0500 From: "Rob Tayloe" Subject: Re: (klr650) Buying a used bike Another source for prices for used bikes is the AMA. They sell a booklet that gives prices. The Motorcycle Consumers' News (MCN) carries the AMA's price list 4 times per year. The current MCN price list is available on-line at: http://www.mcnews.com/articles/kawa.htm I've looked at the Kelly's Blue Book (kbb) site a few times. I find that the prices that they show don't accurately reflect, in my experience, market prices for some bikes. For example, the KLR650 prices are much too low. The MCN/AMA prices seem to be more in line with market prices. On the other hand, for BMW's the kbb prices seem higher than I've seen (and purchased) old beemers. Harleys, of course, are very high in price across the board. Ride Safely, Rob Tayloe Columbus, Ohio - -----Original Message----- From: Stephen Rivett To: KLR650-List >I think I've gone crazy, anyway, here's the link http://www.kbb.com >>I found a really good page for pricing bikes (assuming they are correct >>prices). I was surprised to find out a 1998 KLR650 is only worth 2600$US >as a trade in and then sold at 4000$US. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 9 Mar 1999 17:49:35 -0800 From: "Robert Morgan" Subject: Re: (klr650) Gas Seepage My only experience with that gas stabilizer stuff is with my infrequently used chainsaw. I put some in it. It dissolved the fuel pickup line in the gas tank. It has not run since. Good luck. Morgan ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 9 Mar 1999 20:21:03 -0000 From: "Eric Jasniewicz" Subject: (klr650) KLR lighting Lotso lighting info here: http://lighting.mbz.org/ of particular interest may be this guys writings on the HID "conversion" kits, PIAA "Super White" bulbs, and more. I've got some stuff at my page at: www.angelfire.com/ga/ericjazz , and Vik, I'm changing that pic description tonight! ;) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 9 Mar 1999 18:23:36 -0800 From: "Arne Larsen" Subject: (klr650) KLR emblem Hey Listers, I saw a '96 KLR 650 today at a dealers. Only 650 kilometers on it - looked almost new except for a little scratching on the right side hand-guard - probably from branches. The other anomaly was the missing "R" on the right side of the bike and the missing "K" on the left side. You know, the large "KLR" that spans the tank/cowling? The dealer figured this was from gas spillage. As there is no clear coating over the emblem portion on the cowling, as there is on the metal tank, he figured that spilled gas lifted the emblem. This looks possible, as there are no scratches or damage to the cowling. Any one else found this to be the case? Arne (not of the kill variety) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 9 Mar 1999 18:32:47 -0800 (PST) From: KLR650@webtv.net (Conall O'Brien) Subject: (klr650) Re: UltraII Marick- I don't have the waterproof liner from motoport for the ultraII jacket. Prior to buying the UltraII, I bought a one pc. rain suit which I wear underneath the jacket. For cold weather I layer a fleece jacket along with several shirts. As far as rain just rolling off the jacket, yes perhaps when the jacket is new, but after several washes it's effectiveness diminishes. It still takes an extremely heavy downpour to soak the jacket however. I've had the jacket over 2 yrs. now and no problems. Conall ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 09 Mar 1999 21:39:25 +0000 From: Jeffrey Doyle Subject: (klr650) Dual Sport Side Hacks And just when we thought we saw everything..... Check out the pics on this site! http://www.sidecarcross.com/dualsport/ Jeff A2 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 09 Mar 1999 21:07:16 -0600 From: "J.P.Zucht" Subject: Re: (klr650) Re: (nklr)WIFE ON WHEELS Sarah Barwig wrote: > ...I had been brainwashed from birth to believe that motorcycles are > inherently evil... Ah, yes, I remember when sex was safe and motorcycles were dangerous... phil ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 9 Mar 1999 22:17:22 -0500 From: "Stephen Rivett" Subject: Re: (klr650) Re: (nklr)WIFE ON WHEELS http://home.earthlink.net/~jamesdavis/DISCUSS.html This website would be a good place to start, it will teach the theory of how to crash a bike the right way and not get hurt...not to mention a whole lot of other things. I've found it helpful because I'm the first person in my family to buy a bike and had nobody to teach me. The guy I bought the bike off of told me I was going to kill myself on it but I haven't yet :) - -----Original Message----- From: Robert Morgan To: Darrel & Deanna ; KLR list Date: March 9, 1999 8:03 PM Subject: (klr650) Re: (nklr)WIFE ON WHEELS >Darrel, fellow Listers I recall when we were at the Del Mar Mile race you mentioned you >taught a motorcycle safety course in Oxnard. I was hoping you might have an >address or phone number of someone in this area who taught a similar course >that might be up to a challenge. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 9 Mar 1999 22:28:08 EST From: K650dsn@aol.com Subject: Re: (klr650) The stock light just stinks! In a message dated 3/9/99 5:42:11 PM Mountain Standard Time, jpbagel@microsoft.com writes: << Some people have mentioned a 80/100 bulb, right? Fred do you carry it, and what's the price? Any opinion to share on this? >> I would go with the 50/100. That way, when you are just idling around, you won't have that 80w low beam sucking the life out of your battery. With the 50/100 (I run this) you get a nice bright high beam the really gets things bright. Gino ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 9 Mar 1999 22:32:48 EST From: K650dsn@aol.com Subject: Re: (klr650) RE: Dare I ask (no KLR content) In a message dated 3/9/99 6:21:31 PM Mountain Standard Time, stuart@heaslet.com writes: << As a, er, die hard Harley rider said, "You get laid." >> Hey, I'm married. I get plenty of that... NOT. Just kidding, Hun. Gino ------------------------------ End of klr650-digest V2 #108 ****************************