2008 KLR650

Wow, that's a long repair. Hope you get it back soon!

 

All parts in except for a foot peg bracket, which means repair doesn't go ahead until the bracket arrives. Apparently Kawasaki spares can be a bit slow....

It's kinda frustrating that the entire repair is being held up by one tiny little bracket....

Anyone have a spare as-new condition one that they want to sell, lend or give me??? Front right (where the brake is).

Been seven weeks now, and man I really want this done so I can get it back before next year!!!

 

Actually Kawasaki spares take no longer than 3 weeks after being ordered from Japan. Usually with repair jobs it's the person doing the repairs not ordering the parts until the insurance has approved the repairs that takes all the time, then they just blame it on the "delivery time".

 

Thanks, Mick. That timeframe puts my mind at rest a little... yep, parts weren't ordered until insurance approved and it has been 4 weeks since I got my insurance payout for safety gear, so surely can't be much longer.

*:/

 

Well that was my experience with a dodgy repairer who thankfully is no longer in business, but obviously I can't speak for whoever is doing your repairs...sometimes it just takes longer than we'd like and can be pretty frustrating, but there's not a lot anyone can do about the slow boat.

 

There's lots to say about the bike, but this post is more about me...

I've ridden it not quite 3000km so far, and I'm finding the handling challenging. It's very very different from the ol' GPX.... it is incredibly upright and tall and I just can't seem to counter steer it as well as I could the 250. I can't get that crouch and tuck that would be optimal for comfortable speedy cornering.

The result is I'm a bit more timid on road corners than I want to be.

Any tips how to improve technique?

Also, I'm interested in perspectives on cornering on gravel roads. I'm not putting as much into the bars this time and am trying to use the body more to steer, but again I feel like I could be going quicker, but I'm worried that I'll just lose control.... I'm not going very quick at all on "main" dirt roads and I'd like to improve

 

I think andtfoot should be the one to answer this he's an animal on that DR, great to see him throw it around corners at speed on the road.

 

Forget counter steering, use the bars. (On dirt) once the fronts turned hit the throttle and bring the rear around. Mx style, the KLR is just a massively overweight dirtbike.

 

Yep it is different steering wise, even on the tar.

The best example I experienced of this was test riding a CBR 600 after riding nothing but dirt bikes for several years. The first bend I came to I barely made it around because I had forgotten how to steer a road bike, you need to lean more. Next corner everything was fine but I will never forget the feeling of telling the bike to do something and it totally refusing.

 

Getting used to the bike is a pretty big one for me. I often just stuff around in a carpark doing P's test style stuff (u turns, weaves, braking, etc). I'm pretty bloody slow when I'm not settled and comfortable with my bike. Something like a refresh of tyres and resulting change in profile from squared to round again can put me off for a bit. Even though I've ridden roughly the same distance on each bike, I'm more comfortable on the DR so I'm generally quicker on it.

My riding style between the Hyosung and the DR is definitely different. On the Hyosung I hang off the inside a lot and smoothly and firmly bring the bike down to where I want it.
On the DR I sit up a lot more, still dipping the inside shoulder in a bit though. I put a lot more force into the bars and shove it to the lean angle I want (not so hard that the suspension unloads and the wheel lifts off the ground... usually). Knowing how hard to shove at different speeds just comes with experience. I keep my elbows up a bit to give me some more force and control. I run it a little bit deeper into the corner before I tip in than on the Hyosung.
Another difference is on the DR I enter the corner slower, but accelerate a lot more coming out. This keeps the suspension on the rear loaded up which seems to help the front tracking where I want it. 'Slow in, fast out' is pretty common advice, and I do it on the Hyosung, but I do it more on the DR.
Basically I'm just winging it, so I could be completely wrong, but it gets me around.

Just take it easy and build up the confidence, trying different styles a bit at a time to find out what works. Get someone experienced to follow and be followed. Give yourself some more room for error by cornering from the outside of the corner to the inside. Put some road tyres on it and try a track day (Marulan is good for this).

I'm pretty rubbish at going quick on dirt (I'm always paranoid of incoming traffic on the wrong side of the road), so I wouldn't have a clue what tips to give...

 

Thanks [MENTION=14103]andtfoot[/MENTION]

Are you going on the jdeks ride next weekend? If so I'll follow you around and see how fast we can go....

I have road based tyres on at the moment, but will have some knobby things on by then, so will be going slower on the road that weekend....

I have this coming for the back, the Mefo Stone Master:



Turning up today!!! Kinda excited

Have to find something for the front that works with it... probably either a Pirelli MT21 or the Scorpion Rally (looks more fun )
Any reason why they wouldn't work together anyone?

 

So yesterday I took my bike along for the $50 Suspension Smith check, and boy was I unpleasantly surprised by the results.

The rear racetech shock was in great order, and everything cool in the rear, but the front, the front, oh dear.

No rebound dampening at all. Push down and boing back it comes with no niceness at all. What a shocker....
It has the Racetech Gold valve emulators in it, which are supposed to be the goods, but Laurie suggests that the mechanic who put it in just slotted them in without doing all the other work that is supposed to go along with it.... The result: front suspension that in his view would be totally inadequate off-road. Oh.... We won't mention which large Canberra workshop did the work.

So, I've booked it in for the final week of Suspension Smith and for a couple of hundred will see a marked improvement in the ride. Nice one.

Rant alert. If you are upset by mumbling about shops poor service, do not read on.

While I'm not mentioning certain workshops, yesterday I also went along to CMC to pick up a tyre that they had in stock. Upstairs in parts, I was assured that fitting the tyre was included in the price, and that I had to go downstairs myself to book in a time to get it fitted. So, I went down and while I was doing that, I just wanted to clarify that the fitting was included. Yes, I was assured, fitting is free, but there is a $4.95 admin fee....
I'm like that's therefore not free, and not what your associate upstairs told me.
Response was that [upstairs parts man] not in service, so he doesn't know about that!!!! Yes, but it's the same shop I said... Made no difference.

So, fitting is free but it will cost me $4.95

That I said is not cool, and probably illegal. You can't quote someone that fitting is free and then charge them $4.95 for that free service. Five bucks is irrelevant, but crap business practices are not.
So I took my bat and ball and went home, and instead got my favourite mechanic to order in the tyre. When MG says it's included in the price, then that is what it means.
It was my preference to get tyres through Brett in the first place anyway, but he wasn't sure about Pirelli delivery times, and I need the tyre by the end of next week, but now I'll take the risk.
Yet another reason why I prefer small workshops, even if the boss doesn't drink beer.....
/rant

Anyway, end of next week I'll have properly functional forks and two very decent knobby tyres on it. No more excuses for crashing on the dirt....!

 

To save yourself the $5 why didn't you do it yourself? It's piss easy.

 

So when people want a dollar's worth of free advice I should actually be charging them $4.95 rather than just $1? Thanks for the tip .

Yes I agree that sucks hard.

 

Oh look at you, changes one tyre, is now an expert HAHHAHA

Motogarage sorted me out with dirtbike rubber as well, helped me out big time.

 

What free advice? I pay for all mine in cash, undying loyalty or cold beer

Back to tyres, yesterday I picked up my new rear from the post office. I couldn't help but say "holy crap", and the postal worker was "what's up"? and I'm "wow it's even better than I expected!" Yay. Aside from the oldish tyres that came with the bike, this is my first real knobby on a motorbike... And including postage it cost me $125... I've spent almost that much on mountain bike tyres before!!!
The Mefo Stone Master looks similar to the Mitas Stone King, but apparently has deeper tread on it.

After much thought, I opted for the Pirelli Scoropion Rally for the front. Even though it costs 50% more than the MT21 the tread is way more off-road focussed. Deeper, smaller, more knobs. Looks bloody good.



I've read lots of good things about these two tyres and am very much looking forward to seeing how the bike performs with these aggressive treads on it.
The next few months I'm going to focus my riding on local dirt rides rather than long distance rides, so tyre wear on roads is not important.

 

Last time I got tyres from CMC the fitting was free and no admin fee? Ah well shit happens.

 

I've always been an expert, even before I changed one tyre. I was born this way not gay like lady gaga just fucking awesome in every aspect of life and shredding.

Stu I reckon that tyre price isn't that competitive:S Although Im not exactly down with the touring tyre prices