New (to Me) 2000 Kawasaki W650

That sucks! For the price of those racks they should last indefinitely.

The crack doesn't appear to be in the weld, but rather the tube itself. But hard to say for sure from the photo.

Good luck with TT.

Finally got off my lazy ass and installed a lower, narrower set of handle bars last night.

Used the "euro" bend bar, very similar in spec to the factory low bar, but only $22. Got them here: http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/1/4/68/15395/ITEM/Bikemaster-European-Handlebar.aspx

Took my time and it went very smoothly. I had gotten steel ridged spacers from a bicycle shop to make up the difference for the 7/8" bar conversion, but they were very wide and I wound up cutting them in half with a Dremel cutting wheel. A little too long also, so a couple of swipes on a grinding wheel did the trick.

Removed everything off the the old bar, ground down the tabs on the controls that fit into holes on the old bar. I had read that forcing compressed air into a grip would loosen it, and tried it. Worked like a charm, I was shocked (and thankful) that the grip came off so easily.

I wanted the bars a little narrower, so having the Dremel handy, I went through several thin cutting wheels, and cut an inch off each side. No drama, very easy operation.

From the time I started cutting the spacers in half to the tightening of the last screw was just about exactly 2 hours, but I was in no rush.

Took it out today and what a difference. Slight lean forward, but not too much pressure on the hands even at low speed. Much narrower, much nicer. Highway at over 90 showed no sail effect, and the seat is more comfortable because I'm not trying to sit on the rise in the seat now.

One downside: new mirrors will be required, can't see jack past my elbows. Not sure if I'll go for the same style with longer stems, or bar ends.

Easy to do, low cost, highly recommended.

Well- let's see if I shopuld start a new thread or not;

F R O N T B R A K E question;

I replace the pads and some totally wilted thing fell out and Ewarl said, "Don't worry. You don't need that." For the first week- he was right.

Now my front brake is moaning and groaning. I lost some spring steel doo dad that deadens vibration. Got new parts. BUT- Ron Ayers nor the manual indicats how this thing fits in. The Yahoo site just said it snaps on there.

Oy

Can anyone be more descriptive?

From yesterday's ride

There's usually a couple kinds and not having taken my front brake apart yet I'm not sure what the W has. One kind is a thin metal doodad that snaps onto the brake pad itself between the backing plate and the caliper piston.

The other kind is a little spring-steel clip that goes into the back side of the caliper and is held in place by the pins that hold the brake pads in place.

Uncle Ernie, thought I'd try to be helpful . . . . lets see if it does help. Took the caliper off my W, took the pads off, and here's a couple of photos. This anti-vibration spring is the type that goes into the backside of the caliper. One side goes under the pistons (but won't touch them). The small photo on page 10-9 of the service manual shows the location, but as you note, doesn't provide any info other than "install."



This is a little closer, but a bit out of focus.



Hope these photos help.

I'm going to install some EBC HH pads in the front brake. Is there any more to it on this bike than removing the 2 chrome bolts holding the caliper on and removing and replacing the pads? Any additional steps necessary? I don't have the shop manual for this bike.

Thanks

That's basically it. I take the 8mm brake line bolt off just to give me more slack to turn the caliper over.

Remove the two silver 12mm bolts and pull the caliper. Before you take the pads out, use a tire iron or a big screwdriver to pry the pads apart--that pushes the pistons back into the caliper and creates the room you'll need to put the caliper back over the rotor once you've put new, thicker brake pads on.

When you're looking at the caliper upside down, you'll see a pin that holds one end of the pads. (It goes through the holes at the bottom of my photos). All that holds the pin in place is a tiny spring clip. Pull that with small needlenose pliers, then slide the pin out. The long pad can be rotated up and slid off the fixed pin on the other end. The inner pad can just be taken out. If you're careful when you take it apart, getting it back together will be really easy. It took me less than 5 minutes to take my caliper and pads off, take the photo above, and put it all back together--and I'm about the farthest thing from a mechanic that you'll find!

Thanks, I'll try it tomorrow morning.

Any recommendations on breaking in new pads?

I've seen everything from babying them when new, to doing repeated panic stops in the hopes of getting them hot and tranferring the new material onto the rotor.

Somewhere in between may lie the correct answer.

I jus' ride the bike.

It may take 3 fingers to panic-stop for a while, instead of two.

'Bout the only thing I worry about is new tires. I do take it easy on fresh rubber for a hundred miles or so. Less if I ride 'em in the dirt.

Did the front brakes today, easiest brake job I've ever done. Thanks for the info.

Unbolted brake line from fork, unbolted the caliper, spread the pads, removed the old pads. Moved the little sheet metal anti-rattle plate from the old pad to the new, installed new EBC HH pads, put a small dab of anti-seize compound on the pin and the slider, bolted back up.

I think the total time was literally less than 10 minutes, including returning tools to their proper places and washing up.

Anybody, and I mean anybody, can do this. Only tools needed are 8 mm and 12mm wrenches or sockets, and a screwdriver to spread the old pads apart. Don't forget to pump the front brake lever a few times to restore pad contact before you take the bike out.

If you are considering new brakes, don't bother with the expense or hassle of a dealer.

Edit 8/6/10: Took the bike out today. No special break in, but the pads are already stopping better than the stock ones. I expect them to get even better as they bed in and transfer material to the rotor. For $35 this is a no brainer.

Good taste in bikes and an eye for photography as well, although living amongst an ancient culture,
doesn't exactly hurt any for the backdrops...

996DL

I agree! What a crime it was discontinued.

Having done the front brakes about a week and a half ago, they are even better now that they have worked in a little.

I've been riding the bike almost every day and I'm pleased to report that the EBC HH pads have made a very noticeable and positive difference in the stopping ability of the bike.

If you haven't already done so, I recommend changing to these pads. Easy, inexpensive job with a big payoff.

Anyone notice any pinging in hot weather? I'm running the stock exhaust and air cleaners and get pinging on hot days between 2500-4200 rpm. Switching to premium didn't make a difference.

I got caught in heavy Manhattan traffic on a super hot day and noticed a little pinging just on initial takeoff from a light.

Other than that one incident I've had no problems with it.

Maybe the timing needs to be checked to be sure it's correct.

Accelerating gently while it's happening is recommended.

This motor seems to shed heat well overall but being that it is air-cooled without an oil cooler, stop and go stuff on a really hot day could get interesting.

I've never heard pinging in regular use, even on hot days, so far (and I use 87 octane). With electronic ignition, I doubt the ignition timing is adjustable on this bike.

Perhaps you have some carbon buildup in the cylinders that some fuel system cleaner and a good Italian tune-up would fix?

Thanks for the comments. The pinging gets worse in stop and go traffic, but is present even on country roads in that rpm zone. I'm wondering whether I need to go up one size main jet, but there is no popping on deceleration that would indicate a lean condition and the plugs are brown. The bike's only done just under 12,000 miles, but maybe it's worth running some fuel system cleaner through it.

On a side note, has anyone had the face on their tach bubble up? Mine did in a couple places the other day when it was really hot out. When I stopped by a Kwak shop, a 2000 W650 they had in the showroom had the same problem. I think that might be the real reason why they changed the angle of the instruments from 2001.

The popping I believe is due to a smog system on the bike. People talk about stuffing the tubes with marbles to block it.

I did the Capt. Jake shim mod and that seems to have cured any lean condition. The bike starts and runs better when cold then it did before the mod. Also no flat spots. I also did his mixture screw mod. See his mods here: http://www.captainjakes.com/w650/shimming/shimming.shtml

Cap'n Jake is Da Man . . . . .

Those mods did nice things for my dubya too.