KLR650 Only Thread......

Could be a poor ignition contact in the key. Wiggle the key around and see if it helps.

My key start is shitty at this point. I turn the key to on and get no lights or anything. Wiggle it and I can get juice and a start.

Has anyone tried to service a shock modified by Sasquatch suspensions? He did my KLR shock a few years back and I would like to change the fluid I am just not sure how.

The biggest thing is access to a spring compressor and a nitrogen set up with gauge to put the right amount of pressure in.
My friend here in Michigan will replace the fluid and put nitrogen in it for you for $40.00,but you have to cover shipping both ways.
If you are interested just let me know and I will give you his contact info.

I use the Shinko E700's http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/2/29/393/15048/ITEM/Shinko-700-Series-Dual-Sport-Rear-Tire.aspx ....not the 705's. More aggressive knobby and I get about 4000-4500 miles per set.

Not a fan of the squirmy feel of the 270's...especially when new.

That seems like a decent deal. I rebuilt my stocker solo. It was time-consuming, but simple enough.

My question would be- Why do you need to replace the shock oil? Unless you have a leak or are wanting to go to a different grade of oil or change the valving, I'd say just leave it alone. I had to replace the seal in my shock.

Another +1 vote for the Shinko 700...


I know the OP was asking about the 270s and 244s. I haven't had those on my KLR. However, the 700 has served me very well.

On my current (rear) 700, I have just under 4000 miles (buttload of pavement, too). And, it's about 1-2MMs from the wear bar. I have a feeling that, once it hits the bar, it's gonna' last forever. That bar looks to be about 3-4MMs thick.



EDIT- Oh, and uhh, there has been absolutely NO quirky handling.


.

What did your oil look like when you changed it ??

I just took my shock apart with 10,000 miles on it and it was black.
The damping quality is going to suffer with broken down oil.

Ok, so I'm thinking that the 270 and 244 may be a little squirmy on the street, which makes sense with the smaller lugs. The 700 will be less squirmy due to the larger lugs, but may not grip as good off-road. Either way the mileage should be plenty for the trip.

I'm going to hold off on ordering for my bike until we see what kind of roads we are taking. One guy is talking about coming on his R6, not sure if he's doing it or not. He's looking for a dual sport tire that will fit, but either way that'll limit our road selection.

I'm getting her klr250 tomorrow, if all goes well I'll order tires after picking the bike up. Probably will do the Kenda 270's. I'm guessing they are good in gravel in gravel and dry dirt, but I've never ridden on this style of tire. Should be good enough for her first set anyways, I doubt she's going to do much trail riding at first.

Thanks all for the advice. I've only ran DOT knobbies on any dual sport before, and have never toured on one far enough to worry about not making a trip. I like the 606/MT21 combo and have pretty much just stuck with it.

Here is a sample of the oil with 10,000 miles on it that came out of my shock, and it was already rebuilt once.
I think it is due to the soft body of the shock.If you sent out the body and got it hard anodized then the oil would stay much cleaner.Eventually I plan on doing this.
I've changed fluid on Penskies with 25,000 miles and the fluid is like brand new, due to the high tech materials of the body I suspect.

How could the shock body material impact the rate at which the oil breaks down?

Not trolling, but curious.

It was a live short. Found it in the wiring harness behind the gages in the front cowling. Some idiot decided to route it right along a little metal "knife edge" and the brown wire wore through. I spliced the wire, re-wrapped it and the few wires next to it and re-wrapped the whole harness. Then I split a piece of old fuel hose I had and wrapped that around it and zip tied it. Then I re-routed the harrness lower and zip tied that.

Seems to have worked. Put around 100 miles on yesterday with no issues! I would love to meet the idiot that did the routing on the wiring harness, though...:huh

Thanks for all the help everyone!

The aluminum inside the shock is not hardened or coated like a high end shock so it breaks down and contaminates the oil.The oil in my shock was like a frothy black oil with some trace of aluminum residue.Also,there is not alot of oil in the shock,so it doesnt take much for it to break down.
Its like if you take some mothers aluminum polish and rub it on a piece of aluminum that is raw your white rag will be black,but if you do the same thing on a coated or treated piece your rag will be clean.

My shock has a modified 2 stage valve stack and proper spring also so the fact that it is working more efficiently may also contribute to the oil breakdown.

Another vote for the Sninko 700, put one on the rear late last season and matched it with a TKC front I had been given. My initial take is I really like the set up. the TKC gives better front end grip in the dirt and the 700 seemed well enough off road. (I am sure it is not a mud tire) And on road the TKC front sticks well enough for me and the 700 feel's great. I will probably switch to a T63 on the front when the tkc is done.

I just checked the guys at the local bike shop will pop the spring off for me. Then I can do the service and get the nitrogen charge from a tire place and have the spring re-installed. Any tips on oil capacity and nitrogen pressure???

The seller's motivation makes a big difference. Some people want every dollar they can get out of an item. Some want to move it and price it to move. I got a 2001 for $1,200 although it was 150 miles away. The seller said that when he sells something he prices it to move so he doesn't have to deal with it long. I believe him.

One little trick I thought about tried and worked was...look at the old craigslist ads. its a little bit of a shot in the Dark whether or not the still have it. but I got an 07 for 2500. the ad was 3 months old. The bike had almost unnoticeable very repairable damage that didnt affect the function but might have been why he sat on it so long.

This link should have all the info you need.
http://calgarydualsport.tripod.com/klr650shock/procedure.html

I had a trick pulled on me yesterday selling a 250 ninja. Agree on a 'delivered' price, with the buyer being 3 hours away. 2 hours later call the seller, and say you're $140 short but you can throw in a bicycle. ghead:

Anyone want a mountain bike for $140?

All typos and misspellings blamed on my phone.

Changing fork seals to get my project 1993 KLR ready for sale, and the leaky one ain't budging with 120 psi in it. Gonna wait it out, then find something with a 24mm or 15/16" end to fully disassemble. Saw one guy made a universal holder out of a 1x1 piece of wood, sharpened like a tent stake to wedge onto the damper rod top. So there's that option

The non-leaky one popped fine of course .

When I did the forks on my '01 concours, I believe the trick was to get some 5/8" threaded rod, like 24" or so long, with double nuts jammed against each other on each end. The 5/8" nut will give you your 15/16" end, as long as you get a standard nut, don't get X-tra heavy nuts. Use a 15/16" wrench on one end to hold the rod still, and the other jammed nuts fit into your damper rod. I hope it helps.

T

Was able to pick the dust seal out, then nicked the oil seal enough to allow the air pressure to pop it.