Cabritos 2000 KLR650

[Cabrito]

Great bike:wings:
Did I see aluminium handlebars there?

I've only had two fuses go in three years, (lights/rad fan) but it would have made things easier if I'd had that blade/relocation upgrade. Was it difficult? How long did it take?

Thanks and welcome to Expedition Portal!

Handlebars Aluminum? Yes I think they are aluminum. Is that bad? They came with the bike.

Fuse upgrade probably took a whole half hour to do. The package is cheap on Ebay.

Great pics by the way.

 

[Motojournalism]

Thanks and welcome to Expedition Portal!

Handlebars Aluminum? Yes I think they are aluminum. Is that bad? They came with the bike.

Fuse upgrade probably took a whole half hour to do. The package is cheap on Ebay.

Great pics by the way.

Nope, Aluminium is great, reduces the vibrations quite a bit and they hold up better in a fall.
Chuck 'em if they get badly bent though!

Thanks for the fuse info!

 

[Cabrito]

added the 12v outlet and serrated pegs and welded the nerf bar

Last night I installed the Fleabay 12v accessories dash plate so I can power the GPS

I also installed the serrated foot pegs I got on CL -

I think I need the lowering brackets for them because they sit so high. They feel great though.

I dropped the Nerf Bar off to get welded up. (another CL find from the same guy who had the pegs)

This weekend I'll be cleaning them up so I can install them. I still have the large rotor to install as well.

 

[coop74]

2000 the best year for KLR's

Sorry I cannot seem to make this picture link to the post...

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/4TImcRbNY6-AoZxkkqqbSg?feat=directlink

 

[HenryJ]

2000 the best year for KLR's

Sorry I cannot seem to make this picture link to the post...

 

[Motojournalism]

If the pegs feel too high, you might find that moving the shifter and rear brake lever up a notch helps.

 

[Cabrito]

If the pegs feel too high, you might find that moving the shifter and rear brake lever up a notch helps.

Thanks,

That is what I figured I would try first.

 

[coop74]

Ok, what did you do different to make it work?

Coop

 

[HenryJ]

Ok, what did you do different to make it work?

Coop

You linked the url of the album page : Album page
I followed it and linked the image. Right click on the image and select copy image location, or view the image alone to select the image url. Images will end in .jpg , .gif , .bmp , etc. The forum software will recognize those and list it as an image.

Back to our regularly scheduled thread :sombrero:

 

[coop74]

You linked the url of the album page : Album page
I followed it and linked the image. Right click on the image and select copy image location, or view the image alone to select the image url. Images will end in .jpg , .gif , .bmp , etc. The forum software will recognize those and list it as an image.

Back to our regularly scheduled thread :sombrero:

Thanks!

 

[Cabrito]

More farkle added

Got around to putting the PD Nerf bars and engine guard on the bike.

It adds a little weight and that is a good thing since I'm only about 155lbs.

(hmm, I resized the pics but I think they are still coming out large)

 

[Cabrito]

320mm Rotor install - Epic Fail

This was a pretty straight forward job. At least it should have been.

First problem is that I stripped one of the threads on the caliper relocation bracket. I tightened them both up a little at a time alternately but one did not click on the torque wrench and stripped. Not good. I probably should have set the torque wrench to a lower setting to start off with.

Second is that the rotor is dragging in one spot. You can hear it when turning the wheel. I could hear it while spinning the wheel while the bike was on the stand. Now I should not be riding it because one bolt on the relocation bracket is stripped and only snug, but I wanted to see how it sounded on the street. It's making a clicking sound as it drags on the pads because the rotor is not a solid rotor it's sort of scalloped or contoured along the top. It's like this one that Happy Trails has in their pic - http://www.happy-trail.com/Kawasaki-KLR650A/Oversized-Contour-Rotor-Kit-KLR650A.aspx
I was thinking that maybe it's going to make this noise until the pads seat to the rotor (new pads) but to me it's like the rotor is warped. I took great care to tighten the rotor bolts in a star pattern a little bit at a time so if it is warped then I am out the money spent since I doubt the retailer would do an exchange at this point. I was also thinking that maybe since the relocation bracket is not as tight as it should be that this could be the reason for the uneven drag.

Now, on to the caliper. When I was taking the caliper off and replacing the pads I found the whole caliper was covered in grease. I believe that the PO had leaking fork seals from the grease that was on the forks and the brake hose retainer/reflector. the fork seals had been replaced and they did try to clean up the forks, but they didn't get it all off. I sprayed the caliper down with purple power a few times and cleaned it up with a brush and then emptied a can of brake cleaner on it. Seemed that it was so covered in grease that it just would not come completely clean. Since I am going to have to replace the relocation bracket I will have another opportunity to clean it up some more. Really I should do a complete rebuild of the caliper and replace the brake line.

Maybe for now I should just put the original rotor back on with the new pads so I can ride it.

Man what a lousy afternoon.. So much for the ride I was going to take down the coast tomorrow..

 

[CoastalDefender]

Man what a lousy afternoon.. So much for the ride I was going to take down the coast tomorrow..

The good things that come out of days like this are the fact that once you finish the jobs that need to be done, there is no doubt of the work and "when it was done last" that comes with a used bike.

 

[Cabrito]

Thanks CoastalDefender. Wise words for sure. You make a great case for buying a new bike. Wish I could. If I did buy new it would be a wee strom like yours. Them are real nice bikes...:sombrero:

It's probably my 10th used bike so I knew the risks when I bought it, and I actually broke some of my own rules for buying a used vehicle. The main one was buying it from someone who did not own it for long and didn't have any real service records.

The working on it part is actually really fun and therapeutic. I'm not discouraged at all. Just got to get back to the drawing board.

 

[Cabrito]

Brake pad slap and Next generation Fender install and test ride

I did end up getting a nice 50 mile coastal ride in today. That made everything worth it. It was a nice partly foggy partly drizzly kind of day. A typical summer day in SF with a few really windy spots.

I cleaned up the original front rotor and re-installed it. So at least now I have new unsoiled brake pads and my caliper has been de-greased. It seems to brake a little better than before.
Of course I can now do this procedure in just a few minutes.

The pads are still dragging at one spot, but not making that clicking sound that the contoured rotor was. I'm not sure what that means. Maybe it's the caliper? It was so dirty that a total rebuild is what should be done, but I'll probably ride it like this for a bit while the new pads brake in and get seated.

Next is to order a replacement relocation bracket for the over sized rotor and get it put back on.


I was not only breaking in the new front brake pads, I was also trying out my new front fender.

I switched it from the stock to a black one from a next generation KLR. (flea bay).

I think I like how it looks. I'm curious to find how it is in the wind compared the the stock one. The stock fender can feel like a sail sometimes, and I've heard that the new ones are a little better. I did get out in a few gusts but nothing extended to really tell if it's any different.