Doohickey yes or no? Beat to death but asking again...

[jaydee]

Hey all. I'm the proud new owner of a 2003 KLR650. What a blast. This is my first "road legal" bike and i've been scouring the web for things to do when purchasing a 2nd hand bike. Now, I know this topic has been beat to death, but I've been getting conflicting opinions on whether or not to do this procedure...

Basically, all the forums and topics point to "yes" but I've asked a few dealers and they keep telling me they pretty much don't know of any reliable aftermarket parts and / or sigh when I ask them about replacing the part for me. That the procedure isn't necessary and that I'm being paranoid.

Any suggestions / comments would surely be appreciated.

P.S. I'm in Victoria area, and If I decided to do this procedure, anyone have and would mind lending out the tool?

Thanks

 

[sail_lots]

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I know exactly how you feel, I have been through the same thought patterns as you.

Most everyone that you speak to us will say to replace it.
But not

last summer I met a bunch of old timer KLR riders they had owned KLR since day one and continued to purchase and ride them

their comment on the due Hickey was if you keep adjusting it and the gentle you should not have a problem ever however they do sometimes break due to spring tension and over tightening

the guys at Burnaby Kawasaki suggested it's no big hurry if your bike is under warranty however will replace the due Hickey with an aftermarket version for less than $100, my question was when should I do this? The reply before the warranty runs out.
If it does happen to break badly you could end up doing a lot of damage to your bike
I figure for less than $150 and it's worth the and will be proceeding with changing out the due Hickey this spring.
Unfortunately I do not have the space to do it myself.
as it is a used bike you do not know how often or how long it's been between adjustments

Good luck with your decision

 

[joker650]

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I don't have a KLR.....BUT.



The way I see it , is if there is something that is easy and in-expensive to repair that has a history of failing INSIDE the engine I would do the upgrade right away.

 

[Pee Wee]

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joker650 wrote:

I don't have a KLR.....BUT.



The way I see it , is if there is something that is easy and in-expensive to repair that has a history of failing INSIDE the engine I would do the upgrade right away.

True enough....if it's affordable for KLR owners to do, I hear their Cheap buggers !!



I asked the Techs here and all of them said it's never been an issue on the bikes they've serviced, but did say it's easy for someone who doesn't know the bike to screw it up. Over tightening and warping it will cause it to Fail very quickly !!

Just passing that along !!

 

[jaydee]

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Thanks a ton for all the speedy replies. I just contacted Burnaby Kawasaki today and am gonna order the part to be delivered here when they get in some new gaskets. I'm probably going to take it to SG Powers for a full service and get this procedure done while it's there.

Thanks again.

If anyone wants to go for a burn around town, (in the victoria area) email me at [email protected]

Cheers

 

[masonjarz]

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I use the Mark Net site's instructions for doo-hickey adjustment (1/4 turns and tapping with a plastic hammer and so forth) and I don't think mine is broken, however, I have to admit that I feel pressure to perform the modification so eventually I will get the kit and do the modification.

It is frustrating that a company as large as Kawasaki, having known about this problem for years, doesn't simply upgrade the part. I realize that this is naive, but it is still shitty.

 

[jeffzee]

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I just did mine, the doohickey seemed to be in ok condition (38500km) but the spring was broken, so there was no tension on the chain, not a good thing!! The whole job is very easy, even tho the instructions might freak you out a lil, its all very straight forward and it only took about 2 hours!

 

[masonjarz]

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Jeffzee, are you mechanically-inclined? I'm OK--I do oil changes, chain tension, rad flushes, fork sping up-grades, etc. but I am no mechanic.

 

[jeffzee]

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I think you would be ok, it really is straight forward. Read over the instructions from www.klr650.markent.us/ a few times. You will want to have a torque wrench on hand. Getting the rotor bolt off isn't a cake walk but its not that bad, i just used my 1/2 inch torque wrench which has a good long handle and i broke it free fairly easy.

I did the water pump seals on my bike a couple months ago and i would say the doohickey was much easier!

 

[bdmcnab]

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I just finished doing my doohickey about an hour ago; the doohickey itself looked fine but the spring was broken so the tensioner was not doing anything. The job took about an hour and a half and went well but good lord the flywheel bolt was tight. I had a 1/2" flex bar and ended up slipping an old fork tube over it to break it. By the way, my KLR is an 06 with 2960 KM on it.

 

[Norm]

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Most of the Doo's I've seen had the lever in OK condition but the spring broken. The flywheel bolt is easiest to handle with a 1/2" air impact gun. Be very careful not to lose the flywheel Woodruff key which is in the crankshaft and is what prevents the starter clutch assembly from coming off when removing the flywheel.

This is not a big deal to do (IMO) and those who have done it for the first time in an hour and one-half illustrate this because the book time is one hour.

The gaskets can usually be saved with some care and a small knife to go around an pop the gasket off where it is sticking to both sides.

It is recommended to replace the flywheel bolt but many have not done so (me included) but would do so now that I'm aware of it.

The flywheel puller is necessary as is the flywheel holding tool (wrench) in order to properly torque the flywheel bolt (two steps). It should be possible to place the transmission in gear and use the brake to hold the driveline but I don't like to apply that degree of torque to the driveline. (Just my $0.02)

Check around as you will likely find someone in your area who is experienced and has tools to do the "Doo".

To put the "Doo" issue in perspective: Let's say that you are in the habit of carrying a lighter in the front pocket of your jeans and find out that one in one million of these lighters are reported to explode. Are you going to continue or put it in your back pack...... Depends on how you feel. Mine's in the back pack, so to speak.



Norm

Chilliwack

 

[jeffzee]

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Norm wrote:

To put the "Doo" issue in perspective: Let's say that you are in the habit of carrying a lighter in the front pocket of your jeans and find out that one in one million of these lighters are reported to explode. Are you going to continue or put it in your back pack...... Depends on how you feel. Mine's in the back pack, so to speak.



Norm

Chilliwack

Well said Norm!

 

[jeffzee]

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I have the rotor puller and the holder wrench if anyone needs to borrow them, i am in the South Surrey/White Rock area.