KLR Balance chain tensioner

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Darren klr

Guest
Hi everyone:

I have recently bought an 06 KLR 650 with 2500 kms on it after a painful 15 year absence from riding and racing.( Marriage ,Mortgage ,Kids, that kind of stuff). Recently my wife brought up the idea of a bike that we could both ride ,so I jumped in with both feet !!!

I have been looking around the internet a little and have noticed this "doohickey" issue quite a bit. Has anyone out there had any problems with this part or is it a problem that someone had at one time and decided to make an issue out of it. I have talked to Maple Ridge Motorsport and Burnaby Kawasaki about it and they say they have never had a failure , however Burnaby Kawasaki does sell the tensioner replacement kit.

Any help would be appreciated and I look foreward to riding with some of you this year.

Darren
 
scotty905

scotty905

Member
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Yes the "doohichey" is an issue but I think that it mainly fails do to the owner over tightening the adjustment bolt or not doing the adjustment. I have a 2003 KLR 650 and when I checked mine the tension spring was broken.

It's a great bike and if you do regular maintenaceit will treat you right. And make sure that you check ALL fasteners are tight on the bike as KLRs are notorious for shedding parts. Blue loctite is your friend:tup:

This site has lots of good info http://multisurfacemotorcycling.com/index.htm
 
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Flyfisher

Guest
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The doohickey is an issue, replace it and don't worry about it anymore.

When I did mine on an A19 with 6000 km, the doohickey was fine with a bit of a warp, however, the spring was not stretched and would not have pulled the lever for another adjustment.

Get the kit and replace it yourself, not hard to do the doo. Get the one from Arrowhead. There are lots of sights with instructions and pictures. If you do it yourself one thing to take care with is when you remove the inside cover keep your thumb one the end of the doohickey shaft when you pull the case. If you don't the case can pull the shaft out and the thrust washer can fall in the back of the case. PITA if this happens but not the end of the world.

The reason they don't hear about it is that just about everyone replaces this part.

This is a great motorcycle :clap:
 
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Norm

New member
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Don't know where you're located but we did another one last Sunday's tech day. It was all in good shape but the difference in quality between the original and Eagle Mike's units is striking.

It appears from both direct experience and information from several web groups that the tension spring is more of a problem than the lever (Doohickey) although it would (IMO) be very poor economy to replace the spring alone.

Unless you are fairly experienced it might be better to join a tech day as it can be very unsettling for a newbie to do the Doo. The tools are a one time use also so that makes buying them poor economy.

Check out Marks' site for photos and procedure. If you are ordering a Doohickey kit, think about the new torsion spring which Eagle Mike has recently released as it seems to be an inprovement over the coil extension springs. Jerome had one which we installed with his new Doo.

He may chime in regarding photos.

We also installed a 300 watt stator, relocated and additional sealed ATO fuses, headlight relays and an accessory relay. On Poco Red's A18.

I did my 300 watt stator last night and today's ride shows a big improvement in operating voltage (now just over 14 volts will full load) over 3,500 RPM and holds above 13 volts over 2,500 RPM. Full load on my A18 consists of GPS, bar heaters on high (too hot on high now), electric vest, and 100 watt headlight.

A strange one is that after a ride today the idle is at 1500 RPM which is strange in that it has been at 1300 before and I didn't make any changes to mixture or idle stop. Coincidence or less drag... I'll go with coincidence unless more data changes my views.

HIH

Norm
 
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Fjr eh

Member
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Norm,

Did you consider the 400 watt stator?

Did you buy the reg, too?

Mark
 
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Norm

New member
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I was kicking the idea of higher output stators around but reports indicate that the 400 Watt stators don't begin to match the output of the stock stator until 3 or 4,000 RPM which would be poor for me as I ride trails with wife and son which means low RPM for the KLR.

In addition, 300 watts should provide adequate power for my plans which include adding a pair of compact driving lights to the 100 watt headlight, electric vest and grip heaters. The stock system handles all but the addition of driving lights so a bit more would be all which is needed.

My grip heaters need a re-wire because they are simply too hot. The low setting would be good for high so I plan to work out a triple connection option which will allow the heaters to be operated in parallel (as now) for high, series for low to make more efficient use of power and the option of a variable resistance to tailor both levels. That's on the back burner.

For summer/warmer weather rides the grip heaters are not needed so that power could be diverted for additional lighting.

Norm
 
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Fjr eh

Member
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I used a heat troller for my heated grips on myout FJR.

Bought a stator for the FJR, too
 
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Darren klr

Guest
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Did my doo today. I bought it through KLR 650.com for $99 and $59 for the stainless brake lines. A week and a half later they were at my door for $28 to canada post. The spring and lever were fine and the only troubling thing I found was that the rotor bolt was not very tight at all. (maybe 20 lb/ft) I am a little concerned with the size of the Eagle mfg tensioner spring. It's a lot smaller than the stock spring and a little shorter.I used the longer of the two that were supplied with the kit.Has anyone had any experience with the service life with this new spring ? I don't think I trust it as much as the OEM spring.



Thanks, Darren
 
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Norm

New member
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The stock springs break very commonly. The Eagle springs have no reported failures according to the forums I belong to. Make sure that the spring you installed has some extension so that it is tensioning the Doo' lever. A better alternative is to use Eagle Mike's new torsion spring. We installed one on Jerome's bike which looks to be an improvement over the extension spring. The other one I was involved with was on mmmm can't remember whose bike..

I have one on order but will wait to install it (the torsion spring)because there are no reported issues with the Eagle extension spring. The only reason for me to go back in there is just because....(VBG)

Do the Doo'! You may find a tech day in your area where you can get the loan of tools and expertise.

Norm
 
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