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This is a place where I post thoughts and information about riding again after all these years and the KLR 650 that I have for that purpose.

Saturday, May 28, 2005

On the road again thanks to helicoil...

Well, I now know what a helicoil is and that it can be hard to find as can a timesert. Thanks to some serious help from KLR riding buddy Matt and his retired machinist neighbor, I now have new threads for both bolts that hold my rear brake caliper holder together. Riding to/from the Placerville area without a rear brake was a new experience but doable it turned out. It's nice to have both working again though and along with my new IMS shifter that just arrived, and my returned to full height suspension, it's like having a new bike.

The rapid change in weather from hot to cloudy and cool has me taking care of chores rather than riding but it still feels good to have things coming together. I have a long list of other things to get and/or replace including:

fork brace
rear shock (new/rebuilt?)
chain
sprocket(s)
fork oil
new tires (soon)

I did pick up the KLR/Alaska ride DVD and a Malcolm Smith Baja video and need to remember to pass them on to Matt as well as return his how to tire/valve adjustment video and my stack of Dual Sport News.

Monday, May 23, 2005

Rear Brake Caliper Holder (Part # 43044-1075) [as posted on the KLR list re: my bike]

I probably deserved this for referring to the KLR as a piece-of-crap
in an earlier post ... cause now I have another problem ;<(

I was helping a buddy get his KLR back to its stock configuration by
replacing previously installed lowering links with the original dog
bones, and doing the 1st ever swingarm maintenance (2001 Model w/17K).
Everything was going great until it was time to reinstall the rear
brake caliper. The threads stripped out of one of the the caliper
holder retainer holes. I'm not going to make excuses; since I was the
last to touch it I feel responsible. My questions are:

1. Is this something that should be helicoiled, replaced, or can it
simply be retapped? The replacement part costs $70 from ronayers.com
with probably a 10-14 day wait.

2. Can the caliper holder be removed from the caliper without draining
the brake fluid?

3. If I need to break the fluid seal on the rear brake assembly, I'm
guessing all I'd need to reseal would be two compression washers (top
and bottom) of the banjo bolt. Is this correct or will I need to
order something else?

All help and positive comments appreciated!

Matt

P.S. For those wondering, all the bearings had very little
lubrication and the bolts were bone dry. The infamous bolt, the one
everyone worries about getting stuck, was corroded but came out
easily. I recommend everyone do this the first time ASAP and than
annually.

Sunday, May 22, 2005

KLR Fleet?

I played hooky last week and rode with Matt and MrMoose as we explored some of the north end of the delta. We started in Woodland where we fueled up with Paco's good mexican food. I still like Jody's the best but they don't open for breakfast. We started out exploring the Yolo Wildlife Area and found that there are more gates than Matt or I remembered. We bailed and picked up the back roads to Liberty Island which was worth the detour. Afterwards it was south on 113, east on 12 and lunch in Rio Vista before heading north again via the ferries on Ryer's Island. I hadn't taken my KLR on them before and it was a first for the other guys as well. Worth the time and the twisties you pick up afterwards rounded out a great ride in my new backyard.

Saturday, May 14, 2005

End of the Trail?

This old road apparently still exists in the Chico area and sounds like something to explore this summer. I don't know how far you can go on it now but it seems to be part of an old road that spans several states. For now, this goes on my growing list of places that need to be explored.
Humboldt Wagon Road

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