cheers

I was going to reply to your questions, but it suddenly dissapeared.

Your post now only says "Cheers"

sorry Spye...

What chain and sprockets are you using?

Do you have a pannier rack? if so with which panniers? Have they survived everything you have thrown at them?

what do you know about engine rattles? There is alot of talk about the kle rattling but im going to have a look this weekend. Ever changed your camchain?

Cheers

What about the front sprocket nut? is there a specific socket for it?

I will give you a bit of info tonight or tomorrow. A bit busy at work now and the internet connection at work is dead slow.

Hi there!

I am from South Africa and am mostly on a South African adventure riding forum called Wild Dog. Adventure riding has quite a big following over here. The perfect country for that type of riding. It's kind of a world in one country. See here: Wild Dog Adventure Riding - Index

I just changed my sprockets and chain last month. I went for genuine OEM. It's 17 front and 44 back. I didn't bother with aftermarket sprockets because the price differance was not that big. I went to my local tyre/exhaust shop and they used an inpact socket to get the front sprocket nut off as it was very tight.

I made my own luggage plate and pannier rack. I used it last year on a 4000 km round trip up to Namibia and it worked perfect.
Here's the link to the post on how I made it: KLE 500 D.I.Y. Soft Pannier Frames
Here is the link to the section that has KLE specific information: http://www.wilddog.za.net/forum/index.php?board=115.0

Engine rattles: My bike is a '07 model with 64 000 km on the clock. My tappets also rattle a bit on cold start-up. It's normal. Rather have loose tappets (not too loose) than tight ones. The bike still goes like stink!

You can download a parts manual here (it's for a '07, but most of the parts are the same): https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B5Z...thkey=CITBvpsN

Workshop manual here: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B5Z...thkey=CITBvpsN

I've attached a few pictures of my recent Namibia trip.

Cheers

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Hey SPYE!

Thanks heaps for your information.

So story so far, I still havent popped the valve cover. I bought a camera probe thing, inspection camera, new gasket for tensioner, top end gasket set...just incase. Compression is at 185psi ish in each cylinder so im not to worried. But I have had some bad luck with top ends so heres hoping. Just going to wait till everything arrives and go from there. Luckly i have a DR650SM waiting to in the wing. I can at least ride tarmac.

Still not sure on chain and sprockets...The stores charge almost twice as much as they are on the net but how do you know whats good? Ahhh just very frustrating. Is there any reason a front sprocket would wear fast? I have gone through 2 sets in just over 30000kms. I guess it could just be neglect on my part but i am pretty good with keeping the chain tensioned and lubed up. Does your front sprocket wear more than the rear?

I have been reading Wilddog for ages! Another great source. Adventure MX's post is freaken amazing. In fact i was just reading that Lecap says 9/10 its the tensioner. Or carb balance, Another thing i need to do. I dont know if it has ever been done. Seems every kawasaki dealer is dodgy as hell. But ill go on for hours if i get started. There seems to be heaps of KLE's in RSA, did they sell well over there? Are they generally used as commuters?

Im pretty restricted with space right now so whipping up a pannier rack at home is out of the question. but soon. I might see if the wolfman KLR 650 racks fit. Or adapt.

Thanks again for your help!

Leon