one little stone killed an engine

[sturgeon]

It's not unheard of for a sight glass to fall out. Seems to me the one on my RT was plastic and just held in with friction. I think newer RTs use a retaining ring; I know my R1200R does.

[bad Chad]

I much prefer a sight glass to a stick.  I would check my oil level far more often on my bikes that had sights vs sticks.  Its not much of a issue as none of my Guzzi ever use much oil anyway.

[webmost]

when you started out about a KLR I was ready to say get a DR... but it has the same type sight glass.



the CS is the best piece of bling I've gotten for it..

No foot lever on that center stand?

[webmost]

I was riding my R1150RT when this happened. It's very hard to read the damn site glass on the RT shadowed by the plastic side fairing, covered with road grime and without my reading glasses! Even trying to read the damn thing on level ground, on the side stand with a flashlight is less than ideal. I change my oil every 2000 miles on the RT, have for ten years so I am reasonably confident that it doesn't ever drop below minimum.

I wish every manufacturer would just install a dip stick! Problem is the KLR fills directly over the clutch plates and the RT into the left hand cylinder head. It can't take too much to add a dip stick that reaches into the depths of the sump.

And on a less than happy note I got the repair estimate for new parts.... $3500 + labour, so that is not going to happen, I found a used low mile engine on Ebay for $1850 including shipping to Phoenix, add in the initial diagnostic and then the swap and I am into this thing for $2500, to keep an 8 year old KLR on the road, I must be crazy. I just couldn't walk away from a bike I had $5K into, if the failure had happened back home then I could have rebuilt it myself.

Bought my 2007 KLR in 2007 for $2,700 with less than 10k on the clock. Came with doohickey, Happy Trails skid plate, kickstand switch mod, progressives fore and aft, lowered dog bones, fuse mods, etc etc etc. Right now she has in excess of seventy farkles... everything from sub rack and cigar rack to bottle cages, dual headlights, center stand, brush guards, you name it. 55k on the clock... my very favorite ride. Rode her today. But still, for that kind of repair money, I'd just get another KLR and start swapping farkles.

They are some very lovable mutts, aren't they?

[JesterGrin_1]

That is all I needed was one more thing to worry about. A frigen oil site glass breaking lol.

And really for a tough Enduro I think one would be hard pressed to beat an Ole KLR650. If taken care of they are known to run over 100,000 Mi. As for the Gen 1 they are pretty tough ole bikes and in my view darn hard to be for the money spent. Plus they can knock down 85+ MPH on the Highway for at least for an Hour or so. Sorry have not ridden longer than that at those speeds lol. And knock down 50+ MPG doing it. All on a carburated Single Cylinder 650cc Thumper. :)

[SeanF]

No foot lever on that center stand?

Nope. I just stand on the bit that's on the ground, and do the "pull up & back" routine. A relatively light bike, so only an issue when fully loaded for touring.

[Penderic]

Even more so with a layer of road grime that was very difficult to clean off while on a road trip. Factor in geezer eyesight and, well, ... 

                   

[fotoguzzi]

No foot lever on that center stand?

It's not needed..

  A relatively light bike

60#< a KLR, Ive had 4 of them.. the DR is superior in every way..

[Lannis]

I much prefer a sight glass to a stick.  I would check my oil level far more often on my bikes that had sights vs sticks.  Its not much of a issue as none of my Guzzi ever use much oil anyway.

The Triumph Trophy SE 1215 triple that I bought this year to replace my Stelvio although I ended up not replacing it but complementing it (long story) has a sight glass for the oil level, first one I've ever had.

It is a Pain in the Arse.   You literally have to lay down on the ground with a flashlight to see it, even if the glass is clean.   That may not sound like much trouble to our brisk young berkies who can bounce down to a prone position and back up like Tigger might, but's it's getting to be a big deal to me and I don't like it.   

I don't expect this beast to use any oil so I'll just verify it's not using any at oil change time and shine it on ....

Lannis

[Sasquatch Jim]

 When I had that problem on two of my sidecar rigs, tha sight glass is ALWAYS on the side as the hack.
 I carried a small mirror on a long handle.  T'werks good.

[davevv]

My solution is to just reach down, with phone in hand, and take a picture of the glass.

[Lannis]

When I had that problem on two of my sidecar rigs, tha sight glass is ALWAYS on the side as the hack.
 I carried a small mirror on a long handle.  T'werks good.

That sounds better than crawling on the dirt .... but I still think it's strange that in the 21st Century, I should have to use a mirror on a stick to operate my machine, like someone trying to read the boiler water level glass on a Stanley Steamer ....

Lannis