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KLR vs cruiser 700 vibration

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TwoSmokeDS

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Hi,

I must be getting old. Everything seems to bother me nowadays. Just got back from a 3 hour KLR ride from Clearlake to Brazos State Park, and I need an advil. I felt some uncomfortable vibration in my butt and feet.

So I see riders on cruisers looking very comfortable. How do vibration on 700 cruisers (like Honda Shadow) compare to KLR's?
 
texasnh said:
Hi,

I must be getting old. Everything seems to bother me nowadays. Just got back from a 3 hour KLR ride from Clearlake to Brazos State Park, and I need an advil. I felt some uncomfortable vibration in my butt and feet.

So I see riders on cruisers looking very comfortable. How do vibration on 700 cruisers (like Honda Shadow) compare to KLR's?
Click to expand...

Different kind of vibes. I put 300 miles on my KLR yesterday and other than my throttle hand going numb and my lower back killing me I was okay.

I switched to a Rick mayer seat and butt wasnt at issue though I did feel it in my feet.

To me the last cruiser I had was about like riding a KLR at 55 mph or less. It's a more relaxed vibe than the KLR at 70 mph.
 
If you haven't already, try the 16 tooth counter sprocket. Really gives the KLR some legs on the highway and reduces RPM to below 5k for 70mph (5k are where the vibes start to suck for me). The 16 tooth will also do OK off-road as long as its not too extreme....just need to use a little more clutch.
 
I use the 16 for my commute during the week and then go to a 14 when I do off-road on the weekends. I can actually get the front wheel up pretty easy with the 14 :)
 
The singles are not called a "thumpers" because they sound good...

The difference in a single being ran at high RPM's and a multi-cyl bike is pretty good. Lowering RPM's or better balancing in a different bike will be noticeable.
 
I rode my KLR about 280-300ish miles Monday and it wasn't bad (except the occasional gust of wind). Everything still pretty much stock on my 2011 too. Only things done to it are a new 16 tooth counter sprocket, stock hand guards off and new (smaller) front fender.

Just removing the hand guards helped with head buffeting for me.

The only cruiser I've had to compare it to is a Honda Magna. I prefer the KLR of the two
 
I rode to Galveston and noticed something about the suspension. On parts of I-45 with black surface, the KLR is super smooth. On parts with white, concrete-like surface, the KLR is jumpy. I wear eyeglasses, and it magnifies the sensation of vibration. When I got home, I had a headache.
 
Traded my KLR650 for this: NT700V. Much more refined than the KLR. Windshield is great, like riding in a cone of silence. An extra two inches taller shield would be perfection. There's slight buffetting from above my helmet. Ride home from dealership was almost one hour, but I didn't feel any pain at all. With a slightly taller windshield, I feel like I can ride this thing to California easily. Excellent aerodynamic engineering.

The first 30 minutes, my right calf felt like it was in an oven. The last 30 minutes, the heat went away. Not sure why. Maybe it was cooked, and had no more feeling.

The gear-drive is going to be so wonderful. No need to mess with grease and carry chain lube. But I'm somewhat surprised by the capacity of gear oil: only 4.4 oz. There's hardly any oil in there. Makes me nervous.

This is my first bike with saddle bag. It's a two-handed affair, and one has to be very careful to make sure the bags are indeed completely closed, not half closed. It's finicky.You can't slam it shut nonchalantly with one hand.

5798212277_7633dbc11b_z.jpg
 
Congratulations! I've seen one at the shop here and read very positive reviews on it. I hope you enjoy it for a long time. Sounds like that won't be a problem at all :-D

--sent from a ridiculously complicated mobile device--
 
texasnh said:
The gear-drive is going to be so wonderful. No need to mess with grease and carry chain lube. But I'm somewhat surprised by the capacity of gear oil: only 4.4 oz. There's hardly any oil in there. Makes me nervous.
Click to expand...

Like all the second-gen and later Honda shaft drives, most of what's in that housing is actually gear and not open space. My CB700SC's final drive only holds 4.9 ounces and I've never heard of the drive failing due to lack of lubrication - they aren't a Kawasaki or a BMW. :P
 
There's a problem with my new bike. It's an electricity-guzzler. I rode it 40 miles from the dealership to home. And I've have only been riding to work and back--7 miles each way. Total mileage is about 100 as of yesterday. Today, it wouldn't start. I had to use a portable battery. Never had any electrical problem with my old KLR, and I ran it 7 miles at a time for weeks.
 
:tabsounds like it is not charging at all.........

:tab Time to check in with the dealer....
 
Call them and tell them what is going on. They may offer to come and get it...........maybe.
 
The Yuasa battery is dead. It won't charge. There's 14 volts across the battery terminal when the engine is running. I guess that means the it's charging. When I turn the engine off and hit the starter once or twice, the voltage drops immediately to 11 volts and there's not enough juice to turn the starter a third time.

Yuasa battery is $200!

I guess I'm going to ride it over to the dealer, with a heavy ars portable battery in my backpack. Hopefully, they have one in stock, and I don't have to wait a few days.

I just have bad luck with Hondas. My previous Honda was brand new also, and the dealer had to replace the pistons and rings two months after I got it.
 
Sorry about the battery issue, but what a nice bike!
Congratulations.
 
No warranty?

I replaced my wet cell motorcycle batteries with Chinese AGMs for 1/3 the cost of dealer replacements. The AGMs in all cases are smaller than stock because no exact fits were available, with lower ratings, but they seem to work much better than new stock batteries. Something to think about before forking over $200.
 
Battery is under Honda warranty, but the dealer is 60 miles away. And they won't give me a new battery unless I bring them the bike and the old battery. I don't feel good about riding a bike with a bad battery. So, I thought about eating the cost of the battery myself, but that was before finding out that Yuasa batteries are $200. Aftermarket ones are $70. So, I am deciding between wasting half a day at the dealership or just ordering an aftermarket battery online and eat the cost.

The bike is model year 2010. It's probably been sitting around for a year before I got it. So I'm not surprise it is dead already.
 
texasnh said:
..., with a heavy ars portable battery in my backpack.
Click to expand...

backpack??
what do you have packed into the sidecases?

If there is another Honda dealer closer, they should be able to handle a warranty claim. You should not have to go back to the dealer that sold you the bike for warranty service.
 
Maybe someone can lend you a good battery for the ride to get the bad one replaced?
 
The vibration on cruisers is not near as severe as it is on the KLR, you can still feel it but doesn’t seem to stress you out near as bad, the vibs and lack of wind protection at Hwy speeds was the reason I traded my KLR in for a 650 V-Strom. Try to get a few test rides and see how the cruiser feels to you.
 
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