[Tom Schmitz]

Any IMS product is "a great product that you love to hate". They are what they are. Once installed, they are terrific. Getting there can be an adventure. Installing a tank meant for a Gen 1 on a Gen 2, even though they say it will fit on a Gen 2, is not for the faint of heart. Or even the feint of heart...

IMS has no customer service that I am aware of, save to create a list of Bad People that they post up on the bulletin board in the employee break room. These are people who have called or written to complain or point out issues with their products.

I have been advised that it is called the 'Schmitz List'...

 

[Vernmented]

I don't mind bending radiators or rigging up some brackets but this turd was flat out unusable. I suppose I will continue to buy them from ebay then since they favor the buyers and not the sellers when returning items. There wasn't any tank mounting changes to the puck or top frame between the gen1 and gen2 was there? Both the ebay listing and IMS website states it fits through 2018 so they can't hold that against me.

I really like the size of the 6.6 but that Safari is looking better and better. It doesn't have that stupid pump in it either. Ideally a usable natural 6.6 is in my future.

 

[Tom Schmitz]

I know nothing about Safaris other than they rely on splashing to keep the petcock reservoir filled on their 10-gallon tank. Fine if you are bobbling about in the rough, but seemingly ineffective riding on the road. To me it seems at cross-purposes; having had a 10-gallon tank I can state with some conviction that the sumbitch is big and heavy and not something I enjoyed taking off-road. You don't have to fill it, but you can't shrink it. Big is big.

There were no changes to the tank mounting bosses or pucks on the KLR650, ever.

 

[DPelletier]

Yes, they aren't exactly swiss watches but I think they are the best tanks available as, IMO, both the Safari and IMS 10 gall are way too big for what I do. You can play with the mounting plate, even make your own pucks if you need too (there was a nifty post somewhere once about using a rubber mallet to make them). Paul has opined that building up the frame crossbone pads is beneficial too. Even on my Gen1's the fork tubes contact the tank at full lock; I don't worry about it.

Dave

 

[Vernmented]

Thanks Dave. It seems this one was just too far out of spec. I’ll pick up a natural 6.6 when the return goes through. eBay will step in on the 12th if the seller doesn’t get back to me. There was a significant amount of clearance issue with my right fork. The shoddy mounting plate was something I could work with.

Some more parts trickling in today. The threads in kickstarter look much better than the bolt that came out of them.

 

[Tom Schmitz]

You managed to get the Devil behind you and he pushed, didn't he?

I knew it.

 

[pdwestman]

The threads on the kickstart pinch bolt were Damaged because of Not Being centered in the groove of the shaft.

I recommend that one should use anti-seize grease on the threads & Under the head of kickstart & gear change lever pinch bolts. This allows a tighter 'Pinch' with less torque. But you still need to be centered in the groove!

 

[PeteK]

The IMS tanks are made of polyethylene, right? I would think you could use a heat gun to heat up the tank areas that contact the forks or don’t fit right and reform them a bit to get a better fit. Has anyone tried this? I’ve done this with other polyethylene objects.

If you try this, my experience is that the material expands when heated and then shrinks as it cools, so you need to push or bend or reform the part more than you think, so that when it cools, the plastic ends up where you want it. You usually will have to try several times to get the shape you want.

 

[DPelletier]

The threads on the kickstart pinch bolt were Damaged because of Not Being centered in the groove of the shaft.

I recommend that one should use anti-seize grease on the threads & Under the head of kickstart & gear change lever pinch bolts. This allows a tighter 'Pinch' with less torque. But you still need to be centered in the groove!

Once the bolt loosens, the kickstarter migrates around on the shaft which takes out the threads; I've seen it on kickstarters and shifters many times.

 

[Vernmented]

You managed to get the Devil behind you and he pushed, didn't he?

I knew it.

Tom "Jim Jones" Schimtz, a Californian online motorcycle cult leader, has convinced a Florida man to sacrifice all of his free time and money to buying outdated junk parts off of ebay and rudimentarily piecing them together onto his motorcycle.

I see that demon tail in your profile picture.

All good info on the kickstarter lever. I'll makes sure I get a new bolt and I have the kz1000 circlip and washer in my partzilla cart. I'll grab some anti seize as well. Would a couple wraps of teflon plumbers tape do anything?

The IMS 6.6 ebay seller has been in contact with IMS and they don't want to return the gas tank since it had gas in it. They offered to send a new mounting plate with larger sloppier holes drilled into it for more play. The ebay seller then said they couldn't issue a full refund. I told them the tank is unusable and I wanted to return it. I then explained the main issue is the deformed tank that cause my right fork tube to hit well before it fully locks. I told them to look at the picture that I sent and you can clearly see the problem. I even circled it the first time I sent it. We will see where this goes if they get back to me.

I got my pre '95 clutch taken apart tonight. It looks like I have a little filing to do on the fingers but it didn't seem too bad to me. This is the first time I have done anything to a clutch. If I end up using this one I'll end up getting some new plates and springs. I have read that you don't really need to replace the steel plates. Is that true? I couldn't find my caliper to measure what was left on the friction plates but I would like some fresh ones anyway. Any brand recommendations would very helpful as well. EBC seems to be offered on a lot of websites.

 

[Tom Schmitz]

...Would a couple wraps of teflon plumbers tape do anything?
Nope.

...Any brand recommendations would very helpful as well. EBC seems to be offered on a lot of websites.

When it comes to friction materials, be it clutch or brakes, I do not believe you can really do better than the OEM stuff.

Folks have even had some odd problems with EBC stuff. I'm not sure if that is because they are really sending you a Neeenja clutch or what. I have heard reports that they come with six springs, so it might be. I would stick with OEM unless you are running nitrous (<- that's a joke). Even then, the Barnett springs will do ya.

There is not enough time left before the sun goes supernova to wear out some OEM steels. About the only thing that can go wrong with them is that they might not be flat. However, comma, but, if they ain't blue they ain't likely not to be flat.

Even the OEM fibers will last as long as a water bottle in a dump. Measure them, but if the steels ain't blue the fibers are probably still good.

The best reason to replace the fibers is to get rid of any glazing problem you might have. The steels can be roughed up a bit if they need some tooth, but yours are dimpled, so that is not likely to be an issue.

 

[Vernmented]

2002 Clutch cover is in. There are some scrapes on the gasket mating surface but not very deep. Hopefully it won't leak. I am going to drill and tap for the crank oil control orifice, plug and relocate the oil galley, lap the oil pressure valve/reset to 25psi and JB weld the cap using Tom's Paul Westman oil mod videos.

Should this oil seal circled in red be replaced?

These are the allen screws I bought from Lowes to put my ignition switch back together after clipping out the resistor for the gen 1 ignition swap.

A little sloppy but I cut off the dash mounting bracket and got the welds ground and filed down.

Hydraulic brake switch is replacing the mechanical/spring switch so I cut off the mounting tabs.

These were almost nothing but I removed them since they represented the silliness that is the kickstand switch.

I took some better pictures where you can really see how lopsided the IMS tank was. The ebay seller recieved it today and I should be getting a refund any time now. I have a natural IMS 6.6 coming tomorrow. This will be the 5th gas tank I have purchased and I really really hope it will fit.

 

[pdwestman]

If the seal lip of the brown crankshaft seal still has a nice triangular peak, it should be plenty good, as its 'well lubed'.

I have only seen one pic of a crookedly installed brown crankshaft seal in 11 years of various KLR internet sites.

I did replace my higher mileage brown seal, when I removed it to install the 105% oil filter ahead of it.
As seen here, in post# 482. OIL Pressure, How much Ya got?

 

[PeteK]

If you don’t know whether the oil seal was good, then I would replace it before putting the clutch cover back on. Not worth the trouble to have to pull the cover off for a $10 part.

 

[Vernmented]

GJJ,

Swapping a Gen1 knuckle into a Gen2 increases the rear travel to that of the Gen1, giving you an extra inch or so of travel.

Putting the Gen2 swing arm on the Gen1 with a Gen1 knuckle preserves the better Gen1 rear geometry, but provides the ability to upgrade the rear brake. Some folks feel the Gen2 swing arm is a better deal than the Gen1. I'm not in a position to make that call.

Tom

Just to clarify the actual difference between Gen1 and Gen2 rear suspension travel is 1.8" (9.1" vs. 7.3")



Dave

@Tom Schmitz @DPelletier

I am very interested in this knuckle swap. I am planning on a Moab shock in the near future. How difficult is this swap? Would the all the bearings and whatnot need refreshing? Could I swap my parts into the gen 1 linkage? I am hoping to strip things down and replace and upgrade what I can so I can avoid rebuilding the same parts multiple times. Would I order a Moab for a Gen 1 spec?

 

[Tom Schmitz]

@Tom Schmitz @DPelletier

I am very interested in this knuckle swap. I am planning on a Moab shock in the near future. How difficult is this swap?
It depends. It should be easy, but it should include removing the swingarm axle and doing it justice, so that could make it hard.
Would the all the bearings and whatnot need refreshing?
It depends upon the condition of the donor stuff. It is like most motorcycles and doesn't have much over 10K miles on it, probably not. The bearings and seals aren't all that spendy. I think All Balls has a kit.
Could I swap my parts into the gen 1 linkage?
Well, yeah, but your language is confusing. Generally speaking, if you have a Gen 2 you would swap the Gen 1 knuckle into the Gen 2 swingarm.
I am hoping to strip things down and replace and upgrade what I can so I can avoid rebuilding the same parts multiple times. Would I order a Moab for a Gen 1 spec?
Dave can best answer this question, but I think you would order the Moab to whatever spec you want. There's no difference in the Gen 1 vs Gen 2. I ordered mine built an inch long and then, after I'd had the shock of a couple of years, put the Gen 1 knuckle on.

 

[Vernmented]

LED replacements came in today. I got the red colored rear bulb (second from left) and the flasher was a direct fit for the 2nd gen wiring harness. I had to modify the plate on the bulb to fit my aftermarket H4 shell. I should have ground away at it instead of clipping it with wire cutters which just broke a piece off in the correct area. It is made from hard brittle plastic and when I went to uninstall it from the shell the tab was broken off as casualty of the sloppy mod. I'll put some JB Weld on it when I dam up my oil well in my clutch cover. If you need the website for the bulbs let me know. (sarcasm)

Tusk footpegs installed

Shinko 700 tires are installed with new tubes and rim strips. I wasn't sure if the rear was going to go on. First time installing tires. Was this my manhood test?

This Harbor Freight jack is wonderful. It was around $86 with 20% coup and taxes. I was using my big honkin' Happy Trails center stand before but that is removed. Frog Taped my clutch lever hole and sent that off to Twin Headlight Ernie.

Natural IMS 6.6 is here and the black one was finally returned after a bunch of BS. This one fits much better but still has similar issues. They are within reason and I can work around them. The right fork tube still hits but it is just when it is at full lock. @DPelletier said his did as well and he has the gen1 with what I assume has the smaller OEM fork tubes still. This must be an ongoing issue with IMS molding for a long time. If anyone gets one of these inspect the how lopsided top front right part of the tank is and make sure it clears the tubes before putting gas in it. I would also recommend buying one form ebay or maybe amazon to make sure you have some protection if you need to return it. If I didn't get mine from ebay I would have been screwed with an unusable severely deformed tank. IMS didn't want to take if back from the vendor and then the vendor tried to only refund half my money. As soon as I asked ebay to step in they refunded the rest.

 

[pdwestman]

You have got quite the project going on there.

What is the story of the mid-seventies Yellow Yamaha RD behind your KLR? My brother & myself 1st bike was a 1966 Yamaha YL1 100 Twin-Jet, purchased used in 1969 for $150.

I haven't been without 2 wheels & a motor since.

 

[Tom Schmitz]

You have got quite the project going on there...

What is the story of the mid-seventies Yellow Yamaha RD behind your KLR?

I predict it will be a beast!

Also interested in the story behind the RD. And the guitars.

 

[Vernmented]

Here is the backstory on the 1973 Yamaha TX750. My dad was born in 1937. The bike was his brother's and he committed suicide in the summer of 1977. I was born in 1982. My mom said the he never used the bike after his brother died although he had his MC license, had a bike and rode in the past. This has been stored inside my garage in California and then Florida for my entire life. It still has gas in the tank from the summer of 1977. At least it is non ethanol right. hahahaha. I remember cleaning it up as a child and polishing the chrome. Orange happens to be favorite color and this 70s sparkle orange paint job is freaking sweet. My dad passed away in 2012 and I moved back in from the Chicago ghetto where my KLR had been sitting with a broken impeller for 6 months. 2013 I was lurking around the TX750 forums and getting a grip on what I had to do to fix it up and I ordered this oil filter adaptor which fits a bmw filter to it since the originals are some crazy can thing with two pipes running out of them which are now extinct. I also picked up the service manual off of ebay and found this cycle world magazine at a garage sale. Another issue is that I there was oil frothing and Yamaha made an oil pan spacer as the fix. I didn't pick one up in 2013 and I don't remember what they were going for then. There are two on ebay right now, one is a new small batch and the other is oem, and I will probably pick one up to make sure I have it when I finally get to fixing the bike. I am leaning towards the new one since it is a little cheaper and hopefully the mating surfaces are in great shape. They are super expensive but what do you do?

73-74 1973 1974 YAMAHA TX750 TX 750 Nos Oil Pan Strainer Spacer 341-13427-09-00 | eBay

73-74 TX750. Nos Oil Pan Sump Spacer. Location:NOS 23/B. Genuine Yamaha part. If you dont have this, your oil is getting churned into foam by the balancer. This is the factory fix for that problem. Get one now while you can!

www.ebay.com

So sometime after I get the KLR tip top I'll get into the Yamaha project. I would love to pick everyones brain here on how to clean up the gas tank. I remember from previous research that I would knock a chain or other metal stuff around in there and then maybe use some chemical and then use some sort of coating. I have to look it all up again and there could be better products out now.

I justified buying the ultrasonic cleaner to clean the KLR carb knowing it would come in handy for this project and also when I tear apart my chainsaws.

I'll have to make another post about the guitars. Nothing too vintage. I was/is into 80s shred guitar and current European death metal so I have some cool chopped up guitars and I ordered my first new custom guitar last black friday from your neck of the woods Tom. It actually looks super 80s and matches the KLR quite nicely. Do you play? I know you like Aerosmith.