Hi all, I'm almost ready to buy my Kodiaks, but in light of the recent threads on short brake life, I just have a few more questions. How easy is it to inspect the rear brake - can you just look at it or do you need to take something apart? Also, How easy are the rear brakes to replace - similar to a car's caliper?

 

My brakes work well and appear to have good pads left. That is, if I'm looking at the right area to the left of the rotor..I'm not quite sure though. Any info. appreciated. One thing...the engine brake is so good you rarely need brakes.

 

Gentelmen, I purchased a Service manual from Yamaha for $44.00. I suggest it highly.
The rear is easy too see. Get a flash light and look at the material next to the disk. 1/16th is getting too close. You have to remove the wheel to see the inside pad and the fronts.
Mine has 80 hours and they look good. I do have a set in the wings.
If you plan to keep her get the book.

 

Hey guys, thanks for the help. Rock, I'll probably buy the manual when I get the bikes. Yep, I'm getting less sceeerd! Hey Rock, I looked at the Cateye computer that you have; and it looks really cool. I bet it has more functions than the Yamaha optional one and costs alot less. How do you like it? Do you know the price of the Yama?

 

The Yamaha speedo is going to be around $100.00. I ordered my Cateye from http://www.phattire.com/ with the longer cord. I like the clock on it and the Top & Average Speed readouts.

 

donw: i checked into the Factory speedo, they have it at my dealer for 45$ (not installed). By the looks of it i was pushed away from this boring analog speedo. So i too bought the Cateye Enduro2 (from the rocks recommendation) for 30$ at a local bike shop today. It includes much more options.. (max speed, ave speed, 2 trip meters, odometer, clock, hr meter). I plan to install it tommarrow, and will take pictures and detailed install instructions.

 

Be sure and water proof the pick up by putting a light coat of silicon around it. It is a snap together item and water will get in it.
Dont clamp it on too tight. It will crush

 

Thanks for all the replies. Rock, do you think you need the longer wire? Phattire doesn't appear to have that model any more. REI has it for $30 and only $3 shipping, but I didn't see an option for a longer wire model.
don

 

I would go to Cateye's site and get the phone or e-mail info and ask them about where to get the wire. If you want it where you can see it well, you will need the wire. The mount that comes with the longer one is different and better. Much better.
The longer wire is not the heavy duty but is good for what we need.

 

OK, here is what i did.. I did not get the extended wire kit. I used the heavy duty one that comes with it. i cut my wire and extended it with speaker wire, with wire nuts and electrical tape. The mount that comes with it worked out perfectly for me. I have not seen the one that comes with the extended wire kit, but there is no problem with the original. I ran the wire down the left handle bar.. and mounted the sensor on the front differential. Initially i used a Zip strip, since i didnt have a hose clamp big enough. The following day i bought a hose clamp for it. I wouldnt recommend using a zip strip. I then mounted the magnet (that i took out of the plastic spoke holder)with some jb weld to the green cv cover. It worked out real nice. It took me 15 min to install and calibrate. I plan on taking pictures of it, but by then u might have it installed already....