pd westman modification -number 118 on this bike

[kevbennett@sbcglobal.net]

Hi, KLR Wizards,

I followed your advice about resolving a mysterious oil leak, and the results were immediate and gratifying. I changed the oil, installed a new-to-me petcock from eBay, and had several glorious days of riding in the beautiful fall weather.   Then I had to leave town unexpectedly.  When I returned four days later, I went for a ride.  All was well initially, but after a few miles, the bike started running roughly.  It would not sustain anything over about 3,000 rpm.  It idles quite nicely, but starts to sputter when I give it gas. 

I thought there might be some water in the system somewhere, as I had neglected to put the bike in the garage when I left town, and it ended up sitting outside in a torrential downpour.  I drained the tank and poured in fresh gas.  No change:  the bike will idle quite contentedly in the driveway, but it sputters if I twist the throttle.   Any ideas?

[kl650a14]

Try draining the float bowl.  If it has water in it you could experience those symptoms. If that does not work let us know.  I'm sure someone will detail other solutions. Walt

[Martin Earl]

I agree with Walt;1. drain the float bowl; leave the screw out for a moment and crank the bike until the gas gushes out and purge the bowl.2. If that does not do it, two things come to mind2a. the Main Jet is partially blocked. I had a 'bug wing' in mine once; it entered through the carb ventYou will have to remove the bowl to get at the jet. Be sure to loosen the enriching lever on the handle bars, prior to rotation of the carb so you don't break it off at the carb. Loosen the retaining clamps on the carb boots.Rotate the carb so the float bowl screws are visible on the right side. Replace the fuel bowl screws with socket head screws while you have it apart. Available at (sic) Fastenal, Ace hardware/Tractor Supply 2b. the carb vent line is blocked Remove at the carb and push low pressure air through the carb vent lines

On Mon, Nov 2, 2015 at 3:10 PM, k650@... [DSN_KLR650] DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com> wrote: Try draining the float bowl. If it has water in it you could experience those symptoms. If that does not work let us know. I'm sure someone will detail other solutions. Walt

[Norm Keller]

#ygrps-yiv-778346565 blockquote.ygrps-yiv-778346565cite {margin-left:5px;margin-right:0px;padding-left:10px;padding-right:0px;border-left:1px solid #cccccc;} #ygrps-yiv-778346565 blockquote.ygrps-yiv-778346565cite2 {margin-left:5px;margin-right:0px;padding-left:10px;padding-right:0px;border-left:1px solid #cccccc;margin-top:3px;padding-top:0px;} #ygrps-yiv-778346565 .ygrps-yiv-778346565plain pre, #ygrps-yiv-778346565 .ygrps-yiv-778346565plain tt {font-family:monospace;font-size:100%;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;white-space:pre-wrap;} #ygrps-yiv-778346565 a img {border:0px;}#ygrps-yiv-778346565 {font-family:Tahoma;font-size:12pt;} #ygrps-yiv-778346565 .ygrps-yiv-778346565plain pre, #ygrps-yiv-778346565 .ygrps-yiv-778346565plain tt {font-family:Tahoma;font-size:12pt;} I use this thread: http://www.klrforum.com/1987-2007-wrenching-mods/15458-oil-pressure-how-much-ya-got-50.html#post440385 Here's a link to my variation: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/5ydzrmxzg3sdsk3/AADcs8BfaSIOChly9OdPqg2Ia?dl=0 As most will recall, Paul Westman has been researching a modification to reduce the amount of oil thrown off by the crankshaft. This seems to be the root of the typical excess oil consumption over 5,000 RPM. There are many other issues contributing to excess oil consumption from sloppy piston fit, cylinder thermal distortion, poor ring quality, no oil transfer groove in some pistons and inadequate oil return holes on any pistons. Many of us began to cross drill the oil line banjo bolts to a larger diameter some years ago. The idea was to somewhat increase the oil flow to the head and transmission (thought to be neutral or beneficial) and in so doing marginally reduce the flow to the crankshaft (thought to be a benefit). We went around on line trying to identify some means to determine the minimum oil flow to the crankshaft/piston/wrist pin but that is beyond our pay grades. We could calculate the oil flow by means of the pressures at various points which have been measured by Tom Schmitz. That's another very interesting read. Finally Paul showed courage beyond the average bear by guesstimating at an orifice size, then drilling and threading a plug using a carb jet of that size into the oil gallery leading down from the oil filter cavity to the crankshaft oiling pocket.   He has one bike with thousands of miles using this mod + several others belonging to friends. They have been running oil analysis at each change with stellar wear results. The last two analysis on Paul's bike showed a reduction in iron and aluminum over pre-modification. That still has my head spinning. I finally got around to doing this modification and in reviewing the possibilities, decided that it would be preferable to place the restriction into the oil filter cavity cover rather than into the side case. I identified that a brass spark plug screw tip would be a good press fit, threaded the big end of the tip to 5 mm and threaded in a KLR carb jet of 0.092" because I didn't have the #44 drill (0.086") which Paul is using. The symptom I noticed is that my engine idles 3-400 RPM higher than before. As soon as someone is here with another bike, I will swap caps to see if the idle speed increase is coincidental.   Paul's and his friends' results indicate a significant reduction in high RPM oil consumption and about 10% improvement in fuel mileage. This is not unprecedented in my experience with automotive engines so is a pleasant and not completely unforeseen discovery. If one does the modification as I did, it's a 1/2 hour task which is easily reversed.

[kevbennett@sbcglobal.net]

Wow, the KLR Wise Men came through once again.  Draining the carb bowl didn't do the trick, so I removed it as instructed, and unscrewed the main jet.  Sure enough, there was a tiny fleck of something partially blocking it.  There were also some pieces of small debris in the bottom of the bowl.  (Perhaps I should go ahead and get that fuel filter I've procrastinated about for a few years.) I cleaned it all up, reassembled, and went for a brief but satisfying ride.

Thanks so much for the diagnosis and detailed instructions.  This forum has saved me lots and lots of money over the years, and also added many riding days to my calendar.  It was tremendously gratifying to be able to do this job in my garage in 30 minutes, instead of leaving the bike in the shop for a week or two til they could get to it.  You guys are AWESOME!

[rrttbbnn]

Just a thought:  was the particle something like dirt, or could it have been built-up varnish?  If you are like a lot of people who just ride sporadically, letting ANY motor unused for weeks or months can cause a buildup of varnish.  Small engines like the KLR have small jets that are easy to plug up.   Years ago, I started periodically dumping Seafoam or some other fuel injector cleaner in all of my cars and bikes at random times.  I have never had a problem since.   I have a 06 KLR, 12k miles, and at one time it sat for 13 months.  I had put Seafoam in it before, and ran it in the next 2 tanks, zero problems.   By the way, you wrote something about a fuel filter?  I believe the consensus is that is a bad idea.  The flow restriction can cause fuel starvation.  There is little head pressure from the tank to the carb.   Jeff     -----Original Message----- From: kevbennett@... [DSN_KLR650] DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com> To: DSN_KLR650 DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Wed, Nov 4, 2015 3:59 pm Subject: [DSN_KLR650] Re: Engine sputters over 3,000 rpm?   Wow, the KLR Wise Men came through once again.  Draining the carb bowl didn't do the trick, so I removed it as instructed, and unscrewed the main jet.  Sure enough, there was a tiny fleck of something partially blocking it.  There were also some pieces of small debris in the bottom of the bowl.  (Perhaps I should go ahead and get that fuel filter I've procrastinated about for a few years.) I cleaned it all up, reassembled, and went for a brief but satisfying ride. Thanks so much for the diagnosis and detailed instructions.  This forum has saved me lots and lots of money over the years, and also added many riding days to my calendar.  It was tremendously gratifying to be able to do this job in my garage in 30 minutes, instead of leaving the bike in the shop for a week or two til they could get to it.  You guys are AWESOME! #ygrps-yiv-882820257 #ygrps-yiv-882820257AOLMsgPart_2_15a1e873-4ef9-4aee-b06e-e891da0e1c34 td{color:black;}#ygrps-yiv-882820257 .ygrps-yiv-882820257aolReplacedBody #ygrps-yiv-882820257ygrp-mkp {border:1px solid #d8d8d8;font-family:Arial;margin:10px 0;padding:0 10px;}#ygrps-yiv-882820257 .ygrps-yiv-882820257aolReplacedBody #ygrps-yiv-882820257ygrp-mkp hr {border:1px solid #d8d8d8;}#ygrps-yiv-882820257 .ygrps-yiv-882820257aolReplacedBody #ygrps-yiv-882820257ygrp-mkp #ygrps-yiv-882820257hd {color:#628c2a;font-size:85%;font-weight:700;line-height:122%;margin:10px 0;}#ygrps-yiv-882820257 .ygrps-yiv-882820257aolReplacedBody 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