klr bike cover...

[Wes Hopkins]

Hi Gang, I'm a bit of an unhappy camper today. Something's up with my bike and I'm not sure what it is. Here's the backgrounder: I bought my '03 used about a month ago, with 5000km on the clock. Driven by an older gentleman and in very decent shape. This past weekend I decided to do my first oil change. I'm not sure what was in there before but I replaced it with 10W50. I also took the opportunity to clean and gap the plug. It had a bit of black on it, but nothing of concern. Here's where it starts to get wierd. I started it up on Monday and I noticed that the bike seemed to be puffing out blue smoke. Not heavy, but definately noticible. I thought it was odd, but it stopped once the bike had warmed up. Not having wrenched a bike in 10 years I figured perhaps this could just "happen" on the KLR when you change the oil. It happened again when I started it up once or twice, but not all the time throughout the 3 times I rode this week. Today it got worse. This morning I started it up and it was putting out a trace amount of blue smoke. No biggie I think, as it normally stops in about 20 seconds or so. As I'm doing up my boots I hear a few odd-timed clicks from inside the engine, and a shiny, chain-ish sound. I turn the bike off, check the oil level (it's in the middle of the sightglass) and notice a few tiny bubbles. Odd? I throw caution to the wind and fire it back up, no more clicks or shiny sounds. (here's where I should have been listening to my gut). I think "Ok, I can take it to work. Maybe it was my imagination." Off I go. Half way to work I'm shifting and the bike goes dead. No warning, no noises, just goes. I keep the clutch in and coast to the side to scream, and then think. I try to start it and it's not catching. I put the choke on and it goes. Odd, because I've been riding for about 10 minutes already so the bike is definately warm. Now stranded, I try my luck and try riding further. It goes, but complains when I turn the choke off. It's now underpowered, surges, and has nowhere near the balls that it should. I went out a minute ago and fired it up, no noises or clicks, although I'm not revving it up too high to check. Needless to say, I don't want to try my luck again. Oracles of KLRdom, please help!

[Alan L Henderson]

Wes Hopkins wrote:

> > I turn the bike off, check the oil level (it's in the > middle of the sightglass) and notice a few tiny > bubbles. Odd? >

Was that with the bike on the side stand or standing upright. The oil level is to be checked with the bike standing upright. If the level is in the middle of the sight glass with the bike on the side stand it would be over full and cause some problems. Alan Henderson A13 Iowa

[Blake Sobiloff]

On Apr 29, 2005, at 7:11 AM, Wes Hopkins wrote:

> I'm a bit of an unhappy camper today. Something's up > with my bike and I'm not sure what it is.

Well, I'd start by checking the things you last touched. Check the sparkplug and make sure its still firmly in place. Did you use a little dielectric grease on the spark plug boot? Make sure you check the oil level when the bike is upright, not on the sidestand, per another lister. You did remember to transfer the oil filter bypass tube from the old filter to the new one, right? -- Blake Sobiloff San Mateo, CA (USA)

[John Thompson]

Not meant for the KLR specifically (not sure if one is), but I just bought one at Walfart for somethiing $25. Vent mesh around the mirrors (but not slits for the mirrors to come thru), heat resistant around the muffler area (take that with a grain of salt), covers front to back from the rear hub level - to just under the engine block - then sweeps upward to cover most of the radiator area - then covers the front fender (it does not cover the front wheel though). Elastic edges, single grommet (I will be adding more). It's ok, but not total protection Packs in its own sack that's about 9" x 6" x 4". John T

>From: "simmsj45" >To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com >Subject: [DSN_KLR650] KLR bike cover... >Date: Fri, 29 Apr 2005 16:57:14 -0000 > >Hey guys, > > I just recently purchased my first bike (KLR 650 A19) a few weeks >ago, and I am considering purchasing a motorbike cover to protect it >from the elements here in the deep south (rain, sun, heat, etc) while >it's parked outside my apartment complex. Can anyone tell me where I >can purchase on the net a cover that is fair on price, great on >quality, and at the same time fits the bike properly. According to >their web site, Kawasaki doesn't make a cover specifically for the >KLR. Please provide any helpful information that I should consider >before purchasing a cover. Thanks in advance for all of your help. > >Shelton > > > > > >Archive Quicksearch at: >http://www.angelfire.com/ut/moab/klr650_data_search.html >List sponsored by Dual Sport News at: www.dualsportnews.com >List FAQ courtesy of Chris Krok at: www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html > > >Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > >

[Wes Hopkins]

Update! I went back as per the suggestion to doublecheck the sight and see if I overfilled. The level was still within the glass, although it was quite high. I took about a cup of oil out and brought the level down to mid-sight. Booted the bike back up, no smoke! (phew) With that out of the way I let the bike run for a bit and heard no wierd unfriendly noises from down below. Took the bike for a spin. 2 minutes in, throttle went unresponsive and washy and I had to pull over to inspect. Some kind samaritan came by and helped me troubleshoot the problem. After some more explanation he figured that there was condensation in the tank. This was quite possible as I havent let the fuel level drop so low as it has been today. "Fill up with good quality fuel, and then later put in some gasline antifreeze" was his suggestion. (I figure I'll just drain it once it gets really low again) Anyways, I gassed it up and it works great! Snappy throttle and all that jazz. Looks like my woe was a combination of water in the tank and overfilling the engine. I'm still going to keep an ear out for any wierd noises though. Any thoughts on what that could have been if it was caused by overfilling? Suddenly my weekend is looking a heck of a lot better Thanks for the tips! Cheers! Wes --- Wes Hopkins wrote:

> Hi Gang, > > I'm a bit of an unhappy camper today. Something's > up > with my bike and I'm not sure what it is. Here's the > backgrounder: > > I bought my '03 used about a month ago, with 5000km > on > the clock. Driven by an older gentleman and in very > decent shape. > > This past weekend I decided to do my first oil > change. > I'm not sure what was in there before but I > replaced > it with 10W50. I also took the opportunity to clean > and gap the plug. It had a bit of black on it, but > nothing of concern. > > Here's where it starts to get wierd. > > I started it up on Monday and I noticed that the > bike > seemed to be puffing out blue smoke. Not heavy, but > definately noticible. I thought it was odd, but it > stopped once the bike had warmed up. Not having > wrenched a bike in 10 years I figured perhaps this > could just "happen" on the KLR when you change the > oil. > > It happened again when I started it up once or > twice, > but not all the time throughout the 3 times I rode > this week. > > Today it got worse. > > This morning I started it up and it was putting out > a > trace amount of blue smoke. No biggie I think, as > it > normally stops in about 20 seconds or so. As I'm > doing up my boots I hear a few odd-timed clicks from > inside the engine, and a shiny, chain-ish sound. > > I turn the bike off, check the oil level (it's in > the > middle of the sightglass) and notice a few tiny > bubbles. Odd? > > I throw caution to the wind and fire it back up, no > more clicks or shiny sounds. (here's where I should > have been listening to my gut). > > I think "Ok, I can take it to work. Maybe it was my > imagination." Off I go. > > Half way to work I'm shifting and the bike goes > dead. > No warning, no noises, just goes. I keep the clutch > in and coast to the side to scream, and then think. > > I try to start it and it's not catching. I put the > choke on and it goes. Odd, because I've been riding > for about 10 minutes already so the bike is > definately > warm. > > Now stranded, I try my luck and try riding further. > It goes, but complains when I turn the choke off. > > It's now underpowered, surges, and has nowhere near > the balls that it should. > > I went out a minute ago and fired it up, no noises > or > clicks, although I'm not revving it up too high to > check. Needless to say, I don't want to try my luck > again. > > Oracles of KLRdom, please help! > > > Archive Quicksearch at: >

http://www.angelfire.com/ut/moab/klr650_data_search.html

> List sponsored by Dual Sport News at: > www.dualsportnews.com > List FAQ courtesy of Chris Krok at: > www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > DSN_KLR650-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com > > > > > >