On Mon, 03 Sep 2007 20:34:05 -0000 "zeemanscience"
writes:
> KLR experts,
> After being away for a week, I threw my leg over the bike and
> tried
> to start her up. Fired a couple of times and died. This continued,
> and
> eventually the bike warmed up enough that I could rev it and tried
> to
> ride it and clear things up. It stalled out as soon as it went
> below
> about 3K on the tach. Went inside disgusted.
> Next day, still would not idle when starting with choke.
> Disconnected the fuel line to make sure fuel was flowing to carb,
> and
> it was (petcock seemed to work), as I thought it was fuel
> starvation.
> This is an A12 I bought used, have no idea if valves were ever
> adjusted, 2426 miles on this bike, of which only about 100 are
> mine,
> as it seems to not run when I am ready to ride. I would much rather
> ride this bike than scrap it, but am getting frustrated to that
> point... Last problem you folks suggested added Seafoam to gas, I
> couldn't find it but added carb cleaner, and removed the carb and
> sprayed it clean with carb cleaner. It rode okay, but occasionally
> stalled out at stop lights. Not a good feeling in the inner city
> with
> traffic... Do I need to do something major to this bike to make it
> reliable, or am I just doing something stupid here? Thank you,
> Jerry
>
> P.S. I am still not receiving my daily digests for some reason. I
> have
> tried to swith to individual emails to see if that works..
<><><><><><>
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Jerry,
Sounds to me like the idle jet is clogged. When the bike is running ok
at 3,000 rpms or above it's off the idle jet and working with the needle
jet and needle to meter fuel. When you close the throttle and lower the
rpms the idle jet takes over. If the jet is clogged fuel can't pass and
without fuel the engine won't run.
You mentioned removing the carb and spraying it with cleaner. Did you
spray it into each jet and make sure it was coming out the correct
orifices in the carb body?
I'd probably remove the idle mixture screw on the bottom of the carb and
spray some cleaner through that port. To remove the screw turn it in
while counting the number of turns until it lightly bottoms. Write that
number down. I'm guessing it'll be between 1 1/4 and 1 3/4 turns unless
someone has messed with the adjustment. After cleaning that port I'd
return the mixture screw to it's original position. Install the mixture
screw and turn it in until it lightly seats. Then back it out however
many turns you've written down. Now is not a good time to be playing
with adjustments. Do that after you've got the idle issue fixed.
I don't think this is a big issue but probably just a fuel delivery
problem.
As an aside... someone mentioned putting a lot of Seafoam in their fuel
tank. When I talked with the factory rep last winter I asked him if
adding more would do more. He told me without hesitation it wouldn't do
anything more. That it would just cost me more money. The correct ratio
of Seafoam to fuel is 1 oz Seafoam to 1 gallon fuel. More isn't better
but more won't hurt either.
One more aside... I don't ever seem to have carb issues on my bikes.
Some of them don't get ridden for 3-6 months at a time. What works well
for me is turning off the fuel about 1/2 mile from my house. The bike
runs fine getting to the shop where I turn it off. The fuel level is
lowered a bit in the float bowl and I'm guessing the jets are sitting in
very little fuel. If the jets aren't in fuel they can't/won't clog from
gummy deposits. On the KLR it takes a bit of cranking sometimes to get
started as I have to get enough vacuum to open the petcock and let fuel
drain into the carb. But a healthy battery works well for that purpose.
Once started the carbs are fine. That works well for me.
Best,
Jeff Saline
ABC # 4412 South Dakota Airmarshal
Airheads Beemer Club
www.airheads.org
The Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota
75 R90/6, 03 KLR650, 79 R100RT