2008 klr 11k miles wont idle

[Robert Waters]

My bike (KLR650) has been sounding and running excellent, but at 9k I finally determined to take it to the dealship and have the valves checked. It could me about $230.00 to find out that the valves were within specs. On the way home (about a 45 minute drive) I noticed that the temp guage was not working. Also, the fan never did come on. I took off the plastic piece that covers the fan and could find nothing that appeared to be left unconnected. I was pretty upset about it because it is not cool to run a KLR without the fan working. I prepared in my mind what all I was going to say, when I called, to get the issue rectified. When I called and told them what the problem was, and before I could say anything else, the woman who worked in the service department said, "Do you want us to come pick it up"? Even though it was about 5:00 PM they sent someone right then--real nice fellow. At this point, I have not heard from them and therefore have no idea why the temp guage and the fan did not work. Any ideas? Also, is it unusual to go 9K without needing the valves adjusted? Huntsville, AR [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[cdearl1]

They probably didn't reconnect the wires after the valve check. Most of the labor accumulates just getting to where the valves can be checked. I don't think 230. is too bad for a dealer. I think the first 500 mile check is important. After that, I would check the valves according to spec if convenient, but if in the middle of a trip, I wouldn't worry about it until at least ~10000 miles. I have gone these intervals while on long trips several times with no problem. Charles http://dualsportmotorcycling.com/

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, Robert Waters wrote: > > My bike (KLR650) has been sounding and running excellent, but at 9k I finally determined to take it to the dealship and have the valves checked. It could me about $230.00 to find out that the valves were within specs. > > On the way home (about a 45 minute drive) I noticed that the temp guage was not working. Also, the fan never did come on. I took off the plastic piece that covers the fan and could find nothing that appeared to be left unconnected. I was pretty upset about it because it is not cool to run a KLR without the fan working. I prepared in my mind what all I was going to say, when I called, to get the issue rectified. When I called and told them what the problem was, and before I could say anything else, the woman who worked in the service department said, "Do you want us to come pick it up"? Even though it was about 5:00 PM they sent someone right then--real nice fellow. > > At this point, I have not heard from them and therefore have no idea why the temp guage and the fan did not work. Any ideas? > > Also, is it unusual to go 9K without needing the valves adjusted? > > Huntsville, AR > > > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] >

[Jeff Saline]

On Thu, 10 Jul 2008 07:52:02 -0700 (PDT) Robert Waters writes:

> My bike (KLR650) has been sounding and running excellent, but at 9k I > finally determined to take it to the dealship and have the valves > checked. It could me about $230.00 to find out that the valves were > within specs. > > On the way home (about a 45 minute drive) I noticed that the temp > gauge was not working. Also, the fan never did come on. I took off > the plastic piece that covers the fan and could find nothing that > appeared to be left unconnected. I was pretty upset about it > because it is not cool to run a KLR without the fan working. I > prepared in my mind what all I was going to say, when I called, to > get the issue rectified. When I called and told them what the > problem was, and before I could say anything else, the woman who > worked in the service department said, "Do you want us to come pick > it up"? Even though it was about 5:00 PM they sent someone right > then--real nice fellow. > > At this point, I have not heard from them and therefore have no idea > why the temp gauge and the fan did not work. Any ideas? > > Also, is it unusual to go 9K without needing the valves adjusted? > > Huntsville, AR

<><><><><><><><><><> <><><><><><><><><><> Robert, My guess is they forgot to hook up the temperature sender wire next to the sparkplug when they put it back together. And since they might have forgot to do that maybe they also forgot to hook up the fan switch at the bottom of the radiator. Both are easy fixes but it would concern me that if they forgot those items which are pretty easy... what about the more critical stuff like valve clearance, cam cap and valve cover bolt torque etc. I'd suggest it is unusual for a KLR to go 9K without needing the valves adjusted. But needing adjustment because they are within specs is different from moving them to the larger end of the spec. If you just paid $230 to have them tell you your valves are within specs I think it would be worth asking what the clearances are. Correct specs are 0.006" - 0.010" for the exhaust and 0.004" - 0.008" for the intakes. With in specs means 0.006" exhaust and 0.004" intakes. As soon as the clearance closes 0.001" you are out of spec and need adjustment. It would have taken less than 30 minutes more to adjust the clearances to the larger end of the specs since the mechanic was already in the engine. Now I wonder when is the next time you'll pay $230 to have someone look at your valve clearances. You have no reference to consider for a good valve adjustment interval on your bike. I wonder if you'll be good for 1,000 or 6,000 or 10,000 or more smiles before your valve clearances are below spec. Hope they figure out what's wrong and get it fixed for you without hassle. 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 ____________________________________________________________ Need cash? Click to get a loan. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/Ioyw6i3mKiwNzQDRiC6n8zCSHD9EbWbTL58ASOTiSYsaWnWRyvWSTC/

[ltslpr]

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, Jeff Saline wrote:

> I'd suggest it is unusual for a KLR to go 9K without needing the

valves adjusted. Unusual but not unheard of. My '91 (made in Japan!)was still in spec when checked at 17k. I next checked the valves at around 35k (I posted closer mileage in a previous post last week) and found one exhaust valve at 0.003". Bike still ran perfectly. Also, thank you, Jeff, for all your input to the group; I've come to recognize your name and associate it with good advice. Glenn San Jose, CA

[Reverend]

Dirt in the tank causing a stuck float? Someone fiddled with the idle adjustment (which merely cracks the throttle open)? I ended up pulling the bowl on the carb and then pulled the float and needle and shot carb cleaner through the jets. //Reverend

> -----Original Message----- > Behalf Of Paul Christopherson > > I am having the same problem with my 1999. But I am half way through a > tank, so I don't know that it is the gas. Could it be something else? > I drained the float bowl, checked all my vaccum lines and fuel lines. > Someone suggested it could be the low speed idle jet..... > Any suggestions.

[Michael Nelson]

> --- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, Jeff Saline wrote: > > I'd suggest it is unusual for a KLR to go 9K without needing the > valves adjusted.

When I bought my 2003 used the original owner told me the valve clearances had never been checked (bike had 12,000 miles on it). I checked them and they were still in spec, although one of the intake valves was right at the tight limit. I adjusted them all to the loose limit. Funny about valve clearances. When I sent a 2006 ebay head to Cary at Schnitz racing for his Stage II headwork I didn't send any cams. When Cary sent it back he included shims for what was his best guess at being correct (and his recommended clearances for that head are in a smaller range than stock ... .008-.009 for exhaust and .007-.008 for intake). When we assembled the 705 cylinder and that head and checked the clearances they were all spot on to his spec... without his having had my cams! I just checked them again a week ago after putting a little over 1000 miles on the rebuilt motor, and they hadn't changed even .001", all were exactly the same. -- "Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open manhole and die." -- Mel Brooks San Francisco, CA

[Bryan Burke]

This valve thread came up at just the right time for me. My KLR is just shy of 17,000 miles. I've had the top off twice before to check clearance, and they have been OK. Now I have one of four out of spec, and I want to make sure I'm doing this right. Since I have all four valve shims in reach, and I need at least one new one, it makes sense to tune for the longest possible time frame. My understanding is that the ideal is for the valves to be loose, not tight. I take that to mean that I want the valve clearance as close as possible to the low number, not the high one? In other words, if the metric range for intake is .10 to .20, I want to be close to .10, right? Or is it the other way around? In my case, the one valve that is out of spec is the left exhaust. The acceptable range is .15 to .25, and I'm at .13 with the current shim, a 255. So do I want to go to a 260 shim for .18 (closest to the low end) or a 265 for .23 (closest to the high end)? Thanks in advance! Bryan Burke