pick a number, any number nklr roughing it thread related

[David Nichols]

My KLR is not able to go past 60 MPH. Full throttle, level ground that all she's got. I know there's more top end than that. Low end throttle response seems good, it idles ok and I've dumped sea foam in it. When I start it, the enrichener seems to not be working correctly. I can get it started with the choke off, and I crank it with partial throttle and it fires. I need to blip the throttle a few times but it settles into an idle soon. I think the choke cable I bought (Motion Pro) isn't right. I cannot adjust the cable to get the right amount of play, when I adjust it for 2 mm play at the handlebar lever, it won't move, when I adjust it so I can get the lever to move I have about a half inch of cable play at the lever. The bike has 13,000 miles, I recently adjusted the valves and cleaned the carb. It sat for about 5 years before I bought it. I replaced the anti backfire diaphragm, verified the petcock is working fine. I tore the carb down and cleaned the idle and main jets, I cleaned and oiled the air filter, new spark plug. Can anyone suggest where to start troubleshooting? What carb circuit should I look at for this type of problem? Is there anything besides the carb that would cause this? I guess I need to revisit the carb, I was hoping the sea foam would clear it up. -David [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Jeff Saline]

On Mon, 26 Mar 2012 07:22:29 -0700 (PDT) David Nichols writes:

> My KLR is not able to go past 60 MPH. Full throttle, level ground > that all she's got. I know there's more top end than that. Low end > throttle response seems good, it idles ok and I've dumped sea foam > in it. When I start it, the enrichener seems to not be working > correctly. I can get it started with the choke off, and I crank it > with partial throttle and it fires. I need to blip the throttle a > few times but it settles into an idle soon. I think the choke cable > I bought (Motion Pro) isn't right. I cannot adjust the cable to get > the right amount of play, when I adjust it for 2 mm play at the > handlebar lever, it won't move, when I adjust it so I can get the > lever to move I have about a half inch of cable play at the lever. > > The bike has 13,000 miles, I recently adjusted the valves and > cleaned the carb. It sat for about 5 years before I bought it. I > replaced the anti backfire diaphragm, verified the petcock is > working fine. I tore the carb down and cleaned the idle and main > jets, I cleaned and oiled the air filter, new spark plug. Can anyone > suggest where to start troubleshooting? What carb circuit should I > look at for this type of problem? Is there anything besides the carb > that would cause this? I guess I need to revisit the carb, I was > hoping the sea foam would clear it up. > > -David

<><><><><> <><><><><> David, The main jet is the circuit in play at full throttle positions. Do you know what size main jet is installed? How does the engine perform in other gears? Can you get to close to redline (engine rpms, NOT road speed) under load in first, second, third, fourth? An engine will rev to redline many times if not under load even with poor jet choices or clogged jets. Put it under a load and the problem shows up. When you cleaned the carb did you spray carb cleaner through every carb orifice and verify it was coming out all the connecting passages and orifices? Sometimes jets are clean but passages in the carb body are clogged. Have you verified cam timing? What about valve clearances? When were they set and to what exact clearances? How about exhaust restrictions or an intake restriction? Either could cause a lack of top end. A little more info is probably needed to make good suggestions. Add the year of the bike if you will as there are some minor changes along the life of the KLR line. 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 . . ____________________________________________________________ 53 Year Old Mom Looks 33 The Stunning Results of Her Wrinkle Trick Has Botox Doctors Worried http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4f707ffa189f2662909st05vuc

[Jeff Khoury]

All excellent suggestions. To that I would add checking for free movement of the slide, and check for tears in or improper seating of the diaphragm. -Jeff Khoury

----- Original Message ----- From: "Jeff Saline" To: "david r nichols" Cc: "DSN KLR650" DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Monday, March 26, 2012 7:37:32 AM Subject: Re: [DSN_KLR650] My KLR is not able to go past 60 MPH. On Mon, 26 Mar 2012 07:22:29 -0700 (PDT) David Nichols < david.r.nichols@... > writes: > My KLR is not able to go past 60 MPH. Full throttle, level ground > that all she's got. I know there's more top end than that. Low end > throttle response seems good, it idles ok and I've dumped sea foam > in it. When I start it, the enrichener seems to not be working > correctly. I can get it started with the choke off, and I crank it > with partial throttle and it fires. I need to blip the throttle a > few times but it settles into an idle soon. I think the choke cable > I bought (Motion Pro) isn't right. I cannot adjust the cable to get > the right amount of play, when I adjust it for 2 mm play at the > handlebar lever, it won't move, when I adjust it so I can get the > lever to move I have about a half inch of cable play at the lever. > > The bike has 13,000 miles, I recently adjusted the valves and > cleaned the carb. It sat for about 5 years before I bought it. I > replaced the anti backfire diaphragm, verified the petcock is > working fine. I tore the carb down and cleaned the idle and main > jets, I cleaned and oiled the air filter, new spark plug. Can anyone > suggest where to start troubleshooting? What carb circuit should I > look at for this type of problem? Is there anything besides the carb > that would cause this? I guess I need to revisit the carb, I was > hoping the sea foam would clear it up. > > -David <><><><><> <><><><><> David, The main jet is the circuit in play at full throttle positions. Do you know what size main jet is installed? How does the engine perform in other gears? Can you get to close to redline (engine rpms, NOT road speed) under load in first, second, third, fourth? An engine will rev to redline many times if not under load even with poor jet choices or clogged jets. Put it under a load and the problem shows up. When you cleaned the carb did you spray carb cleaner through every carb orifice and verify it was coming out all the connecting passages and orifices? Sometimes jets are clean but passages in the carb body are clogged. Have you verified cam timing? What about valve clearances? When were they set and to what exact clearances? How about exhaust restrictions or an intake restriction? Either could cause a lack of top end. A little more info is probably needed to make good suggestions. Add the year of the bike if you will as there are some minor changes along the life of the KLR line. 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 . . __________________________________________________________ 53 Year Old Mom Looks 33 The Stunning Results of Her Wrinkle Trick Has Botox Doctors Worried http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4f707ffa189f2662909st05vuc

[Carver, Scott]

sounds like an air flow restriction. dirty filter? rag or paper in gullet? too much oil on filter? choking misalligned? [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Carver, Scott]

restriction on the exhaust side? something stuffed in the muffler or clogging exhaust tubing?

On Mon, Mar 26, 2012 at 8:12 AM, Carver, Scott wrote: > sounds like an air flow restriction. > dirty filter? rag or paper in gullet? too much oil on filter? choking > misalligned? > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Micah Hodges]

All those mechanical suggestions are great but I try to keep my troubleshooting simple.....uh....how big a guy are you? (probably big enough to whoop my butt, huh?) Micah [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[RobertWichert]

Local knowledge is a powerful thing. I have been "told" that there is a ranger who rides the Rubicon on a bike like he is going to the store. Robert Wichert P.Eng. LEED AP BD&C +1 916 966 9060 FAX +1 916 966 9068 ===============================================

On 4/1/2012 10:02 PM, Jim Tegler wrote: > Howdy, I feel kinda like Jeff in that I am intolerant of intolerance. > I know that makes a lot of sense and I struggle with that. My > personal favourite adventure traveler(by moto) has been > loisontheloose.com that tells of a UK woman in her 20's who takes > extended bike trips by herself. I always thought she was living on the > edge. Regarding the latter though, she tells of coming to a river > crossing and getting really nervous about crossing. She's riding a 225 > Yamaha Serow and is unsure about trying to ride across the stream > until a local Senegalese guy rides up on some little moped while > wearing flip-flops and smiles/waves before trundling across the river > on his little 50cc moped with its 12" wheels. To me that shows that > we are really well equipped and when I was watching the Long Way > Round, I was mostly noticing that Charley/Ewen were having angst over > things that seemed of little consequence to me. Maybe they were > trying to create drama/excitement for TV? Sometimes they suffered > though - for sure. It was good to watch generally. > Back to lurking. > Jim A5

[david.r.nichols@sbcglobal.net]

I wanted to post an update. I tore down the carb again expecting to buy a new diaphragm/slide assembly. I called my local Harley dealer. Longhorn Harley and he said he just sold the last one and was expecting more in about a week. Price: $46. He located one in stock at another Harley dealer about 20 minutes away. Very helpful, I didn't tell him I was a Kawasaki owner. Anyways, I completely dissassembled the carb this time. The air screw was adjusted at 2 1/4 turns out, set from the factory (I had drilled out the plug myself). The diaphragm was in excellent shape, I looked it over with a magnifier and found no holes, and it was seated in the grooves when I opened the top cap, I soaked all the parts plus the bowl and carb body in carb cleaner overnight. There was a lot of fine black junk on the bottom of the can I soaked them in, some was probably from the outside of the carb. I did the 22 cent mod while I had it apart, I shimmed the needle, drilled the slide and set the air screw at 1.75 turns. The enrichener mystery is solved, there were 2 burrs on the outside diameter of the plunger and they were causing it to hang up on the edges of the internal passages of the carb when it was installed. This is why I got it to work when it wasn't installed but not when installed. I polished out the burrs and will be ordering a new plunger soon. I checked the spark plug while I had the tank off and it was a pretty light tan color, looked picture perfect. After I got it together, the engine fired right up and I immediately noticed a difference. Smoother idle and when when I blipped the throttle I could tell it was much more responsive to the throttle. When I took it out for a ride, it was a different bike. 2nd gear power wheelies, and 80 MPH up hill! I unleashed the beast! Thanks for all the help, this group is an amazing bunch and I am always recommending y'all to others I see elsewhere online. Especially thanks to Fred and Jeff Saline. I went for a 170 mile ride yesterday, now I need to look into why it's burning so much oil. It used about 3/4 a quart on the ride (all on road). I think I need to get new rings and valve seals...maybe a Schnitz Racing 685 kit?

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, David Nichols wrote: > > My KLR is not able to go past 60 MPH. Full throttle, level ground that all she's got. I know there's more top end than that. Low end throttle response seems good, it idles ok and I've dumped sea foam in it. When I start it, the enrichener seems to not be working correctly. I can get it started with the choke off, and I crank it with partial throttle and it fires. I need to blip the throttle a few times but it settles into an idle soon. I think the choke cable I bought (Motion Pro) isn't right. I cannot adjust the cable to get the right amount of play, when I adjust it for 2 mm play at the handlebar lever, it won't move, when I adjust it so I can get the lever to move I have about a half inch of cable play at the lever. > > The bike has 13,000 miles, I recently adjusted the valves and cleaned the carb. It sat for about 5 years before I bought it. I replaced the anti backfire diaphragm, verified the petcock is working fine. I tore the carb down and cleaned the idle and main jets, I cleaned and oiled the air filter, new spark plug. Can anyone suggest where to start troubleshooting? What carb circuit should I look at for this type of problem? Is there anything besides the carb that would cause this? I guess I need to revisit the carb, I was hoping the sea foam would clear it up. > > -David > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] >

[RobertWichert]

So what do you think was wrong with it? I mean, OK, it was the carburetor, but any idea what was wrong with the carb? Plugged something? Just curious. Glad it's running though! Congratulations. Robert Wichert P.Eng. LEED AP BD&C +1 916 966 9060 FAX +1 916 966 9068 ===============================================

On 4/2/2012 6:43 AM, david.r.nichols@... wrote: > > I wanted to post an update. I tore down the carb again expecting to > buy a new diaphragm/slide assembly. I called my local Harley dealer. > Longhorn Harley and he said he just sold the last one and was > expecting more in about a week. Price: $46. He located one in stock at > another Harley dealer about 20 minutes away. Very helpful, I didn't > tell him I was a Kawasaki owner. Anyways, I completely dissassembled > the carb this time. The air screw was adjusted at 2 1/4 turns out, set > from the factory (I had drilled out the plug myself). The diaphragm > was in excellent shape, I looked it over with a magnifier and found no > holes, and it was seated in the grooves when I opened the top cap, I > soaked all the parts plus the bowl and carb body in carb cleaner > overnight. There was a lot of fine black junk on the bottom of the can > I soaked them in, some was probably from the outside of the carb. I > did the 22 cent mod while I had it apart, I shimmed the needle, > drilled the slide and set the air screw at 1.75 turns. The enrichener > mystery is solved, there were 2 burrs on the outside diameter of the > plunger and they were causing it to hang up on the edges of the > internal passages of the carb when it was installed. This is why I got > it to work when it wasn't installed but not when installed. I polished > out the burrs and will be ordering a new plunger soon. I checked the > spark plug while I had the tank off and it was a pretty light tan > color, looked picture perfect. After I got it together, the engine > fired right up and I immediately noticed a difference. Smoother idle > and when when I blipped the throttle I could tell it was much more > responsive to the throttle. When I took it out for a ride, it was a > different bike. 2nd gear power wheelies, and 80 MPH up hill! I > unleashed the beast! Thanks for all the help, this group is an amazing > bunch and I am always recommending y'all to others I see elsewhere > online. Especially thanks to Fred and Jeff Saline. I went for a 170 > mile ride yesterday, now I need to look into why it's burning so much > oil. It used about 3/4 a quart on the ride (all on road). I think I > need to get new rings and valve seals...maybe a Schnitz Racing 685 kit? > > --- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com > , David Nichols > wrote: > > > > My KLR is not able to go past 60 MPH. Full throttle, level ground > that all she's got. I know there's more top end than that. Low end > throttle response seems good, it idles ok and I've dumped sea foam in > it. When I start it, the enrichener seems to not be working correctly. > I can get it started with the choke off, and I crank it with partial > throttle and it fires. I need to blip the throttle a few times but it > settles into an idle soon. I think the choke cable I bought (Motion > Pro) isn't right. I cannot adjust the cable to get the right amount of > play, when I adjust it for 2 mm play at the handlebar lever, it won't > move, when I adjust it so I can get the lever to move I have about a > half inch of cable play at the lever. > > > > The bike has 13,000 miles, I recently adjusted the valves and > cleaned the carb. It sat for about 5 years before I bought it. I > replaced the anti backfire diaphragm, verified the petcock is working > fine. I tore the carb down and cleaned the idle and main jets, I > cleaned and oiled the air filter, new spark plug. Can anyone suggest > where to start troubleshooting? What carb circuit should I look at for > this type of problem? Is there anything besides the carb that would > cause this? I guess I need to revisit the carb, I was hoping the sea > foam would clear it up. > > > > -David > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]