chicks & bike lists nklr

[Bogdan Swider]

> I realize this post is long and not as much fun as the Jennifer mystery > but I sure would appreciate your patience and help. > Problem: Intermittent Missing at high speed/high rpm. on hot sunny days; > rarely misses on hot cloudy days even when I ride 90mph plus. Ambient > temperature not engine temp is a factor. Started 100 miles from Moab while > traveling to the rally, no problems on the White Rim but stuttered all the > way home to Colorado, continued through the Summer. Most typically the > engine misses on a series of long uphill grades at interstate speeds after > riding 20/30 miles; once it starts it continues at lower speeds even down > hill, very irritating. Never misses around town or on the trail. I > addressed the problem by: opening the gas cap at speed while engine was > missing; didn't help. Cleaned air filter. Took off float bowl then blew > out fuel line entrance. Installed new vacuum line from carb to petcock. > Checked coil for resistance then had it checked for spark; all read fine. > Installed new spark plug. > Here's what threw me off; only recent posts concerning a partially > empty tank and a fuel filter installed possibly shed light on what > actually happened. I took the bike for a ride engine commenced to missing. > Though the tank was not empty decided to try something, I switched to > reserve; the engine stopped missing immediately and ran great until.....I > moved the lever back down to regular open position; in a mile or two it > started missing. When I moved back to reserve it again ran fine. Repeated > experiment with same results. As a final test I stayed at the reserve > position and ran the bike at 80-90mph for 40 miles on a stretch of I 25 > that climbs about 1200' from Pueblo to Colorado Springs. Exactly the > situation where the problem would usually manifest itself. The engine > didn't miss a beat. > I'd installed Skip F's petcock mod but since the problem started before > the mod was added, it didn't look like it was a factor. Never considered > the fuel filter being a problem now I see it could have been and that > skips mod could have aggravated things because it may require a bit more > vacuum to pull gas through it. Now I see I could have had two problems. > Anyway,I was convinced the petcock was the problem. I ordered a rebuild > kit from Fred and proceeded to pile wife, kids and dog into the Escort > wagon and drive them to Canada. I figured when I got back I could easily > fix the petcock and proceed on to Guatemala. Well, when I did do that it > didn't improve anything, I then took the petcock apart again and defeated > the vacuum mechanism rendering it an old fashion on/off unit. Still no > relief. Called Elden Carl ;he suggested replacing the spark plug cap; he > was sure that would be the cure. After doing so I took an aggressive 300 > mile ride. No missing!! But...it was an overcast day. Went out the next > day, sunny, stuttered worse than ever. Elden postulated black box; said it > was safe to swap, offered his bike, course he's in California. I was out > of time; Central America trip by cycle was canceled. Since then I've been > in contact with another klr elder statesman Jake Jakeman (he sent me some > great allen bolts to replace the cheesy Philips stuff all over the handle > bar; more on that latter) like Elden he was sure the problem was > electrical. He said that simply taking the CDI unit off and putting it > back on removes corrosion that could cause a short. Haven't done that yet; > I want the problem to manifest itself so I can have some idea what cured > it. Since returning from my PLANE trip south I've only used the bike on my > 12 mile round trip commute to my morning work site. Doesn't miss a lick. > Of course it's cold and the ride is short. I want to address this problem > so next year's Summer riding isn't again compromised, I have some > questions. The manual gives instructions on testing the Ignition Unit. You > should see them; not only are they beyond my capacity but the local > mega-shop (with a good reputation) won't tackle it. (They checked my coil > for spark for free, Apex Sports). Is there somewhere I could send the unit > and have it tested? Someplace that could duplicate extreme conditions, > even heat. I'd send my coil too cause it was tested cold. I don't think I > could be so lucky that my problem is caused by the presence of a fuel > filter; the bike stutters when the tank is absolutely full. The bike has > 33k miles and I'm running a fairly new fuel filter. Bogdan, Desperate in > Colorado BTW What happened to that electrical sabio The Professor; he > was late for class in Moab. > >

[k650dsn@aol.com]

I had this exact problem a couple of years ago. The first thing I checked was my air cleaner. Much to my surprise, there was a mouse nest in the airbox with a petrified mouse to boot. I cleaned it all out and re-oiled and re-oiled it. I also replaced the plug which was about 15K old. KLR ran fine after that. You should also look at vent hose blockage too. Gino

--- In DSN_klr650@egroups.com, Bogdan Swider wrote: > > > > > > > > I realize this post is long and not as much fun as the Jennifer mystery > > but I sure would appreciate your patience and help. > > Problem: Intermittent Missing at high speed/high rpm. on hot sunny days; > > rarely misses on hot cloudy days even when I ride 90mph plus. Ambient > > temperature not engine temp is a factor. Started 100 miles from Moab while > > traveling to the rally, no problems on the White Rim but stuttered all the > > way home to Colorado, continued through the Summer. Most typically the > > engine misses on a series of long uphill grades at interstate speeds after > > riding 20/30 miles; once it starts it continues at lower speeds even down > > hill, very irritating. Never misses around town or on the trail. I > > addressed the problem by: opening the gas cap at speed while engine was > > missing; didn't help. Cleaned air filter. Took off float bowl then blew > > out fuel line entrance. Installed new vacuum line from carb to petcock. > > Checked coil for resistance then had it checked for spark; all read fine. > > Installed new spark plug. > > Here's what threw me off; only recent posts concerning a partially > > empty tank and a fuel filter installed possibly shed light on what > > actually happened. I took the bike for a ride engine commenced to missing. > > Though the tank was not empty decided to try something, I switched to > > reserve; the engine stopped missing immediately and ran great until.....I > > moved the lever back down to regular open position; in a mile or two it > > started missing. When I moved back to reserve it again ran fine. Repeated > > experiment with same results. As a final test I stayed at the reserve > > position and ran the bike at 80-90mph for 40 miles on a stretch of I 25 > > that climbs about 1200' from Pueblo to Colorado Springs. Exactly the > > situation where the problem would usually manifest itself. The engine > > didn't miss a beat. > > I'd installed Skip F's petcock mod but since the problem started before > > the mod was added, it didn't look like it was a factor. Never considered > > the fuel filter being a problem now I see it could have been and that > > skips mod could have aggravated things because it may require a bit more > > vacuum to pull gas through it. Now I see I could have had two problems. > > Anyway,I was convinced the petcock was the problem. I ordered a rebuild > > kit from Fred and proceeded to pile wife, kids and dog into the Escort > > wagon and drive them to Canada. I figured when I got back I could easily > > fix the petcock and proceed on to Guatemala. Well, when I did do that it > > didn't improve anything, I then took the petcock apart again and defeated > > the vacuum mechanism rendering it an old fashion on/off unit. Still no > > relief. Called Elden Carl ;he suggested replacing the spark plug cap; he > > was sure that would be the cure. After doing so I took an aggressive 300 > > mile ride. No missing!! But...it was an overcast day. Went out the next > > day, sunny, stuttered worse than ever. Elden postulated black box; said it > > was safe to swap, offered his bike, course he's in California. I was out > > of time; Central America trip by cycle was canceled. Since then I've been > > in contact with another klr elder statesman Jake Jakeman (he sent me some > > great allen bolts to replace the cheesy Philips stuff all over the handle > > bar; more on that latter) like Elden he was sure the problem was > > electrical. He said that simply taking the CDI unit off and putting it > > back on removes corrosion that could cause a short. Haven't done that yet; > > I want the problem to manifest itself so I can have some idea what cured > > it. Since returning from my PLANE trip south I've only used the bike on my > > 12 mile round trip commute to my morning work site. Doesn't miss a lick. > > Of course it's cold and the ride is short. I want to address this problem > > so next year's Summer riding isn't again compromised, I have some > > questions. The manual gives instructions on testing the Ignition Unit. You > > should see them; not only are they beyond my capacity but the local > > mega-shop (with a good reputation) won't tackle it. (They checked my coil > > for spark for free, Apex Sports). Is there somewhere I could send the unit > > and have it tested? Someplace that could duplicate extreme conditions, > > even heat. I'd send my coil too cause it was tested cold. I don't think I > > could be so lucky that my problem is caused by the presence of a fuel > > filter; the bike stutters when the tank is absolutely full. The bike has > > 33k miles and I'm running a fairly new fuel filter. Bogdan, Desperate in > > Colorado BTW What happened to that electrical sabio The Professor; he > > was late for class in Moab. > > > >

[Bogdan Swider]

> I had this exact problem a couple of years ago. The first thing I > checked was my air cleaner. Much to my surprise, there was a mouse > nest in the airbox with a petrified mouse to boot. I cleaned it all > out and re-oiled and re-oiled it. I also replaced the plug which was > about 15K old. KLR ran fine after that. You should also look at vent > hose blockage too. > > Gino > >

Thanks Gino, I did all of that. I discounted the vent hose when the stuttering wouldn't stop when I opened the tank cap at speed. Bogdan

[Stuart Heaslet]

At 03:47 PM 11/16/00 -0700, Bogdan Swider wrote:

>Thanks Gino, I did all of that. I discounted the vent hose when the >stuttering wouldn't stop when I opened the tank cap at speed.

A couple of crazy ideas: What is status of plug wire itself? And, possibly more important, has anyone (Skip?) had experience with some kind of plant (anerobic?) growth in fuels? This stuff has occurred in aircraft fuel tanks in past years, and may be stuck in the 'regular' intake tube inside the tank as opposed to the reserve intake. The only other thing I can think of is to be sure to verify a solid ground circuit. It does sound like it would be more of an electrical problem. The manual has a number of component tests that you can do at home with the multimeter to verify integrity. Stuart

[Bogdan Swider]

> A couple of crazy ideas: What is status of plug wire itself? And, > possibly more important, has anyone (Skip?) had experience with some kind > of plant (anerobic?) growth in fuels? This stuff has occurred in aircraft > > fuel tanks in past years, and may be stuck in the 'regular' intake tube > inside the tank as opposed to the reserve intake. The only other thing I > can think of is to be sure to verify a solid ground circuit. It does > sound > like it would be more of an electrical problem. The manual has a number > of > component tests that you can do at home with the multimeter to verify > integrity. > > Stuart >

Thanks Fireball, I'll take your advice on the ground circuit and think I'll replace the plug wire. I like your "Blob" theory but I scrubbed the hell out of the stem when I was messing with the petcock. BTW I heard that you sat on your bike overlooking Salt Lake City and said "This is not the place". Bogdan

[saladshooterKLR@webtv.net]

Attachments :

We occasionally have problems with algae growing in the fuel tanks of locomotives. This type of thing usually shows up in the fuel sight glass and by clogging filters quickly. This doest sound like quite what Bogdan is having problems with. Maybe take the coil/CDI back to Apex and take a hair dryer with you to simulate a hot sunny day. Don KLRA13 "Salad Shooter" 73 Suzuki TS185

[bill e goat]

Bogdan, Have you ever seen those dorky light-up plug wires they sell for Harleys, you can even choose the color.....you could get a hold of one, put it in the KLR and when it starts to miss you could look under there (maybe leave a little extra long plug wire sticking out where you could see it) and see if it is an erratic spark coming off the coil...

[Bogdan Swider]

> > > We occasionally have problems with algae growing in the fuel tanks of > locomotives. This type of thing usually shows up in the fuel sight > glass and by clogging filters quickly. This doest sound like quite what > Bogdan is having problems with. Maybe take the coil/CDI back to Apex > and take a hair dryer with you to simulate a hot sunny day. > > Don KLRA13 "Salad Shooter" > 73 Suzuki TS185 > >

That's an interesting idea. Thanks Don, Bogdan

[Fred Hink]

[b]I know what your missing problem is.  You say your problem started after arriving to the Moab rally?  Ever ridden past the Uranium tailings pile on the banks of the Colorado river north of Moab?  Ever seen the green glow over the tailings after dark?  [/b] [b][/b]  [b]I bet if you were riding your bike past these tailings with the wind direction just right, your CDI could be suffering from Radiation Poisoning.  Next time to Moab you better wrap your CDI with lead or wait till the winds are out of the north.[/b] [b][/b]  [b]Most CDIs can only be tested by switching them with a known good one.[/b] [b][/b]  [b]Fred[/b] [b][/b]  [b][/b] 

----- Original Message ----- [b]From:[/b] bSwider@... [b]To:[/b] bSwider@... ; DSN_klr650@egroups.com ; 'k650dsn@...' ; heaslet@... [b]Sent:[/b] Thursday, November 16, 2000 3:34 PM [b]Subject:[/b] RE: [DSN_klr650] Re: FW: What Am I Missing About This Missing > A couple of crazy ideas:  What is status of plug wire itself?   And, > possibly more important, has anyone (Skip?) had experience with some kind > of plant (anerobic?) growth in fuels?  This stuff has occurred in aircraft > > fuel tanks in past years, and may be stuck in the 'regular' intake tube > inside the tank as opposed to the reserve intake.  The only other thing I > can think of is to be sure to verify a solid ground circuit.  It does > sound > like it would be more of an electrical problem.  The manual has a number > of > component tests that you can do at home with the multimeter to verify > integrity. > > Stuart > Thanks Fireball, I'll take your advice on the ground circuit and think I'll replace the plug wire. I like your "Blob" theory but I scrubbed the hell out of the stem when I was messing with the petcock. BTW I heard that you sat on your bike overlooking Salt Lake City and said "This is not the place". Bogdan Visit the KLR650 archives at http://www.listquest.com/lq/search.html?ln=klr650 Support Dual Sport News... dsneditor@... Let's keep this list SPAM free! Visit our site at http://www.egroups.com/group/DSN_klr650 To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: DSN_klr650-unsubscribe@egroups.com

[Bogdan Swider]

> Bogdan, > Have you ever seen those dorky light-up plug wires they sell for > Harleys, you can even choose the color.....you could get a hold of > one, put it in the KLR and when it starts to miss you could look > under there (maybe leave a little extra long plug wire sticking out > where you could see it) and see if it is an erratic spark coming off > the coil... >

Wow! there's an imaginative diagnostic idea! You goats are brainy as well as being horny. Thanks, Bogdan