california gas and reading plug color

[spudpuffin]

Hi ! 2004 KLR. Turn key on and green, neutral light shows. Hit the starter and a quiet click and the green light and all other electrics are dead. The first time it happened, I assumed the main fuse, but I've checked that and there is no corrosion or burned out fuse. Then it starts and runs for about 2 weeks and then the same happens. The battery reads 12.5 v at rest and about 13.5+ v running and is on a battery tender full time ( electrolyte is up). I tried putting a booster battery on it yesterday and it immediately fired up and then restarted several times without a repeat. I think this failure happened the first time after I washed (shame on me ?) the bike, so I assume I may have squirted water somewhere bad ? Would the starter relay or terminal be a possibility ? I don't think it's the safety switches, although soemone may correct me. Thanks for any advice ! Spud

[J Fortner]

On 7/8/06, spudpuffin wrote:

> > Hi ! 2004 KLR. Turn key on and green, neutral light shows. Hit the > starter and a quiet click and the green light and all other electrics > are dead. >

Make sure the battery terminals are tight and there is no corrosion.. Jim [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Jud Jones]

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "spudpuffin" wrote:

> > Hi ! 2004 KLR. Turn key on and green, neutral light shows. Hit the > starter and a quiet click and the green light and all other electrics > are dead. The first time it happened, I assumed the main fuse, but > I've checked that and there is no corrosion or burned out fuse. Then > it starts and runs for about 2 weeks and then the same happens. The > battery reads 12.5 v at rest and about 13.5+ v running and is on a > battery tender full time ( electrolyte is up). I tried putting a > booster battery on it yesterday and it immediately fired up and then > restarted several times without a repeat. I think this failure > happened the first time after I washed (shame on me ?) the bike, so I > assume I may have squirted water somewhere bad ? Would the starter > relay or terminal be a possibility ? I don't think it's the safety > switches, although soemone may correct me. >

Could be the safety switches, but I would first look to the battery cables, then at the connections on the starter solenoid.

[Don S]

If your bike is running well, why the concern for the colour of the plug? It has been mentioned by a number of listers that the KLR's carb is set pretty lean by the manufacturer and that causes the plug to show white rather than the usual tan deposits. If the factory is satisfied that there will be no related reliability/mechanical issues with the bike and that the lean setting reduces fuel consumption, don't worry - be happy. Don squasher_1 wrote: I have been trying get my bike jetted right, but for some reason the plug is always white. It wasn't this way 5 years ago when I bought the bike. I have richened the jets up to the point I can smell gas out the exhaust and get under 40mpg. But the plug color is white. Even the spark plugs in my other vehicles show white after long use. Is there something in this new california ECU oxygenated gas that makes it hard to read plug color __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]