dirt racks, langley sale

[achesley43@ymail.com]

Chasing another problem I've been having for the past few years. A very slight miss at around 4K and above rpm at steady speed. It doesn't hinder my taking off on the bike as I"ve been up to central Missouri from here on it twice in the past 3 years. So this has been happening for the last 15,000 miles.  So starting with my wildly roaming charging voltage ( which was corrected with replacing a few corroded connections and bad soldier joints and some bad grounds ) I decide to hunt for this problem.  About every time I burn out a tank of gas, I pull the tank to try different things. So far, I've checked and cleaned and put dilectric grease on all connets and any bad ones found , changed them.  This last time ( it's still on the lift with the fairing and gas tank off ) I did all the connets under the headlight. Did find the one for the clutch not plugged till locked in so clean and greased it and mad sure it was snapped in this time. This is shorted out to eliminate the switch by the way as is the sidestand switch )  Check ohmage on the pick up and it's good. Found the secondary on the coil way low so have an 07 coil off ebay coming for 30 bucks with shipping. I think it calls for .15 to .25 or something like that and I get a .012 reading. So may have some stuff breaking down inside there from age and heat.  Also just put a new spark plug in it while apart this time.  Also pulled the sprocket cover off to check wiring there for any crimps or such and it's all good there.  So, I won't know if I've found the problem till I get the other coil in and run it.  While at it I pulled the start button apart and cleaned and greased the contacts and ditto to the throttle and cables.  I'll follow up when it's back together and I get back on the road again.  

[achesley43@ymail.com]

Well, the ebay 07 coil came in today. tested with ohm meter and it says 2.4 ohms on the secondary. Put it all back together. Noticed the 07 coil's plug cap had a spring along with the resistor that my '00 didn't have. All back together and sounds smoother and more steady. If the lower back agrees, we'll get her out on the road tomorrow to see if the fat lady is singing.  

[achesley43@ymail.com]

Great news!!!!!!!!! I do think the coil was the factor. The old KLR run better today at steady 50 to 60 mph speeds than it's ran in years. Shame is that it took me so many miles to want to attack the problem. But, it's done now. 

The Carb is an '08 I think and I had drilled the slide and put an .032 washer on the needle, which I did take off while it was apart this week. The coil came off an '07 which was the last year before Kawasaki change it. 

Totally Happy Camper and was a pleasure to be back on our fine Louisiana roads with the KLR tires and suspension rather than the 1250S Bandit. 

[Norm Keller]

Good stuff!

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

One problem in finding problems like this is that ignition break-down can be quite independent of resistance values. Ignition coils can be far off the published resistance values while functioning 100%, while another is right on the money but doesn't. Part of the problem is that the meter based resistance tests are not testing the same factors as are involved in running. An oscilloscope is often very useful but most often substituting a known good part is the best strategy. Good call as coils are a likely culprit.

 

Did you check, substitute, replace the spark plug cap and trim back the coil wire? That often solves problems so just curious. It would be interesting to learn whether those remedies cure the problem - I may have missed that you already covered that possibility.

 

Funny how ignition problems were seen very day in shops back decades ago but one can go a long time these days without encountering one.

 

The report is appreciated.

[jwflower53]

Chesley's problem sounds like mine, except my miss started at about 5000, and got progressively worse until I shut down.  Mine went away after I did some of what he did, but I don't know what change did the trick.  I may buy another coil, just to be on the safe side.

JW

[achesley43@ymail.com]

Well, I still have not got the problem completely solved yet. And, I've been though every electrical connection and tested all components. So, I ordered one from a salvage yard off a running '07. As I did the coli I replaced. A couple old mechanic friends I called suggested that even though it passed the ohms test in the shop that with the heat from the engine it may fail as such. Plus, when I mentioned that the ground lead from the ecu had really got bad and corroded beyond repair , I had to cut it off and put a new plug in on it. So, that's where I'm at now. Plus whille on the bench, I pulled the exhaust system off to repaint the exhaust pipe and found the gasket just starting to leak. So , fixing all that also. 

Heck, I even added a ground strap from where the stater circuit grounds on the engine  to the frame. 

 

[Norm Keller]

#ygrps-yiv-2017209661 blockquote.ygrps-yiv-2017209661cite {margin-left:5px;margin-right:0px;padding-left:10px;padding-right:0px;border-left:1px solid #cccccc;} #ygrps-yiv-2017209661 blockquote.ygrps-yiv-2017209661cite2 {margin-left:5px;margin-right:0px;padding-left:10px;padding-right:0px;border-left:1px solid #cccccc;margin-top:3px;padding-top:0px;} #ygrps-yiv-2017209661 .ygrps-yiv-2017209661plain pre, #ygrps-yiv-2017209661 .ygrps-yiv-2017209661plain tt {font-family:monospace;font-size:100%;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;} #ygrps-yiv-2017209661 a img {border:0px;}#ygrps-yiv-2017209661 {font-family:Tahoma;font-size:12pt;} #ygrps-yiv-2017209661 .ygrps-yiv-2017209661plain pre, #ygrps-yiv-2017209661 .ygrps-yiv-2017209661plain tt {font-family:Tahoma;font-size:12pt;} http://www.dirtracks.com/   Have KLR side box mounting frames for $107.10, which can be picked up there.   They look like they will take any hard box such as the 20 mm ammo or flare boxes on my bike.