That's just the bike I'm looking for close to birmingham al. I've got an 88 I've fixed up and want a match for a tat trip with my son this summer.
Ok so I'm finally going to disable the switches on my KLR250. I'm too lazy to look it up. Am I making the circuits or breaking them? Is there a cleaner place to do this such as under the tank? Thanks!
What? Why? I just added switched power outlets for phone, GPS, and trail computer. Maybe removing signals horn and such to make it a woods bike? Sent from mobile
Pretty sure you are making circuits. Just trace 'em back as far as possible. The P.O. did the clutch switch on mine and left it on the bars and I left it alone due to pure lazyness.
The switches in question are the part of the interlock system that kills the motor when the clutch is let out with the stand down and in gear. If they fail in the field the bike becomes disabled. I'd rather circumvent them before that happens.
FWIW I make a KLR manual tensioner. I've sold a few to KLR 250 riders. Sent out a ton of them to KLX riders as well as a bunch of streetbike riders. Kaw's OEM tensioners kinda stink. When they go bad they go bad. Manual ones don't go bad and don't take much attention. PM me if interested, otherwise sorry to bother you. I was just in the thread to see if a couple of the guys I sold them to had posted anything.
No worries, found another auto tensioner that is working. I keep thinking about your manual tensioner though...
The guy at the KAWI shop says the KLR250 takes "10 20" fork oil. So is that really a multi viscosity oil or a choice of viscosities? He didn't know. At 235# plus all my camping crap, I'm somewhat heavier than a standard FAA seat occupant. Would 20 weight oil be better for me?
It's been a few years since I messed with my old KLR250 (miss that bike! ) but if I remember correctly it had air/oil forks and the air pressure made a much bigger difference to the damping and rebound than a minimal change to the oil viscosity. If your bike has air/oil damping you might want to try just pumping up the air a bit and see if that helps. Get yourself a low-pressure guage to check and REMEMBER - it only takes a few PSI so I always used a bicycle pump rather than a compressor which could blow your seals if you hit it too hard DAMHIK . Doug
I had my compressor set for 125# when I added the air. Friggin' instant back flip! I've tried different amounts of air and have found 5# to be about right. I think the biggest issue is I'm trying to make this bike perform over its capabilities (it couldn't be its rider)
Finally got to take my new-to-me 250 for a ride. I'm pretty impressed with the power, I was expecting less. The girlfriend is hoping to go out today for a short ride if it warms up. Quick question, what gearing are you guys running? Mostly street and easy dirt roads, very novice rider. I noticed that the power drops off very quickly around 8,000 or so, and that I was running around 7,000 on the highway. I'm thinking jump up a tooth on the front sprocket at least, maybe up one front and down 2 or 3 in the back.
I like stock gearing a lot. Strong at highway speeds, and low enough to creep through the tough spots in woods without a lot of clutch work. Just my opinion. Sent from mobile
^^^^ +1 I would not try to go any higher than stock gearing because in my experience it won't pull the gearing if there is any headwind or hills. I personally run a 14T counter-sprocket because I like the lower gearing for trails and twisty roads and I try to avoid the highway at all costs. It will still pull 70mph with that gearing no problem and have plenty left over. That engine likes to rev, don't be scared of cruising at 7,000 rpms. If you plan on doing a lot of highway miles, I would recommend two things: 1. leave the stock gearing 2. look for a different bike, it is not the most suitable bike for lots of highway miles YMMV, Tim
I kept the rear sprocket the same and dropped a tooth up front. This allows me to crawl at dead slow without feathering the clutch. In rough single track I stop a little too often and the lower gearing allows me to more gracefully start going again. I have driven about ten miles of my 7400 on the highway. I don't like the super slab at all.
Ok, ill just leave it stock then. I'm used to my 650 and bigger 4 cylinders, 7,000+ seemed like a lot for the 250. It didn't really vibrate much so it wasn't too bad really. I just know my girlfriend well. If she decides to go 80, shell hold it pinned going 80 and not think twice. When I drive the Jetta I get around 45-50 mpg. She gets 30-35 on the same type of commute. All typos and misspellings blamed on my phone.
Brake pedal bolt sheared off, then the EZ Out sheared off. Tried going without, but the damn thing kept falling off in the woods All fix't
Hi, So I took out the CVK carb and put in a Bill Blue modified mikuni TM33 pumper today. I've only ridden it 5 miles since the swap so I can't comment on milage but the throttle does seem more responsive. I'm hoping the carb makes the bike easier to wheelie. I'm not too good a wheelies but find them really tought on this bike. The install was not a complete drop in, but almost. I had to shim out the top of the coolant catch tank because the tank was interfering with the choke cable housing. I used a large nut for the shim and a longer 6mm bolt. I could not use the short pull-on choke plunger that the pumper carb came with. The coolant catch tank was in the way. The stock klr250 choke screwed right into the pumper carb and seems to work fine. I bought the carb used and it came with a modified set of upper engine mount plates. The right plate had a small recess cut for the top of the tm carb. I needed to use the plates as the stock right side plate would hit the top of the carb. The tm has been modified to only work with the pull cable (unless I am not understanding something). So I detached the push cable from the throttle housing and covered the hole that was left in the throttle housing with some tape. I could not get enought slack in the pull cable at full right lock. I ended up removing the adjustment nut on located on the throttle housing end of the cable and had enough adjustment on the carb side of the cable to make it work. The fuel drain screw is hidden behind the coolant catch tank. I like to drain the carb bowl when the bike is going to sit for more than a week, so I am not sure yet how I am going to address that. So I need to ride it more to get a good feel for it, but the pumper carb is in there and working. The modified tm33 had a 137.5 main and a 37.5 pilot jet. Has anyone ever ran witout a coolant catch tank? That tank is interfering with the choke(shimming it took care of that), and makes accessing the float bowl drain screw tough or impossible (I have not tried yet). If I could get rid of the tank I would not have those problems. Both the KLR250 and my DRZ400 never seem to vary the amout of coolant in the catch tanks, so I am not sure how necessary they are. Thanks, rube
I'm thinking you can probably make a new coolant catch tank to match your specific space requirements. Heck, you could use a soda bottle provided the fittings don't leak.
It doesn't even matter if it leaks a bit, as long as the hose is in the antifreeze. My jeep has a beer can, works fine. All typos and misspellings blamed on my phone.
So the stock coolant overflow tank interfered with the idle speed screw, float bowel drain screw, and the choke on the Mikuni TM33 I mounted on my KLR250. I made a new, smaller tank from a baby bottle (clear and heat resistant). Now I can drain the float bowl, reach the idle screw and it looks like I can fit the carb mounted choke plunger. Right now the baby bottle is zip tied to the frame. If it seems to work, I'll work out a better mount. I drilled two holes through the baby bottle flat storage top, epoxied a couple hose barbs in the holes. One of the barbs has a hose inside the bottle that hooks to the radiator tube, the othe barb hooks outside the bottle to the vent tube that goes to the rear fender. The baby bottle nipple flange is being used as a gasket. I think it will work. If it warms up a little next week I'll get some more riding in with the new carb and catch tank. rube
