Long term KLX250S review

[sdunne]

And again! With a small whip in there.

[kyjelly44]

randy i looked up the seller histori and he payed $117 for the tank so that might be the rez on it.im not going to bid on it ,dont realy need a larger tank(as of yet)

[navyman]

$117 would be a steal if its new. Maybe green would be ok...

[Nobiman]

Originally Posted by kyjelly44

randy i looked up the seller histori and he payed $117 for the tank so that might be the rez on it.im not going to bid on it ,dont realy need a larger tank(as of yet)

Yea, I'll probably add a little more to it but not enough to get it to $120. I'm not sure I wanna mess with all of the things that you need to do to get it to fit right. I guess I should go back and read Todd's install instructions, maybe that will help me make up my mind how much its worth to me. We're going on a planned Dualsport ride on the 29th up to Arkansas to ride the Ozarks for 4 days, it would sure come in handy for rides like that.

Randy.

[Nobiman]

sdunne, nice height on that table top dude!

[nobrakes]

Originally Posted by bmwhd

I went ahead today and made some spacers out of strap steel (2mm thick, 1" x 3/8") to move the coil up 1/2" higher off its mounts in front of the tank. this allowed the tank to move the last 1/8" in to the correct position setting on the frame bumpers. The KLX300 coil must be mounted slightly higher from the factory. No big deal, about 30 min work tops.

I just completed my valve clearence check today - both inlet and exhaust valves are still in spec. I could have sworn this was to be checked on the 600 mile mark on the maintenance schedule, but the first check is not until 7500 miles. Oh well, it really wasn't that bad and now I know what to do when it comes up again.

Anyway, now that I have my bike all apart, the tank off, the radiator fan off, and the coil off, do you mind to post a close-up of your coil mount job? I have my IMS tank on order and expect it soon. I'd like to go ahead and do the coil remount now while I have everything off which will save me a little time once the tank comes in. But without having the tank here to test fit, I'd like to see a photo of yours if possible so I don't do it wrong and have to redo it later.

On an unrelated note, I had to remove the exhaust air tubing stuff in order to get the cylinder head off. I know you have recommended to just leave that off and cap the holes which will lower the head pipe temperature. I'm all for that. Where do you get those caps to close off the engine and airbox fittings?

[motoguy128]

Originally Posted by nobrakes

I just completed my valve clearence check today - both inlet and exhaust valves are still in spec. I could have sworn this was to be checked on the 600 mile mark on the maintenance schedule, but the first check is not until 7500 miles. Oh well, it really wasn't that bad and now I know what to do when it comes up again.

Anyway, now that I have my bike all apart, the tank off, the radiator fan off, and the coil off, do you mind to post a close-up of your coil mount job? I have my IMS tank on order and expect it soon. I'd like to go ahead and do the coil remount now while I have everything off which will save me a little time once the tank comes in. But without having the tank here to test fit, I'd like to see a photo of yours if possible so I don't do it wrong and have to redo it later.

On an unrelated note, I had to remove the exhaust air tubing stuff in order to get the cylinder head off. I know you have recommended to just leave that off and cap the holes which will lower the head pipe temperature. I'm all for that. Where do you get those caps to close off the engine and airbox fittings?

Are you sure about the valve check at 600? I was sure that it was supposed to be checked. I just dropped my bike off at the dealer to have it done. I have ot remind them NOT ot change my oil since I did that myself already. Probably not bad to do anyway since I had my engine temp light come on several times while digging my way out of a mud pitt.

For the caps, I used a threaded brass plug from a hardware store used for capping off threaded pipe along with some red RTV high temp sealant. That was for the reed valve on the enigine. For the plug on the airbox, I just filled a peice of the tubing with some regular clear RTV silicone. On teh carbs, I found a bolt that was the right size and used that with red RTV to seal it. Not the prettiest solution, but simple.

[rkutzner]

Nice height ! I used to get that kinda height on my Z400....not sure I'm ready to hit that kinda height until I get more time on her !

[nobrakes]

Originally Posted by motoguy128

Are you sure about the valve check at 600? I was sure that it was supposed to be checked.

I thought for sure they needed checked at 600 which is why I did it. I know I read or heard that somewhere, but now can't recall where. My bike is actually at 800 miles so I've been taking it easy lately, not riding as much as I normally would because I thought I was overdue. But the Owner's Manual clearly does not show a check mark beside the 600 mile interval for a valve clearance check. The first check is at 7500 miles. Maybe my dealer told me that to try and get more money out of me. No worries, though. Checking the clearences is pretty easy. Adjusting the clearences is another matter and involves a lot more work including removing and re-installing the cam shafts which requires care when re-installing to make sure they are timed correctly. I'm working from a KLX250R service manual, which I'm assuming is similar to our bikes in this regard. Everything looked the same inside the engine, at least. I have a KLX250S manual on order and I'll verify the work then.

Thanks for the tip on the brass plugs. Nobiman had some real nice looking caps - wonder where he got those? Randy?

-Brian

[Nobiman]

Here ya go! You can pick these up at any major auto parts stores. I've done two de-smogs with this kit and still have all of these left over.

Randy.

[bmwhd]

Originally Posted by nobrakes

I just completed my valve clearence check today - both inlet and exhaust valves are still in spec. I could have sworn this was to be checked on the 600 mile mark on the maintenance schedule, but the first check is not until 7500 miles. Oh well, it really wasn't that bad and now I know what to do when it comes up again.

Anyway, now that I have my bike all apart, the tank off, the radiator fan off, and the coil off, do you mind to post a close-up of your coil mount job? I have my IMS tank on order and expect it soon. I'd like to go ahead and do the coil remount now while I have everything off which will save me a little time once the tank comes in. But without having the tank here to test fit, I'd like to see a photo of yours if possible so I don't do it wrong and have to redo it later.

On an unrelated note, I had to remove the exhaust air tubing stuff in order to get the cylinder head off. I know you have recommended to just leave that off and cap the holes which will lower the head pipe temperature. I'm all for that. Where do you get those caps to close off the engine and airbox fittings?

On the coil: I don't know if I can get a photo without taking the tank off but I'll see about that tonight. You may not have to move yours, as it was a near thing on mine. But if you do, think of it like this: the coil is attached to the frame via square posts that extend from either end. You want these posts positioned on top of the frame brackets instead of in front of them. An easy way to do this is to use the existing holes (on the front) to anchor a small piece of strap steel and then bolt the coil studs to this from behind as they sit on top of the bracket. It'll make sense when you look at it.

For the air injection, I just picked up an assortment of rubber caps from Lowes. I think the airbox hole is 1/2" and the carb vacuum port is 1/4". I used a plastic hose plug and some high temp ATV to plug the hose (cut off to 1/2" in length) on the front of the head.

[Nobiman]

Ok, someone tell me where they got thier 13 tooth CS sprocket from for the little KLX. I've got the part #'s from Todd's post #388 but my usual parts sources dont list any of these manufacture's or part #'s in thier data bases.

Help a brutha out here with a link or two wud'ya?

Randy.

[bmwhd]

Originally Posted by Nobiman

Ok, someone tell me where they got thier 13 tooth CS sprocket from for the little KLX. I've got the part #'s from Todd's post #388 but my usual parts sources dont list any of these manufacture's or part #'s in thier data bases.

Help a brutha out here with a link or two wud'ya?

Randy.

AFAMUSA.com, their part number is 24502 which is listed as fitting the '88-'94 Kawasaki EL250.

[nobrakes]

Originally Posted by bmwhd

On the coil: I don't know if I can get a photo without taking the tank off but I'll see about that tonight.

Don't go to the trouble of removing the tank - you've done so much already for which I am very grateful. I'll get my tank soon enough. I thought if you already had a photo of it from when you had it apart you could share it. But if that's not the case, don't worry about it. The weather is pretty crappy here for the next few days so I'm not in any great rush to get it back together.

[Nobiman]

Originally Posted by bmwhd

AFAMUSA.com, their part number is 24502 which is listed as fitting the '88-'94 Kawasaki EL250.

Thank you sir! Its on the way.

Randy.