KLR 650 Help SUggestion on this cold weather starting

I have a KLR 650, I am in Denali for the summer & Anchorage for the winter. When it gets below 40 I have problems starting. It just turns over, and no firing. HELP!

Not knowing any details, age, milage, etc... Things to check are spark plug. If it is old 10,000+ miles that could be part of the problem. Has it spent many winters without fuel stabilizer in it, then the carb could be gummed up some. The suspect area here would be the enrichening circuit, ie choke. Something to try is to access the airbox and manually restrict the airflow during a cold start, this is what old school butterfly chokes would do. If it starts then you need to clean the carb especially the enrichening circuit so you can get the extra gas into the combustion chamber when it is cold.

Thanks I recently had the carborator cleaned. It did spend last winter with no stabalizer. First time in the cold, from Fla. DID not know this needed to be done.

The bike is a 1997 - 26,000 miles. If i replace the plug- Pain as you know- it starts great for about 300 miles then back to the , with out better words - Glug , Glug - sound coming when trying to start. I thought t might be the clutch safety switch. the clutch cable seems a little stiff if I pop the clutch a few time, real fast it will start occationally.

In the manual it shows to disconect the clutch safety switch, just can't seem to find it.

If the spark plug fix only works for 300 miles then something may have gone wrong with the previous carb. work. Like the plug may be fouling. If that is the case, you need to redo the carb work. Did you notice a drop in gas milage after the carb work??

I have not had enough riding this summer to get a gas milage check, It was in the shop for a month. Working in Denali Park i have to take it to Fairbanks foir work. Not a place to work on it myself.

Has your bike been rejetted? My KLR started hard cold before I added a K&N airfilter and rejetted it. Now it not only starts better but warms up much faster. I've also noticed that if I don't ride the bike for a long period of time that I have to bypass the vacuum operated petcock to get fuel to the carb bowl. It all comes down to spark, fuel and timing. Timing is rarely a problem. So if you have good spark and fuel getting to the cylinder head it should go. Good Luck. Twin headlight Ernie

No I have not , but it sounds like a plan before the next year riding comes around.

How old is the battery?
Battery output takes a dive in cold weather, as in about half power at 20F or so. If you battery isn't in top condition, the bike won't start when it's cold even if everything is in order. If it's more than 4 yeyars old it's probably going to give you fits in cold WX.

the clutch safety switch bypass is easy to do....I didn;t use a jumper, I just pulled the prong of one of the wire out fromt he connector housing and jammed it in the backside of the other wires connector still in the connector housing....


find the details on the common procedure here http://www.klr650.marknet.us/safetyswitch.html

BUT if the bike is in neutral, the clutch switch is not the problem...the pop the clutch thing sound slike battery issue to me....the KLRs clutch sticks until warmed up (the initial cold lunge when shifiting into gear after startup)...poping the clutch cable may free this??...

maybe the sidestand switch....but I doubt that

proper chocking and fuel/throttle pumps always works for me...with adequate battery (put a jump start on it in case)...

OR with that mileage...how is the fuel petcock look?...the diaphragm on the vacuum assist fuel petcock could be a problem.... //


ask the KLR gurus like Fred at Arrowhead motorsports in Moab...or Mike at Eagle manufacturing...I have yet to be able to stump those guys on KLRs....

good luck

It is in storage now in Denali so it will be april befor ei can do any work, unless i brave the drive up and get it.

Thanks for your suggestions I will keep all in mind.

The battery is new maybe 3 months. What I don't get is that i put it on the truck carrier.I drove down from denali to Girdwood. Pulled the bike off in Girwood, with a new plug. I then rode down to Seward. WHen i got off the bike to take a breather it would not crank when i tried to start it again. So i had to change the plug and it started right up. How could i foul a plug ion such a short ride?

1) enrichment (choke) stuck open

2) plug is the wrong heat range

3) rings/hole in piston allowing oil fouling

4) using 2 stroke oil in the gas tank

good luck

Is the bike a California bike with the smog stuff and canister installed?

If it works fine with a new plug, and then goes bad, something is fouling the plug for sure. Too much gas, or oil blowing by. Any smoke? Ever clean out the tank?

No smoke. I have not pulled the tank and emptied and cleaned it.


I bought the bike 2 years ago from a guy from Utah, so I dought i has the smog stuff on it. How would I tell if it was a Cali edition?

I have only put 4,000 miles on it in three summers, I had the carborator cleaned and a new pin pit in. about 300 miles ago.
Had the valves adjusted about 2500 miles ago.
Just stumped on it.
I don't trust it to go too far, which blow especially when I have 24 hour a day to ride up here in the summer.

A new "pin"? I think you mean "needle valve".

It's considered good practice to replace the needle and seat together, hopefully this was done, it will definitely cause flooding/rich running if it's not sealing properly or if it's improperly adjusted.
Also, some carbs use an enricher for the choke. It's a plunger with a rubber seal on the end that fits inside a chamber, the seal is supposed to seat against the jet in the enricher. If that seal goes bad, you'll get rich running (this one drove me and a friend nuts trying to figure that one out), or it may be a simple matter of adjustment. The plunger can hang in the bore even if the choke cable is fully released. I'd look at both of those areas very closely. I'm pretty sure that it's one or both of these problems.

Thanks

Commonly, the needle is shimmed instead of replaced. I believe the concensus is somewhere around .04". Also, drill out and remove the idle mixture cover (on the bottom of the carb) and open the enricher to ~2.5 turns. Both of these help to enrichen the mixture and help the bike run better at lower ambient temperatures. A freshly charged battery will do you a world of good as well.

Yes my fist thought was battery , when i put the meeter onit it was at 12 volts so it was stong. I am going to have to remeber all this when i start getting it raedy for next year. It is in Storage in Denali now. I am off to New Zealand next week for 19 days of blissful ride, and fla for 25 days so i will not be able to check it out until then.

Thanks fopr all the suggestions.