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This is for Generation 2 (2008, 2009, etc..) discussion.

56K views 79 replies 35 participants last post by  pdwestman 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Sorry if you've noticed a bunch of moved topics.. They've just been moved to the Wrenching and Mod section for all other KLRs.. This one's for 2008 and newer machines.
Please keep the 2007 and earlier wrenching and mod questions in the other section...
Many of the 2008 machine owners asked for a 08 or newwer section to keep the older models seperate from the new model.. Just doing as wished.
 
#2 ·
At constant rpm (3000-4000) I notice a slight surge in power. It is very slight and rythmic. I roll on the throttle and it powers thru it. I suspect either air flow restriction or fuel supply. I burn only 91 octane and have 3k on the air filter (not too dusty). Any ideas?
 
#3 · (Edited)
Remove the idle mixture screw plug that the factory puts over the screw. Soft seat the needle and then turn out 2 to 2 1/2 turns. This pretty much will cure your surging issues. :)

This link will help step you thru it. Very simple mod but effective:
http://www.klr650.marknet.us/Carb_AirMix.pdf

Another effective mod is to place two #4 stainless steel washers under the Main Jet Needle. This allows a bit more fuel flow and gives a much crisper throttle response. If you don't like it, you simply remove the washers. Since you will be working on the carb, now would be a good time to do it. This is known as the .22 cent smile maker mod.
 
#4 ·
Excactly what DX said.
The EPA tests at idle engine speed and "cruising" rpms. (3,000)
This is where the factory lean spots are.
Jetting is fine stock, and the idle screw and stacking the
needle .030" to .050" takes care of the midrange.
Many owners use this opportunity to swiss-cheese the
airbox to capitalize on the better fuel delivery.


Ride 'em if ya got 'em,
Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeap
 
#5 ·
5 weeks

bought a 2009 red klr. wow , bought it to keep my v strom dl 1000 company , but can,t keep off it , 2,600 miles and still smiling ! the good stuff now the bad , seat must go ! changed the windshield to a zero gravity, ok , but could be taller. I, don,t ride it that hard , how long before the doohicky is an issue ?
 
#6 ·
Draft, The "new"doo isn't supposed to have issues, but isn't perfected yet
from what I've gathered so far. I'm leaving mine as-is since mine's an '09 bought
this past April. It'll get upgraded before 20,000 miles but for a few seasons no
worries. There's been posts on this site about them mainly working fine but have weak
tension on the stock spring. No one has suffered a catastrophic failure as of yet.

BTW, I got black because black is the fastest color. LOLOLOL

Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaap
 
#7 ·
2009 KLR won't idle

I have 3600 miles on my 09. I changed oil at 600, and again at 3,200 and went to AmSoil. I did the 22 cent mod around 2,000 miles, WOW huge improvement. I just put on a K&N filter this past weekend at around 3,500. Rode to work on Wednesday and had to switch to reserve on the way there. Had a meeting and went back to the office on reserve (5 miles). I filled up on the way home, about 1.5 miles from the office. When I tried to start it back up at the gas station, it barely started. Finally did, but backfired and died several times before I finally got it running. Died several times on the way home (27 miles) when I had to stop at a stop light. Seems like it is only doing it at idle, or very low RPM. Anyone have any ideas what may have happened?
 
#18 ·
I have 3600 miles on my 09. I changed oil at 600, and again at 3,200 and went to AmSoil. I did the 22 cent mod around 2,000 miles, WOW huge improvement. I just put on a K&N filter this past weekend at around 3,500. Rode to work on Wednesday and had to switch to reserve on the way there. Had a meeting and went back to the office on reserve (5 miles). I filled up on the way home, about 1.5 miles from the office. When I tried to start it back up at the gas station, it barely started. Finally did, but backfired and died several times before I finally got it running. Died several times on the way home (27 miles) when I had to stop at a stop light. Seems like it is only doing it at idle, or very low RPM. Anyone have any ideas what may have happened?
I live in Arizona and had the same problem, it was do to over filling the fuel tank, in the Az heat the fuel would expand and vent into the vaper recover system. The fuel would saturate the charcoal in the canister and the tank had no way to vent .This can be checked very easly by opening the fuel cap, if you hear vacume the tank isn't venting, and the bike will now start. You can pull off all the vaper recovery stuff or you can just pull the small or thinner hose off the back of charcoal canister located behind the left side cover, this will vent the tank to the air. I also took the vacuum hoses from the vaper recovery system off the carb and fuel petcock and bypast the T with one vacuum hose to minimize fuel starvation do to vacuum loss. I left all factory hoses in place so they can be quickly be hooked up so the tree police willn't be the wiser. This fixed it for me good luck :) 09 red because red is faster :21a:
 
#8 · (Edited)
Sure sounds like bad gas.

Drain the gas from the tank and carb and put new gas in and see if it gets better.

Some Seafoam might help if a bunch of crappage got into the carb.

Also make sure the vacuum operated petcock is funtioning. Unlikely that it would fail so early and coincidentally with a fill-up, but one never knows.

You should also check the air filter and make sure it's still clean. BTW, K&N filters don't have the best reputation with KLRs. Most find that the stock filter flows better.

Tom
 
#9 · (Edited)
Tom is right. You want to isolate the problem though, so you have two choices really. Put the stock filter back in (I've never heard a good word said about the K&N filters) and see if you're good. Or, drain the gas, refill and see if it works, then you know your filter is OK. I would try swapping the filter first. Easy and fast. Point being, don't do both at once or you won't know what the issue was. Unless you do both, put the K&N back in and have the same problem, but then you'll have drained the tank for nothing.

Just a random thought, if I understand what you're experiencing correctly, it could be that the gas cap isn't venting right. Wouldn't make sense, but that is REAL easy to check. Try running with the gas cap open. I doubt that's it, but it's an easy first step.
 
#10 ·
I think I will try the gas cap first. I don't think bad gas would have had a chance to get to the carb, the bike wouldn't start immediately after the fill up. The bike ran fine for 50 miles or so with the K&N before this started. Sounds like I may return the K&N though. I have always liked K&N filters, and run them in everything. I wasn't real impressed with this one though when I put it on.

Thanks for the help, I will let you know what I find out.

Any chance it could be the DOO not letting it idle right?
 
#37 ·
Any chance it could be the DOO not letting it idle right?
Good grief, NO!

My, how the scare-tactic pox of Internet doohickey paranoia pervades and spreads . . .

Back to your fundamental problem; as mentioned above, sounds like BAD GAS, to me.

You can perhaps mitigate this problem by DRAINING YOUR CARBURETOR FLOAT BOWL; wouldn't hurt to turn your petcock onto RESERVE and drain some from the bottom of the fuel tank also, while you're at it.

This process will purge high-density fuel contaminants (like moisture) lurking in the bottom of the float bowl, where this bad stuff tends to settle; likewise the fuel tank (assuming a complete draining unnecessary).

Another possibility: Defective vacuum-actuated petcock; either internal coponent problems, or improperly connected/leaking vacuum hose . . .

A sticky float valve can cause the symptom you describe; may be cured by draining the float bowl, can sometimes be taught some manners by rapping sharply on the carburetor casting with something like a great big screwdriver handle . . .

If your problem persists, I think you (or someone else) will get to see what the innards of the carburetor look like, as it is disassembled, cleaned, and adjusted.

Googling, "Care and feeding of the CVK40" offers some theory; some excellent color imagery of the disassembled carb on the 'Net is most useful in practice.

Good luck!
 
#11 ·
I highly doubt it's the doo. No way. Gotta be the gas or the filter. Or, if your the luckiest man in the world, it's just not venting.
 
#12 ·
I think I am just the luckiest man in the world. I took it out for another ride last week and it was still not idling right. I brought it back home and put it away expecting to have to do some work. I took it back out on Sunday just in case and it ran great. Rode it to work today 75 miles round trip and it ran great. I opened the gas cap up and that was it. I don't know if it was a venting problem or a piece of dirt in the fuel or what, but it is running great again. Boy am I glad.
 
#13 ·
What do I win? :)
 
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#14 ·
"...if you're an American citizen you are entitled to:
a heated kidney shaped pool,
a microwave oven--don't watch the food cook,
a Dyna-Gym--I'll personally demonstrate it in the privacy of your own home,
a king-size Titanic unsinkable Molly Brown waterbed with polybendum,
a foolproof plan and an airtight alibi,
real simulated Indian jewelry,
a Gucci shoetree,
a year's supply of antibiotics,
a personally autographed picture of Randy Mantooth
and Bob Dylan's new unlisted phone number,
a beautifully restored 3rd Reich swizzle stick,
Rosemary's baby,
a dream date in kneepads with Paul Williams,
a new Matador, a new mastodon,
a Maverick, a Mustang, a Montego,
a Merc Montclair, a Mark IV, a meteor,
a Mercedes, an MG, or a Malibu,
a Mort Moriarty, a Maserati, a Mac truck,
a Mazda, a new Monza, or a moped,
a Winnebago--Hell, a herd of Winnebago's we're giving 'em away,
or how about a McCulloch chainsaw,
a Las Vegas wedding,
a Mexican divorce,
a solid gold Kama Sutra coffee pot,
or a baby's arm holding an apple..."*

Take yer pick.

Tom

*The Tubes, ~1976
 
#15 ·
Woah, how did that surface in your brain, Tom? You an old punker or what? :35a:

All those options are intriguing, but I'd be satisfied with knowing what made ya think of the tubes. ;)

(feel old friday edition - that song was released when I was -1) :11a:
 
#16 · (Edited)
Um, well, I've banged my head a few times.

Just an old white punk on dope.

You know, those MarksAlot fumes...

Tom
 
#17 ·
I figured. I played in punk bands for a long time. We preferred massive quantities of malt liquor though.
 
#20 ·
There are also a couple of orange rubber vent gasket thingies inside the gas cap that you can remove to improve venting of the tank. There is a photo play by play on this site of it somewhere. I did it ICW my .22$ mod. My surging, and otherwise poor throttle response and rough idling went away immediately. Haven't had an issue since. Love this site.

Joel
2009 KLR (Blue)
 
#21 ·
This fuel tank venting cleans up a lot of problems for me as well mid rang surg at highway speeds.... Wish I did that before the other mods everything you do is to over come a lean condition... Get the fuel to the carb first and work from there....But like everyone else I thought Kawaski had that one covered....Just more fun of a KLR the tinker toy you can ride, still wouldn't trade it for a Harley :46:
 
#23 ·
What broke now

I've been reading on another site about subframes breaking, anyone have a problem, if so where do they break and is there a mod to up grade...Does this happen with hardcore off roading or with over loading the bike like do sometimes?? No problem so far on my 09 just though I would take care of it when I do the doo.. pictures would great...Thanks
 
#30 ·
Better advice would be to be diligent on maintenance. The frame will fail before a stock 10.9 bolt, PROPERLY TORQUED, will shear. For piece of mind, Allen headed, stainless steel 12.9 bolts, washers and nuts can be had at most ACE hardware stores for less than the shipping on any magic sub frame bolt kit.

This sub frame bolt failure / solution was an issue on the Gen I bikes. I do check the torque on my sub frame bolts. Having found more than one bolt much looser than spec'd more than once, I upgraded to 12.9 bolts. Blue locktite will solve a lot of this, but achieving critical proper torque while using locktite is questionable. This was on a Gen I bike. I am not aware of any confirmed, properly torqued sub frame bolt failures on the Gen II bikes.
 
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#25 ·
The subframe upgrade consists of a bigger bolt for the main frame connection, under the seat.. You drill out the holes to allow for a larger, harder bolt..
You also replace the lower bolts with stronger bolts..

I've read of a few people breaking these.. I replaced mine at about 10K miles, since I often ride with weighted down saddlebags on less than perfect roads..

It's a cheap upgrade, and if you were to break the subframe bolts, it could be dangerous..
 
#26 ·
Paper, correct me if I'm wrong, but the Gen2 bolts are heftier, yeah? Not dissing or promoting the mod, just curious if I'm right.
 
#28 ·
I'm pretty sure it was.... :confused:
 
#29 ·
While they may have improved it in the '08+ (I don't know for sure), the Eagle Mike upgrade is still better because it's a total drill through with a better bolt as well, not just two smaller bolts. It's just like Kawi improved the doohickey with the '08+ but the EM version is still better plus the OEM spring often has little or poor tension even after a short period of time. The EM torsion spring is superior as is the EM Doohickey. Kawi just won't learn and actually fix things totally, not just half-heartedly.
 
#32 ·
Oversize front brake rotor

I only see discussions on the pre-08 about the bigger front brake. Since I am going to add a bunch of stuff to the bike soon (adding a good deal more weight) I figure the larger brake would be a good safety upgrade. Anyone put this on their 08+ and can anyone recommend a particular vendor for this item?
 
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