Kawasaki KLR Forum banner

So begins a project

4K views 14 replies 4 participants last post by  rockymountainhi 
#1 ·
The back story: I have not ridden a bike in quite a few years but have been missing it. I spent a lot of time on dirtbikes in so cal and the desert growing up and into my 20's, now I'm 41. I thought about getting a decent dirt bike but I came to the conclusion that a dual sport would be more my style these days. I looked into what was available for decent money and found a 2011 klr650 with a blown motor. Ahah, a project. I checked CL and found a used one cheap so off I went to look at the bike. Was it meant to be?

When I got there it had busted, missing plastics as well so I made an offer and bought it. When I got it home I removed the valve cover and found the cam bearing cap bolt? Had pulled from the threads and the cam ate into the head rendering it unmachinable? Or I believe so anyhow. So I got ahold of the dude with the used motor and went and picked it up for a good price. Long drive though, but I knew that.

The downside of the used motor is that it was from a 2007. I had lurked some forums to be sure the motor was compatable before buying it and read some posts that it was, and 2007 was a decent year motor? It also has "2900" miles. It does look very clean. I pulled the valve cover to make sure it did not suffer the same fate and found it nice and clean and the cams look brand new. I am unsure of compression as I do not have a tester. It feels a little easier to rotate with a ratchet than I would think? But these are low compression motors. It does seem to engage all gears and the clutch feels ok.

Time to swap motors:
The first thing I noticed is the new motor does not have the egr? Tube coming out of the head. Does not even have the holes drilled just the blank embossment, so I guess I am deleting it? And the piece the hose goes to on the frame can be deleted as well?
The second issue is that the new motor has a 5 wire harness coming out of the left side cover. The old has a 7 wire harness. Can I delete the red and white wires and only hook the three yellows and the remaining two? Or do I need to swap harnesses?
Thirdly, do I need the bike on a stand when I pull the motor? And does it come out the right or left easier?

Thanks for reading and any help is greatly appreciated. I will post pics as soon as I figure out how to...
 
See less See more
#3 ·
The reason for this is the 2011 has a different ignition system from the 2007.

The 2007 rotor has a much longer timing bar bar than the 2011 does and the 2007 stator has two exciter coils that the 2011 does not use. The pick-up coil doesn’t seem to be different, but I think the connector is different. The easiest thing to do is transplant the alternator cover whole.

Remove the rotor from the 2011 before removing the engine from the frame. Remove the rotor from the 2007 after getting the engine in the frame, then swap rotors.
 
#5 · (Edited)
If they are excitor coils, is there anyway I can hook them to the ignition circuit to power them so that the motor going in retains it's own rotor and cover? I figure maybe red is positive, white negative, or just positive of the other coil? If not, I guess I will have to paint the swapped cover as the 2011 is black and the 2007 gray. Not sure I can find a decent paint match in a spray can... Maybe kawi green.

Thanks for the help.
 
#4 ·
The Air Injection System (AIS) is just a pollution control to Burn un-burnt gases in the header pipe. You may delete it, entirely. You need to cap the vacuum port which went to the AIS at the carb.
 
#8 ·
@pdwestman;
Cool, that sounds manageable. I am guessing I should buy the rotor/ puller tool and an aftermarket doohickey kit while I'm at it. I am guessing the stock one has issues as everyone is changing them. Now would be a good time if I have to take the motor apart anyway.
I also have the motor ready to pull out, is it possible to weld up a stand to hold the motor while I swap these parts, or would it be in the way? This way I can get the motors swapped out while I wait for parts/ tools to arrive. Feel the need for progress is all.. and I have a welder..
 
#9 ·
So, it has been quite a long time since posting last. I had a few set backs that kept me from ordering parts for a bit, then the holidays rolled around. Anyhow I ended up installing the motor and doing all the change overs/ Doo hickey etc. One thing that did bother me a bit was that when I went to change over the rotor, when I took the one off the donor motor it had no keyway. It appeared to be aligned well with the flycut but no keyway. I did tip the motor and look to see if it had fallen out when it was installed too but never found it. None the less, once I was sure it was not rattling around in there, I finished up and filled it with oil and changed the filter. Once I got everything else hooked up/ deleted I put some gas in her and she started right up, and after installing a new chain it rides great except a shimmy in the rear at high speed ( slight at 80, scary as s*#t at 90 especially after letting off), I am going to have the wheels balanced as they have no weights but don't plan on hitting 90 often anyway. I have not replaced the plastics yet, But the bike lives!!! I will update as I progress and will post pics soon. Thanks for all the help, I appreciate y'all.
 
#10 ·
"once I was sure it was not rattling around in there" - did you use a small magnet to sweep the bottom of the sump?

I recently had the Woodruff key push out installing a flywheel. It fell in to the sump thru the slot under the counterbalancer system idler wheel (pointing at that in the pic). I removed the idler wheel, stuffing that open slot with paper towel first - when you pull out the eccentric shaft that the idler wheel spins on, it's easy to lose the spacer washer behind it down that slot - the good news is that both those parts can be fished out with a magnet (are ferrous).

Any loose metal parts in the sump is a ticking time bomb situation IMO. Imagine a scenario where you drop the bike, and the sloshing oil in the sump results in that (hard steel) Woodruff key getting jammed in the transmission gears (carnage ensues).

 
#11 ·
@GreatWhiteNorth, I did not remove the idler, but I did see the slot. I removed the drain bolt and used a flashlight to look as best I could see. Also I threw the bike around as much as I could to see if I could get it to move around some if it was in there. I also swept around with a long hooked pick but never did find it. I figured it may have just been left out when it was assembled at the factory or fell out as it had the stock Doo and spring so I don't think it had been opened.

Should I tear it back down? Or maybe get ahold of a magnetic drain bolt? I am pretty certain it was not in there but not sure if I'll ever be certain unless I find and remove one... Thanks for the help.
 
#12 · (Edited)
Unfortunately, odds are that the Woodruff key made it's way thru that slot, down into the sump. There's a similar slot on the RH side of the engine, but the clutch cover (and water pump) have to come off to to access that. There are baffles in the case bottoms that complicates things a bit, but sweeping the sump bottom with a small magnet usually does the trick. I use E-M magnetic drain plugs, but doubt that'd ever catch that Woodruff key.

PD mentioned a little trick, peening either side of the Woodruff key (with a centre punch) before reinstalling it into the slot on the crank - that works well (I've done it a few times building up KLR engines).

Sometimes that Woodruff key will stick to the (magnetized) flywheel/rotor on removal, but in my experience, when it inadvertently gets pushed out, it usually tinkles to the bottom (can hear it happening).

Here in this pic, you can see that I fished out a doohickey spring thru that clutch side slot I'm talking about. I found that spring MIA when I removed the flywheel on an '08 (with only around 6,000 miles on it) to do the doohickey mod - I could actually see it laying in the bottom of the sump, looking thru that slot with a strong flashlight.



Edit - there are more openings on the RH side of the case, that allow you to see into, and access the bottom of the sump, but more disassembly required!

 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top