[Broncosaurus]

Greetings friends, here is my steed, she's been sitting for ages and was previously used as a trail-only bike, but I recently got it running and registered for the road and have been doing tweaks and upgrades little by little. She only has 7500 miles on her and has been getting me to work for the past couple weeks after my sport bike started losing it's charge suddenly. Has been an absolute blast to ride and only relatively annoying to work on. So far, work includes:

New cam journal from a mojave head after the cover bolt snapped in mine, due to running it out of oil causing a soft-seized cam. Sooo glad the mojave exists, I got a whole spare head for a fraction of the cost of a new one. Only replaced the journal, but she is due for a valve adjustment, I will probably take it to a shop for that soon. Also:

UNI air filter
Oil Filter
Oil change 10w 40
Battery
Aftermarket turn signals
Grips
Cleaned carb
In line fuel filter
Wrapped exhaust
Flushed radiator
New magnetic drain plug and spark plug are in the mail

Looking into street tires and a new chain/sprocket kit

 

[Damocles]

Welcome!

KLR250s forever!

Be sure you BURP the radiator thoroughly after replacing coolant; an air pocket can restrict coolant flow on idle, causing high cylinder-head temperature without triggering thermal switch in radiator.

Take it to a shop for valve adjustment? Your call, but the set-screw-and-lock-nut scheme on the KLR250 is straightforward, provided you make the adjustment at piston TDC between compression and power strokes, NOT between exhaust and intake strokes.

The KLR250 remains a most under-rated dual-sport motorcycle (an opinion supported by over 10,000 miles on my '03).

Again, welcome!

 

[Broncosaurus]

Success! Just did my first ever valve adjustment! They were each uneven to each other and all a little tight. I was having cold start problems that were getting worse, to the point where I'd have to push start it when it was cold every time. But, BANG! A couple kicks after adjusting and it fired right up cold! Definitely a noticeable difference in responsiveness to the kick starter.

She idled pretty rough however, which required some carb re-tuning. Had to back out the front bottom screw (is that one called the pilot?) another half turn from "2-turns back" spec and turn the idle thumb screw up pretty much all the way. I don't currently have a throttle close cable (in the mail), so I'm using a homemade spring to keep counter tension. Set the idle with the thumb screw to about 1500-1800rpm (shes a little bouncy), then backed off the throttle cable a little. Note: if your idle goes up or down when you turn your bars, that means your idle setting it too low and your riding on cable tension.

Gonna take her out to the store now, she was a little stumbly around the neighborhood eariler, but I think the idle adj. did the trick.

Got my new petcock in! It's the cheapo-ebay one, looks decent, I'm just glad the fuel port is one solid piece with the body, the stock one has a fitting, which on mine leaks without some tape and a hose clamp. I already rebuilt the petcock hardware once before, which is good because the one I bought only comes with the gasket, but no hardware.

That's a project for another day, still waiting on my spark plug, throttle close cable, and 14t front sprocket (gonna try out the more torque-y gearing). Also, discovered I need a new clutch cable tonight, the casing is cracked down by the exhaust pipe. Ordering it tonight.

Magnetic drain plug is staying dry, no leaks, and fresh oil. It's coming along nicely. Happy!