[subafly]

Bought a 98 ran great for a day took it to the shop had the carb cleaned, ran great for a day. Ran kinda crappy for a couple days. Ran great today so I took a ride and found a really cool public dirt road which is summer access only. It was really fun blasting my 98 KLR 650 over bumps, rollers and through some mud. When I got back to the road it died. I assumed it was flooded, so I let it sit for a bit (after unsuccessfully trying to start it) gave it some juice and it fired back up. Rode it towards home, and it died a couple more times before I got home. Flooded each time. Once I was parked I adjusted the idle screw to see if it was just not idling correctly. I had to hold the throttle keep it running. While I was down there I noticed gas streaming out of a hose pointing down towards the ground coming off of the left side of the carb. I quickly shut it off and the gas stopped comming out. I cant find where its supposed to go. Did the road gremlins attack? My clymer is in the mail. After some posts on The ADV forum we think its an over flow hose, and the float is stuck open. Any more ideas would be helpful. This is my first bike and I like doing my own work so I'm trying to learn.

Thanks for any advice.
Brian

here are some pics of the hose that had gas coming out.
http://usera.imagecave.com/subafly/motorcycle/IMGP0083.JPG
http://usera.imagecave.com/subafly/motorcycle/IMGP0085.JPG

Also, before today I was having problems with not getting enough fuel, I would be cruising and the engine would stumble (sorry thats the best I can put it) but it would accelerate fine. thats why I had the carb cleaned.

 

[Tom Schmitz]

Subafly-

That's the carb vent hose. It's job is to make sure that hte carb bowl remains at atmospheric pressure so that fuel will flow. When it get's blocked off, the engine starves for fuel and runs like crap. There's a mod (T-Mod) to fix that, but that's another story 'cause it ain't your problem today.

If stuff is coming out of it then your inlet valve is definitely stuck (or the floats are gas-logged and won't float anymore) and she's floodin' like the mighty Mississippi. Best bet is to remove the carb and give it a good cleaning.

You may be able to get away with removing the float bowl and jiggling things about a bit, or you might even set thing right by tapping the bowl with a screw driver handle. But, it's a 10 year old bike. If the carb is in a state where the inlet valve is sticking, the rest of the carb probably isn't that far behind.

While you're waiting for your Clymer's to come, you might want to look at this site:

https://www.johnsmotorcycleparts.com/Keihin_CV_tuning_tips.htm

And this one:

http://www.gadgetjq.com/keihin_carb.htm

Tom

 

[subafly]

Thanks. I just got the bike back from the shop from having the carb cleaned. So its should be good. I dont know what they actually did to it but I paid 208 bucks to get the thing cleaned. I will try that other stuff. And thanks for the links!

 

[Tom Schmitz]

Thanks. I just got the bike back from the shop from having the carb cleaned. So its should be good. I dont know what they actually did to it but I paid 208 bucks to get the thing cleaned. I will try that other stuff. And thanks for the links!

Oh. I missed the part about "just got it back from the shop". I need to work on my reading comprehension...

I'd say they need to fix it up for you. If you had a shop work on the carb and you now have carb issues, that is still their responsibility. Take it back (for the last time - from now on you work on yer own bike) and have them set it right.

Tom

 

[subafly]

ya your right. I would have done it myself the first time but I really needed a vehicle. To bad I still dont have one thats reliable. My room mate took his bike there too and when he got it back the choke was stuck open. I almost want to take it somewhere else but they should fix it.

 

[subafly]

Well I drained the bowl and tapped it with a crew driver handle. Sure enough a little chunk of black stuff came out. I dont know it could have been in the cup I drained it into already but it fixed it. So its no longer flooding. Im going to ride tomorrow and see what goes down. Also added the proper size allen wrench to my tool wrap!

Thanks,
Brian

 

[erbie]

Bought a Gold Wing from my brother many years ago, it had sat in his garage with gas in the tank and no Stabil, but Stabil only lasts for 2 years, so they say. I rode the gold wing back to Joliet, Illinois from Thornton, Colorado, nightmare ride, wouldn't idle or anything, but did run, fairly well at expressway speeds, if you could handle it jumping all over the tar strips, anyway, to cut the story down, when I got home, I found the carbs full of wax, gelled gasoline, cleaned them, still bad, the tank was full of rust, rust will pass by filters(?), used an acid formula, from Yamaha, to clean the tank, a sealant and the bike ran great, the dancing on the tires was bad sidewalls from old tires, still lot of tread, just age. If you have stuff going into your carb and the bike had been sitting check out the condition of the inside of the tank. It will be a continual nightmare if it is rust and gelled gas.

 

[hippiebrian]

ya your right. I would have done it myself the first time but I really needed a vehicle. To bad I still dont have one thats reliable. My room mate took his bike there too and when he got it back the choke was stuck open. I almost want to take it somewhere else but they should fix it.

Hate to say it, but you may need to find a new shop.

 

[vatrader]

In all fairness to the shop, they have no way of controlling what will flow into the carb. A fuel filter will aid in filtering the fuel before it gets into the carb, a mechanic can not. He just can not control what is in the gasoline.
You described a "black chunk" that came out of the bowl. Since there are "supposed to be" screens on the inlets to the petcock [inside the tank], and their job is to screen impurities from the fuel, there is only one other place the "black chunk" could come from. Inside the petcock assembly, to the very rear, is a black rubber bushing / gasket. With time, it begins to deteriorate and allow small black chunks to flow into the carb bowl, causing the float to stick and flooding the bike. You can buy the "Tap Valve Gasket", as it is called, from Ronayers.com. Part # 11009-1188 for $2.54 before shipping. There is also an "O" ring gasket in the petcock assembly that should be replaced while you are in there, part # 92055-1085 and will set you back $2.02.
In the mean time, if the bike should flood out again, you can flush the little black invaders out of the bowl by backing out the drain screw on the bottom of the carb. As the gas runs out, tap on the carb bowl area to assist the contaminants out of the drain hole. Just carry something with you to back that drain screw out with. You will be going in a few minutes.
If your bike is still using the vacuum actuated fuel system, you will have to crank the bike a bit to fill the fuel bowl up enough to start the bike. The only time gas will flow from the tank to the carb is when the engine is turning over, supplying vacuum. I prefer to convert the systems to gravity feed. Rarely does gravity fail, require parts or a manual in three languages. It also limits places to look when troubleshooting a fuel delivery problem. If you think vacuum actuated systems are good, I will bet good money you never drove a car with vacuum actuated windshield wipers. You speed up, the wipers went faster. Slow down...

Anyway, based on what you have shared, I'll bet the root of the trouble is in the petcock.

 

[hippiebrian]

Good point. How do you switch to gravity feed?

 

[vatrader]

Good point. How do you switch to gravity feed?

There are two ways that I have converted to gravity feed. One way is to buy a petcock assembly for a 2001 Yamaha 660 Raptor ATV. Ronayers.com, part #
5LP-24500-01-00; cost $18.31. This "Fuel Cock" also has a shorter stalk on the reserve stem, giving you greater range before needing to switch to reserve. It is a bolt in process, requiring no modifications other than shoving a bolt in the vacuum line where it once plugged into the old petcock. This works on all of the V1 KLR 650's.
You are now running all new petcock seals and gaskets, which helps limit drama.
The other method is to install the "Hurricane Mod". There is tutorial on the procedure here: http://klrworld.com/forums/index.php/topic,7255.0.html.

Mr. Hurricane has been supplying these kits to KLRistas at no charge for some time now. Men admire him, kids and dogs love him and women flock to give him homemade apple pie.

 

[Tom Schmitz]

There are two ways that I have converted to gravity feed. One way is to buy a petcock assembly for a 2001 Yamaha 660 Raptor ATV. Ronayers.com, part #
5LP-24500-01-00; cost $18.31. This "Fuel Cock" also has a shorter stalk on the reserve stem, giving you greater range before needing to switch to reserve. It is a bolt in process, requiring no modifications other than shoving a bolt in the vacuum line where it once plugged into the old petcock.

vatrader -

I did the Hurricane mod, but this info about the Raptor petcock is great!

I have an open basket at Ayers right now; that petcock is going on the list.

Can't thank you enough for posting that up - the right part is better than any mod.

Tom