Stranded on the road, need help

My KLR ran from new roughly as you describe. It was eventually diagnosed as a mis-timed cam. It was only off one tooth. You did mention replacing the shims on the rear cylinder...

Douf

Thought about it a lot. Really. Starting to believe its a dying fuel pump

Pressurize the tank when it starts to die. If it keeps running thats it.

Assuming canisterectomy done and the brass nipples on the manifold are still blocked off? ( mine came off once and gave similar symptoms) Assuming tanks are vented properly and thats not starving the carbs? The high idle thing doesnt make me think fuel pump. High idle/ popping and down on power on my bike means I left the choke on. Choke cable sticking or bound up?

no, pulling the choke killed it instantly.

i couldnt find anything unplugged/loose/leaking/or pinched, although, my vents on the inside of the tanks are really hard to get situated abtween the frame and tank is really hard to place without pinching. where should it be routed too?
the 2 on the front top of the tank are also hanging in thin air, they should vent the tank just fine?

my carb vent tubes were a little long and were out in the slip stream, not tucked away between the cylinders.

Ok then if the choke kills it instantly the carbs are only starved of fuel at speed.

What would starve the carbs of fuel or air? Pinched vent hoses, the tank not venting, stopped up air filter, bad fuel pump, stopped up fuel line, stopped up carb jets.

Open the gas caps and ride it with them open. If it still does it then its not a vent issue. It has to be either poor fuel delivery OR too much air screwing up the ratio ala carb boot loose.

The vent hoses half way down the inside of the tanks are drains for the gas caps. The drain holes that are visible when the gas caps are open drain here.

well,update, kinda....

tearing it down.




no signs of waterpump leakage, no metal on anything, no bits of plastic, oil still looks brand new. its showing signs of blow by into the crabk case vent. having my vent routed back behind the rear cylinder into a breather, its is probably dripping onto the rear exhaust. that would explain some smoke?

so,on the way...
H2W jet kit
Facet pump/filter
new fuel lines
water pump kit
oil bypass spring/piston
plugs
seal for cc vent

anything else while its apart?

Wow, that's no RD350...

Hi, Check the six rotor bolts for loctite and that they are tight:eek1. My 03 950A bolts came out at 73000km, no loctite (should be green 648) and was told TSB done.....killed my rotor and stator and left me stranded.

The complete oil pressure regulator is cheap (Part no 60038010133) and you can bet if the piston is scored the bore will be too.

Check the top bearing in the left cover (supports the starter). These are only lubricated by an oil mist and I've had several that felt notchy.

Clutch bolts will be checked when you do the oil regulator. Have you replaced the clutch push rod with the one piece one. Replacing the balance shaft seaI should fix the oil retention issue. l think the rest you have covered.

That's a b*tch...

well, an update....

replaced:
water pump. Original looked fine. no leak, minimal wear
oil pressure valve spring and plunger. spring was a touch shorter than new one, otherwise looked fine
fuel pump facet.
fuel filter
fuel hoses
H2W jett kit. with prefilter etc

everything inside the motor loooked great. no strange signs of wear, no bits laying around

cleaned the carbs really well, no real dirt etc inside. jets did not appear clogged. installed the new jetts. balanced carbs(they were way off!)

set valves on the loose side of the allowable specs, tripple checked everything for vaccum leaks, re torqued everything.

Stator bolts had no visible signs of loctite, now they have the magic 648 installed!

Fired it up yesterday afternoon, and it ran like a top!
so, while its pretty frustrating not knowing exactly what the cause was, ive chosen not to worry too much about it, and go ride the damn thing!( i think it was all fuel pump)

thanks guys! on the upside, i feel really confident about the condition of the bike after all this! Gonna keep this one for a while!

I'd say if your stator bolts didn't have LocTite on them that it was worth the failed trip just so you could catch it. Better to break down in a garage than have your stator explode in the middle of nowhere.

Glad it's running well now.