Looks great! Thought about a bash plate? Here's Utah Sport Cycle's KLR250 model; I like the way the ears protect the water pump housing and plumbing:
This time apply gasket tack to the pump cover surface and anti-sieze to the pump case surface. The gasket will stick to the pump cover, that way when you remove it in the future you can put it some where up out of the way to avoid damaging the gasket while working on the bike. The thin coat of anti sieze will prevent the gasket from sticking to the case but the gasket will still be able to seal. I had the KLR250 out for a ride last weekend. The carb started over filling. Probably got a stuck float or a piece of grit stuck in the need seat. I am going to looking into jetting mods while I have it apart.
IIRC the EBC springs measured in at 2-3mm over the stock springs, which I assumed meant that the stock ones were done. On further reflection, I think the EBC ones are just too long. The pull is so bad that I don't think the extended clutch arm would bring it back to stock pull. I'd seen that before, and might actually do it this time
Maybe not. You may have this data already; stock clutch spring length is 33.6 mm; service limit: 32.3 mm.
The petcock I rebuilt still leaks. I've got the flywheel off... And no feeler gauge to be seen. Fuck, this bike has been nothing but a headache. Time to start pulling stuff off again... I'll be happy once it's finally roadworthy.
Anybody just not use the overflow tank? Put a KLX carb on my 89 and it has the choke knob on the card and the tank is in the way. Pulled the tank and plugged the lines and ran around the yard and back roads and the temp stayed just short of mid gauge. So how critical is that overflow? Also have the CW 330 kit and he put a pressure relief hole in the rotor cover and a 1/4" line out the back of the bike. So the tank gets in the way of that also.
1. Remove brake rod free play adjusting nut (14 mm), freeing brake rod from brake drum lever. 2. Remove axle nut, loosen drive chain tension adjusters. 3. Raise rear wheel off ground. 4. Slide axle forward, loosening drive chain; remove drive chain from rear sprocket. 5. Remove hitch pins from axle retention pins, pull axle retention pins upward to free axle. 6. Slide axle rearward, remove brake shoe assembly from drum. 7. Remove brake shoes (brake spring plies recommended; locking pliers, screwdrivers, punches, etc., have their limitations for this procedure). 8. Clean residue from drum, using brake cleaning fluid and rag. 9. Install replacement brake shoes into place on pivot pin and cam, grease activation cam and pivot pin. 10. Reassemble rear hub assemblies in reverse of disassembly, adjust rear brake pedal free play with adjusting nut, but—do not fully tighten rear axle, aligned correctly with drive chain tension adjusters. Spin up rear wheel and apply rear brake sharply, allowing shoe lining to center itself in brake drum. Check axle alignment, tighten rear axle nut fully, insert axle cotter pin and ride on! --------------- Truth be told, my own KLR250 brake shoe replacement story has no happy ending, YET! EBC brake shoe cam contact surfaces were too wide to fit between cam flanges (about 11/16" wide, vs. OEM 5/8" width). Shoes would not contract sufficiently to enter drum. May have an appointment with Mr. Bench Grinder tomorrow to address this problem (i.e., grind cam contact surfaces so brake shoes will clear drum when at rest).! In contrast, the old OEM brake shoes shown below have clearance to fit within the cam flanges, allowing contraction to insert the brake shoe mechanism into the brake drum:
This is the coolant catch tank I came up with for the Mikuni TM33 installed on my KLR250. This photo shows the stock carb cable choke installed. I now have the choke knob that came with the TM33 in place. I'm still not decided if i am going to keep the carb on the bike or go back to the stock CV carb. I use this bike to commute and my milage went from 60-70 mpg with the CV carb to 40-45 with the TM33 pumper. Rube
I appreciate the compliment, bigfishs! Glad to announce, my brake shoe replacement story has a HAPPY ENDING! Compare with: I would like to thank the manufacturers of bench and hand-held grinders, and the marketers of grinding and polishing abrasives! Most of all, thanks to Shane, Service Manager at The Motorcycle Factory, Inc., Woodbridge, VA, for his customized modification of the brake shoes. LESSON LEARNED: Never, ever, buy brake shoes again from EBC, or probably anyone other than Kawasaki. Reason: Aftermarket product did not fit; sloppy, rough and slaggy casting; poor quality control and/or design. Other EBC products: My mind's open; their oversize rotor works great on my KLR650. Brake shoes? Not a chance! The few dollars saved were not nearly worth the aggravation of re-working defective parts.
everyone loves a happy ending! My bike will need some shoes soon so this is useful info. Did not know that bit about not tightening up the axle till the brakes are centered. In other news... Took my 94 KLR250 to get it NYS inspected today. Failed for not having the kickstand kill switch, and no license plate light. When I got the bike in dec it would die when I pulled the clutch in sometimes so I snipped the wire from the lever, and put in a loop and spade clips. So today after the inspection, I hooked up the clutch switch, cleaned it and the dying persisted, obviously. Checked it with a multimeter and it is working ok. Moving to the kickstand switch, it was not moving freely and was bent (the plunger of the switch) and would rotate out of the way of the stand metal contact sometimes. I cleaned it up and straightened it up somewhat but im not sure if its working properly.. For this year of manual kick bike, when should that switch kill the engine or what is the normal operation? Hopefully someone can answer each of these questions, my guess is at the end of each question. 1. Bike in neutral, stand down, clutch in, run/start ok? 2. Bike in neutral, stand down, let clutch out, run/start ok? 3. Bike in gear, clutch in, stand down run/start ok? 4. Bike in gear, clutch letting out, stand down..kill? 5. My understanding is that the clutch switch trumphs all..hence why closing that circuit allows the bike to ignore what is happening with the kickstand and 6. the neutral switch in combo with the kickstand can kill the engine providing the clutch isnt in. http://www.kawasakipartshouse.com/oemparts/a/kaw/500b22cdf8700223e478b118/stand-s SWITCH,SIDE STAND27010-1189 $39 This looks like what I need. Anyone have a write up on where it plugs in? Looks like I may have to take a side cover off...or just cut the wires, solder and shrink wrap?
Also, he pointed out the front rotor is pretty worn and grooved. Looks like a new OEM one is 220 dolla. Are there any other options, preferably cheaper out there? I only paid $700 for the bike and probably have around 400 in parts into it so far...but it should be almost good to go now.
May your brake shoe installation end happily also, bigfishs! IMHO, your chances for happiness are improved with genuine Kawasaki brake shoes! Failed inspection for side stand switch? My, how thorough, how meticulous! Hereabouts, the vehicle inspectors would have no idea of the purpose or of the function of the side stand switch. At one location, the inspection consisted of my answering only ONE question, "Where do you want this sticker?" As you doubtless know, many KLRistas disable the safety switches deliberately, early on. In your case, I might seek a less-knowledgeable inspector; MANY motorcycles have no side stand safety switches, ever. Best of luck passing re-inspection; your bike looks great!
Cleaned the stand switch up a bit and now when I let out the clutch with the stand down, in gear, it kills the engine which I assume is the way its supposed to be. Had an electrical problem too. Rear light went out when I braked and the indicators didnt work. Unplugged the rear harness near the seat and the front lights worked ok. Checked the connector and it was corroded on the red wire terminal for the rear lights. Cleaned it up and booooyaaa..back in business. Bike should pass the inspection now and the retest is free if i go to the same place.
I just bought a front rotor and set of pads for $64, $78 including shipping, from flea bay. Or was it Amazon? Anyway, look and you'll find it. Fitment is unknown as these parts are for trip prep later this year.
I finally got the feeler gauge out. All that is left to do is to bolt the generator cover back on and fill it with oil... Except I broke off a generator cover bolt. I couldn't find the torque specs, so I figured 150 in/lb would be a pretty conservative number... and one of the bolts snapped off. It was soft as butter. FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK! Now I need to extract the bolt and get a new one. Fuck I'm really starting to hate this bike. Anyhow, does anyone have the torque specs for the generator cover bolts?
Well, I figured 6 out of 7 bolts should be able to hold the cover on with no problems temporarily. I went out to start it, and it was worse than before. It wouldn't start AT ALL. Finally, after about 40 kicks it started. It sputtered a little bit and died. What the hell. Again, after an inordinate number of kicks it started, took me about 100 yards and died. Oh yeah, that's right, it was low on gas and needed to be put on reserve... Okay, now that it's on reserve... Wait for it... Wanna take guesses as to what happened?... Ready... It fired up first kick!!!! It ran pretty darn good too! Took it for a few spins around the block and it ran great... Without any choke either. It's consistently firing up with 1-3 kicks. I'm quite happy and don't hate the bike any longer. Still need to extract the broken bolt though.
Someone gave me the torque spec. It was a range. I used 69 inch pounds because, well, I liked the number.
I just looked through the klr250 supplement and the KLR600 base manual, I saw no specification for those bolts. Kinda like an electrical engineer wrote that section and did not care about torque. Maybe I missed something. Don
