KLR back from the dead? Hopefully, yes.

[Kawidad]

Ok, it's time to update.

My welding buddy should be back home by the end of the week, so I'm hoping the frame repair will happen sometime next week. Now it's time to prep the frame as per his directions.

First I drilled the end of the crack. He says that in his experience this is the best way to stop it from running further. Drill it, and then fill it with weld material.



Then I took my Dremel and removed the paint along the crack. Once I did that I could see the crack is deeper and bigger than it originally appeared to be.



As you can tell from the picture, I removed the subframe. I took it off as a complete assembly, which BTW was very easy to do.



Now comes time to tackle the real problem, which is the top end and why it ran so crappy in the first place.



Sorry I don't have any real pictures of the dis-assembly process, since I was busy with the tear down and not taking pictures.

But, here's the top of the piston, which doesn't look all that bad to me. Opinions are welcome about the state of the piston.



And now, the source of the problem. Drum roll please..................



One of the exhaust valves is split in 2 places. It looks burnt and recessed into the head. I have no idea why it would do that, or what caused it. But, clearly that's the source of the problem.

I'm going to take the head down to my buddy the pro mechanic and have him pull the valves and look them over and the seats before deciding what's next.

More to follow...........

[DaBit]

Originally Posted by Kawidad

One of the exhaust valves is split in 2 places. It looks burnt and recessed into the head. I have no idea why it would do that, or what caused it.

No valve clearance -> valve does not seat well to cyl. head in closed position -> valve cannot dissipate the heat -> valve gets damaged.

Might be something like that.

[Kawidad]

Originally Posted by DaBit

No valve clearance -> valve does not seat well to cyl. head in closed position -> valve cannot dissipate the heat -> valve gets damaged.

Might be something like that.

I'll buy that.

[RevBill]

.. 685/688 kit .. like .. sweet opportunity .. I'm almost envious now ..

[techforlife]

Originally Posted by Kawidad

Ok, it's time to update.

My welding buddy should be back home by the end of the week, so I'm hoping the frame repair will happen sometime next week. Now it's time to prep the frame as per his directions.

First I drilled the end of the crack. He says that in his experience this is the best way to stop it from running further. Drill it, and then fill it with weld material.



Then I took my Dremel and removed the paint along the crack. Once I did that I could see the crack is deeper and bigger than it originally appeared to be.



As you can tell from the picture, I removed the subframe. I took it off as a complete assembly, which BTW was very easy to do.



Now comes time to tackle the real problem, which is the top end and why it ran so crappy in the first place.



Sorry I don't have any real pictures of the dis-assembly process, since I was busy with the tear down and not taking pictures.

But, here's the top of the piston, which doesn't look all that bad to me. Opinions are welcome about the state of the piston.



And now, the source of the problem. Drum roll please..................



One of the exhaust valves is split in 2 places. It looks burnt and recessed into the head. I have no idea why it would do that, or what caused it. But, clearly that's the source of the problem.

I'm going to take the head down to my buddy the pro mechanic and have him pull the valves and look them over and the seats before deciding what's next.

More to follow...........

Freekin cool.........somebody was lucky that valve didn`t chunk and stick in the piston.........that`ll make nice "garage art" to look at and show the boys when you`re drinkin

So a valve job is cheap.......are you going farther in?????? alot of times when you see carbon missing like that all the way arround the piston on the edge is because the rings are worn,,passing oil......but not always...

B

[techforlife]

Originally Posted by DaBit

No valve clearance -> valve does not seat well to cyl. head in closed position -> valve cannot dissipate the heat -> valve gets damaged.

Might be something like that.

Quite possible..........usually they "mushroom" and not split like that..

B

[Kawidad]

Originally Posted by techforlife

Freekin cool.........somebody was lucky that valve didn`t chunk and stick in the piston.........that`ll make nice "garage art" to look at and show the boys when you`re drinkin

So a valve job is cheap.......are you going farther in?????? alot of times when you see carbon missing like that all the way arround the piston on the edge is because the rings are worn,,passing oil......but not always...

B

Yeah, I pulled the barrel off to take a look. Not too bad. At this point, I'll probably just re-ring it and call it good.

More good news, I hope. I took the head to my mechanic and he wasn't sure how much damage was there and referred me to the machine shop he uses. So, I took the head there and met the machinist. His shop specializes in car engine heads, but does work on single cylinder stuff. He was a totally cool guy who rides. He did a quick once over and said the intake valves look good and may just need cleaning up. The exhaust valves are shot, but thinks the seats may also be salvageable, but won't know until he starts cutting. So at this point it looks like 2 exhaust valves and probably a set of valve springs. (I measured one set and they were marginal at best, and the machinist said Kawasaki valve springs tend to be weak. Although, he has a spring meter and will check them to be sure.)

Now, the other question is the Doo. The PO told me the Doo cut loose around 10k miles and he fixed all of the damage and put in an Eagle Mike kit. Since I've established he lied to me, how far do I trust him?

My plan is to pull both side covers and take a look around. The one side to check the Doo and the other side to get to the oil pump screen to check for metallic bits, as well as, possibly undiscovered damage.

[Kawidad]

Well, I took the barrel into my buddy's shop and had him take a look. He's a perfectionist and pronounced the barrel mediocre at best. He said it showed signs of significant wear and it's obvious the PO never changed the oil. Of course, we also now know he never adjusted the valves either.

When pressed, however, my buddy did say it should be runnable, just not ideal. So, I guess I'll re-ring it as planned and see where it goes.

I also pulled the generator cover off to take a look around. Looked good. Nothing screamed out to me. I couldn't tell if he really did put in an Eagle Mike kit. I think so and it looked like he used the torsion spring rather than the coil spring, but I really didn't want to tear into it further for now. So, I think I'm good here too.

Now onto the clutch side and see what happens there next.

[Kawidad]

As I await back from the machine shop on the head, I pulled the clutch cover off and took a look; including the oil pump strainer.

The good news is there appears to be no damage and everything looks good and tight.

The bad news is this:



Obviously, the PO never pulled this side open after the Doo cut loose. What an ass clown.

Since everything else looks okay, I'm going to stick to the plan and run it.

Comments welcome.

[techforlife]

Cool.......but if it was me i`d put a liner and piston in.....and then not have to revisit this shit again for a looonnnnnnnngggggg time,your call though...

2 valves,springs,cut the seats and intakes.....hone the cylinder and re-ring the piston isn`t all that bad......

B

[Kawidad]

Originally Posted by techforlife

Cool.......but if it was me i`d put a liner and piston in.....and then not have to revisit this shit again for a looonnnnnnnngggggg time,your call though...

2 valves,springs,cut the seats and intakes.....hone the cylinder and re-ring the piston isn`t all that bad......

B

Yeah, Brian, I thought loooonnngggg and hard about going up to the new 688cc kit with other goodies, but not yet. Honestly, I haven't even ridden the bike yet, so my goal is to get it running correctly and then evaluate it, then go from there.

(I also just picked up 2 more project bikes that I haven't posted about yet, so I've got my hands full)

[nskitts]

Originally Posted by Aprilia

Took me 3 days to get the gas cap to open. Yes, it was that corroded! And once I did wow, was that some sink in that fuel tank. It was a dark brown gooey, sticky mess that was now pure condensed Varnish. Immediately ordered this http://www.por15.com/CYCLE-TANK-REPA...ductinfo/CTRK/

A great product I've used several times with great results. It was no different this time even with this KLR tank. Once done the finish on the inside of the tank was nicer than the outside. Highly recommend this product even if your tank is in good shape. No way will your tank rust after using this. And unlike other coatings i.e. Kreme I've never seen POR15 lift, peel or otherwise compromise itself.

With the tank done I drained the oil and surprisingly it had been changed before it was parked as it was still golden brown in color. The site glass was hazed over but no question the oil was in good shape. Oil filter was bone dry and when I pulled the top engine cover it too was bone dry. I added some assembly lube to the top end and a good dousing of fresh oil. Valves were within spec and the engine turned over by hand with no problem.

Next up was electrical. With a new battery installed the headlight worked (low beam only) and tail light...no brake light. Nothing else worked. Pulled all the switches apart an found corroded contacts. Once back together everything worked just fine. I had simply touched the starter to make sure it would engage. At the same time I bypassed most of the safety switches. What was up with Kawasaki and having a relay to throw the starter relay....said good bye to that whole setup.

The next week was simply going over the entire bike. When I pulled the carb bowl my first reaction was how interesting the green color was and amazed at how sticky and resistent the remaining fuel was attached to everything. Completely disassembled the carb and allowed a good 2 day soak. Upon reassembly I made some jetting changes, KLX needle and made the fuel screw adjustable.

Overall the bike was in pretty good shape. The only area that was bad was the swing arm pivot shafts. Both had good water into them and while they allowed the rear suspension to move properly it took a 3lb sledge hammer and a good hour to get them out. Yes, ruined both shafts but new ones were available from Kawasaki. Bearings were surprisingly good so just a regrease. Also, steering stem bearings looked new and even the garbage lith clear grease from assembly was in great shape.

So, saturday I got the bike back together and the moment had finally arrived...will she start? Poured some gas in, thumbed the starter and within 3 cranks she fired right up. Whoohoo! Did a couple short breakin rides then took her out for a 100 mile loop. Oh, did I mention the rear shock had no damping? Here's some pix of Saturday

How did you get your frame to look so good? Mine is rusty just like your first pics.

[Kawidad]

Well good news and sorta bad news. The good news came from the machine shop (finally). The head is okay. The intake valves are in good shape and the seat just need a little re-conditioning. The exhaust seats are burnt, but are salvageable. He checked the springs on a spring gauge and they're shot, as I figured. So the original estimate of 2 valves and springs is correct.

The sort of bad news, is I can't just re-ring it. Apparently, Kawasaki no longer produces the rings for older bikes. They have superseded the part with a new ring, which requires a new piston. I might take a guess and say that's a result of the well documented oil burning issues.

So a new piston set is on the way at more than double the original cost estimate.

[Kawidad]

Lookie what arrived today.



A brand spanking new Wossner piston set. Quite a tasty piece of kit.

I immediately noticed it looked lighter than the stocker. So, I took out my handy digital postal scale and guess what? I was right.

Interesting factoid. The stock piston alone weighed 472 grams. The Wossner weighed in at 346 grams. Also, due to the design, the wrist pin was substantially smaller in length. You'll be able to see it in the pictures below. This led me to weigh the entire piston kit (piston, rings, wrist pin, and clips). The stock unit weighed 631 grams, while the Wossner weighed 463 grams. I'm no mathematical genius, but that seems like a HUGE weight difference to me.





You can easily see the difference in the skirting between the two pistons, which I'm sure is responsible for the weight differences.

Now I wait for the valves and components to get here before I can get them to the machine shop and finish up.

[techforlife]

Nice piston Wosner makes good shit for sure,still a nice long skirt,noy like the light pistons in the 450`s now........that are good for about 20 hours

Lighter piston/pin assemblies usually give less vibration which is sweet....this bike is gonna run sweet Chris....looking forward to see you finish it up

B