New member with a not so new KLR 250 (KLR Project)

[crpt]

One more update and a few more pictures. First of all. The bike is running fine and the rebuild is complete. Still waiting for final pictures. But the first 50 Km went by, with more power and smoother engine.   The bike feels right, the engine doesn't smoke. Starts on the first or second kick. Still need to fine tune the carburetion.
Meanwhile just to give it a try. The seat was modified, not heavily, but enough to make my 2x50km/day a more comfortable journey.
Since the beginning I had this idea, so a few weeks ago. I bought a very used seat, and a gas tank. It was a first for me, never before had i bought something from a junk yard in another country, this time was from UK  
By the way the gas tank, is to be sliced, enlarged, etc. just to had a few more liters of gas and therefore increase range. For both this things i didn't want to mess with the OEM seat and tank. Never know if I might want to go back...  

This is what I started with, pretty messed up OEM seat. After removing cover and foam, the plastic base got a good wash. The cover (dark blue) went strait to the garbage can (it was filthy).  






First trial fit, enlarged at the back, a litle thinner at the front, with a flatter base, and back rest:

[crpt]

The end result looks like this   :



Latter on I expect to post a few more pictures with that in place. And the bike complet.  
The OEM tank got hold of new painting, lost those "barbie" stickers. Rebuild the petcock and cover. Was completely striped to bare metal, than received zinc paint, base coat, paint and varnish. All in white






Didn't mentioned before, on the right side there's also supports for side panniers, the left one will be a litle trickier.
Since it doesn't fit right away.
One of this days there will be a home made front visor (2mm lexan) coming to this pages.
The material was bought some 5 months ago, already with this bike in mind    

[crpt]

This is a sad update. Everything was going fine, but (there's always a BUT  ) then the bolt that seals the oil passage behind the water pump fell off. Most off the oil came out. Nothing hapened to the engine (only 90 km  ) My bike has oil even on the brand new seat cover, tire, etc. at the time was wearing a new white shirt, the back also got is fare share of oil
By the way need to find out the size/thread of that bolt   

So in the near future, i.e. later today, I'll be washing the bike from top to bottom...again 

[Baggey22]

That aftermarket exhaust of yours.....Can you give me measurements of the muffler? Mostly length and diameter. Also can you take a shot at muffler level from the side. I want to see how the pipe is bent. Thanks!

[crpt]

Hi Baggey22 tonight I'll try to measure it. If your intention is to build one from scratch, better do it with stainless steel.
On the down side, this exausth design as only one hanger on the muffler, better go to two hangers, similar to OEM design (much stronger). And make sure you can use a collar on the pipe  
About the shot not sure if I can do it soon because side covers and side case mountings are already in there  
Have you seen the pictures on the first page of this thread? Do they help?



Back to the tank, this images are out of sequence, but might be interesting to see how a tank striped of it's paint look like  

[Baggey22]

I was thinking of getting one of the FMF universal mufflers and having a piece of pipe bent to fit.

[MarkShelley]

I have recently fitted the same Marving silencer on mine.
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/NV8J0mdlW-Y" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/NV8J0mdlW-Y</a>
I think the one fixing is fine as it is much lighter than the original. It has been on a VERY bumpy MX/Enduro track with no ill effects.

[crpt]

Hi all
Markshelley i agree with you about that exausth being much lighter than OEM one. But in the long run I'm not very sure how it will behave.
Main reason it's the whole exausth system just as 2 hanging points.
- One up front, in the engine head.
- The second on the mufler on the back end of the bike. (left pink arrow on the picture).
Seems to me as very flimsy setup. I'm in the process of making an adaptation of the OEM collar to fix that.
The intention is to use the same mounting point as OEM (right pink arrow on the picture).

Baggey22 that's a good idea. Should be simple and cheap 
Meanwhile, yesterday I didn't take the measures. Was concentrated in washing the bike and fix that SMALL mishappen with the oil passage bolt.
For future reference that oil passage bolt is M10x1,0. One bolt+copper washer+oil and the problem is fixed.
Washing the bike was another matter. More than half an hour + degreaser spray + jet wash. 
Back to topic. Will you bend the tube yourself or will you take it somewhere else to be bent?
How about a link or reference of that FMF mufler? 
   

[Baggey22]

It's the FMF Turbine Core II Universal 2/4 stroke spark arrestor for 200-500cc bikes.
As for the pipe I'll probably get the pipe and then see what needs to be done. I might try to bend one myself, then have someone else do it if I screw it up. Haha

[crpt]

...try to bend one myself, then have someone else do it if I screw it up. Haha

That's a smart approach  

I've got at home two stainless steel cones which were bought with the idea of changing the downpipe.
But that's a future project...   First will be enlarging the gas tank  

Different subject: Electronic Fuel Injection - EFI something like the holly grail along with electric start, for us with KLR's
http://www.mbe-motorsports.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/22/products_id/190
Hoppe I could spend some 300€ in this  
They already have a 28mm CVK body, but that's the only size CVK they stock. Other than that just with adaptation.

[crpt]

Another update the bike is OK. Except for 2 simple but very annoying things.
The small problem with the oil passage bolt is solved, as described.

1 - But now theres a small droplet of oil passing trough the water pump. Not a very big deal. Must get my hands on a new seal 
At he time of the rebuild I didn't want to buy another seal. Well this is the result 

2 - Another trouble that come up a short time ago. The paint in the gas tank is highly affected by...GAS 
With that said, now the remaining paint which was in the inner side of the tank. Melted. So now i have a clogged carburetor.
That squirts gas trough the overflow. It's simple to solve but a real pain in the b.. Cleaned it a few days ago but now is in the same state. 

[crpt]

More KLR goodies. Maybe I've mentioned before. Some day my KLR will have a set of side panniers.
But since GIVI and the rest of the bunch have pretty high prices. This is what will be home made. There's also a PDF attached along with the JPG. This drawings are far from ready, but you get the picture literally  



This one is for small tab for 12V plug+ switch and LED. All this should be riveted to the under side of air filter box.



If anyone comes up with better ideas please post about it. Thank's

Edit: Sorry no PDF. How do I attach one? 

[crpt]

Been poking around on this forum.
http://klrworld.com/forums/index.php/topic,1417.msg10987.html#msg10987
And that made me remember another tip.
When first starting this bike after assembly, I realized that spark wasn't as good as it should.
Test was made simply by plugging the spark plug, holding it between the frame mounting bolt near the carburetor.
And kick it with ignition "on" of course. The spark was there, but to my sadness a beat weak.
The machine could run that way, and it sure did before disassembling, but...

On the previous week had bought an ignition coil for my next project
Scooter Yamaha CT50 S - 2 stroke 50cc   .  http://www.bikepics.com/yamaha/ct50/

So with the multimeter on hand. Took some readings of primary and secondary windings. The new coil is stronger than this tired OEM one.
Two bolts later, this KLR have a much better ignition coil along with better starting manners, and better combustion as well as better economy/emissions)
All this for 14€ (+-US $19)

[crpt]

Talking about that scooter it will be my next project 
As been lying among weeds, wind and rain for the past 12~15 years...
By the way it's a small scooter Yamaha CT 50S, with an "gigantic" 50cc 2 stroke engine and 12V electrics.
Thankfully the only thing missing is the electric start motor, I hope.   

Believe me behind that dinghy among those weeds there's a small pink horizontal "line". It's the seat of the scooter 
By the way that dinghy was last year project 

[crpt]

Hi all. Most of you guys use these KLR for dirt only. This is not for you.
But the ones that use it on the road might find this interesting.
Bought this bike without blinkers so some cheap chinese ones where called for this duty.
One disadvantage of this cheap blinkers are very short stalks.
In the first photos of this thread they can be seen attached to the rear fender, they are to short to mount at original position.
Meanwhile rear brake light is quite flimsy. Upgrade them it's a must.
This is what I come up with. 280mm Aluminum L 20x20x1.5mm angle, ends bent and taped to M8. This way don't need nuts for these blinkers.
11 countersunk holes ø4.8mm, for bright red 5mm LEDs. Polish in the middle, and flat black paint in the end points.
Countersink acts like a reflector 
Well it looks something like this:

[Green Machine]

Great project and nice work 

[crpt]

Great project and nice work 

Thank's. It's not over yet 
Some goodies still on the way 

[crpt]

Once in awhile people start looking for service manuals. So here goes my contribution to the quest.
At the end of this link there's a Service Manual for KLR600 + KLR 250 Suplement. Enjoy 

https://www.yousendit.com/download/bHlERE9zNDJsMHlGa1E9PQ

In the meantime need to clean that carburetor once again. Yesterday found out why it need so much cleaning. Gas filter inner core simply detached from the frame and every crap that was in there went to the gas feeding line  <
As usual it's sunday, so "sunday syndrome" left me stranded again. Every shop is closed. I'll have to wait till tomorrow to get a new filter  

[crpt]

New gas filter a beat crappy, but that's what I've found. Anyway it works. It's a billet aluminum with copper screen blue anodized.
Wouldn't be my first choice for this bike...

Meanwhile the weekend was dedicated to some DIY work. And this is the result airbox mod, carb mod and seat mod
Before anything else let me tell you guys the seat mod didn't work as expected, next time will do something slightly different.
I'll explain later, anyhow this is what I did...The idea is to secure the seat, but also be able to remove it with just one screw. What didn't work, was the 6mm thread adaptor (don't know the name in english) kept jumping from the plastic seat base.  


Airbox: Opened two other holes. The snorkel is long gone. Use some aluminum mesh to cover those holes. The rectangular one was covered with mesh a few weeks after I bought the bike. The round ones are still fresh   the mesh was bent with a half moon shape, easily done with your thumbs, no rocket science here.
That ugly gray stuff is Araldite, more or less like JB weld, I think. Not pretty but works really well.
Why the mesh? One day found a bird feather in my airbox wasn't difficult to decide that a small screen wouldn't hurt.


Now the carburetor: After wash, it was time for some tweaking. No jets for now. Just make it work to it's best, than later on will be plenty of time for jetting. Remember some posts ago I mentioned that this bike had to be economical and reliable. Well the idea remains.
Maximum power isn't the main goal, economy first. To cut the story short. Starts usually at the first kick. Runs smooth. Cold or hot, and very important runs well  
The spring was tied 4 turns, now went back to 3 turns. Probably will go back to zero. Not sure yet. More testing in the meantime.
Took the chance and changed those bowl screws to 4x16mm Allen bolts. The carburetor flanges where polished front and back. Same treatment for the slider, with small chamfer front and back. Hole was drilled to 3mm, and countersink


 

[Jmevans_2]

CRPT,

I'm really liking what you've done with the bike! 
I can't wait to see it when you get done! 

Sorry if this is a dumb question, I don't brows the forums for mods very much. What was the capacitor for? and What did you drill and chamfer the slider in the carb for?

[crpt]

...I can't wait to see it when you get done!  
...What was the capacitor for? and What did you drill and chamfer the slider in the carb for?

- I also would like to see it done  
- Look for carb mods, this as been discussed "ad nauseum" everywhere.
To cut it short. Better vacuum in the top carb chamber. More responsive.
But the most important was polishing the slider.  
- Capacitor acts like a ... capacitor   Ok lets go. Like the name says it accumulates energy, and delivers it back when needed.
By now your saying. Well the battery does that. And your right it does. But with a huge difference. Speed.
Ever thought why CDI (capacitive discharge ignition) uses capacitors. Speed. Battery's can deliver much more energy and for longer times, but never with that speed.
What it really does is called in Portuguese "correcção do factor de potência" don't have a clue how it's called in english. Google it please. But what really matters is more efficient that way. It's nothing new, have been using this for the past 20 years in cars, bikes, fluorescent lights, etc.
Give it a try. It's cheap, simple and don't hurt :) the capacitor should be around 2~5 us$ connect the "plus" (+) to the battery + and the "minus" (-) to the battery minus, or a good ground anywhere on the bike. Go for a spin. Than get back here, and tell us the difference :)
25V - >100º C 10000F works well. Can be 5000F or whatever you get your hands on.
Sometime ago i've writen some lines about this but don't really remember where 

[crpt]

One image is worth a thousand words.  
2~4€ capacitor, connectors and wires.
Ebay as lots of this with pretty boxes, some LEDs and sometimes voltmeter. Retails prices sometimes go up to 70€    

[Jmevans_2]

I will try to find a capacitor that will fit in my motorcycle. We have a lot of electronics that don't get used at work so I might see if I can find one there.

[crpt]

Don't forget that you can join more than one capacitor. To achieve the combination you prefer 

[Jmevans_2]

Is the capacitor a 10,000 micro Farad Capacitor? or a 1,000 micro farad capacitor. Seem a little small to be a 10,000 micro F. I found some here in the shop but the ones about the size of yours are about 2,800 uF. Also they are 52V and I don't know if that will affect anything since my motorcycle won't produce anything near that in voltage. I will rig one of these up and try it anyway.