Thats what I would think of when I hear of a bike with EFI. EFFICIENT, RELIABLE. POWER!
Kawi needs to step up and fix the problem. Sounds like a problem in the EFI computer system.
Good luck.

 

I know, thats what I thought when I bought two of them, didnt know how bad the problems were till I had got out the run-in period & realised they were so slow for a 250! I mean 71 tops due to the bad ECU's program (Until I bypassed the speed wire to the ECU hehe)

It is a problem with the ECU, in Thailand they were all recalled & had new ECU's fitted for free & that cures all the cutting out problems & the speed limiting... but the head of tech for Kawasaki UK is just a total pr@t & says no-one else has complained, even know I know of a few people who have emailed to complain to him, & he says they dont have any knowledge of the recalls Thailand had made!!

Ed.

 

This is the standard email I recieved from Kawasaki UK

Thank you for your e-mail dated 5 April 2010.

We are sorry to learn of the problems which you have highlighted and appreciate your time in bringing this matter to our attention.

We can confirm that there are no recalls issued within the UK or Europe for the KLX250S9F in relation to an ECU or any other component on this machine. If you are experiencing running difficulties please can we ask you to arrange an inspection of your machine through your local Kawasaki dealer. We will then be in a better position to comment on the problems which you have reported.

Yours sincerely,


Simon Chitty

I am taking it in for its first service tomorrow so I will see what the dealer has to say.

 

How did you get on with the service??, what did the dealer say & does the dealer know about the 50ish mph rev limiter kicking in?

Ive been in touch with Simon Chitty, he just passed me onto Andrew Squires when I complained again & again about my bikes cutting out!..

Ed.

 

Ed, took the bike in on Friday for its first service. I tried to make it stall on the way to the dealer but with no luck. The dealer took the bike out on an extended road test - again nothing!
I somehow knew this would happen.
The dealer promised that he would get in touch with Kawasaki to report the problem.
It seems that Kawasaki is waiting for the first fatality before they bother to acknowledge that anything is wrong.
I saw your posting on The Golden Triangle Rider, perhaps directing Kawasaki to this forum may at least make them recognise that the EFI model has a problem.

 

I know how you feel, you try to make it cut out & it does'nt, happened to me when the dealer had mine in, although I doubt the dealer took mine a big run as its millage had only gone up by 2 miles...

Even if the bike isnt cutting out, I still dont think a rev limiter that cuts in at 50ish is safe when you try to overtake something... especially when the thailand bikes were doing the same, & that was cured by the ECU that was fitted with the recall aswell as stopping the cutting out..

Its just the usual for kawasaki with regards to recent recalls, zx12r stator plugs melting, zx10r's frames breaking, vn900 fuel pipe, 250 ninja oil leak onto tyre... all were not recalled until the $hit hit the fan with them..

My bikes are out of warranty anyway, even when they were told of my problems 2 days after I took delivery of them, so I doubt I will ever get the ECU done, but if anyone else can get theirs done, its worth the complaints to Kawasaki!!

Ive already directed Kawasaki UK to the thai forums & was told that their bikes didnt have a new ECU fitted as the ECU part number has not been changed or superceeded.. Like DUH!, they can have the same number, one has a bad program like our bikes have been fitted with & One has the new proper program even though the part numbers the same!..

Ed.

 

I thought I'd would register and chip in with my views.

I have upgraded my bike with the Keihin replacement 'performance' ECU and regulator. Goes great, but it still stalls.

Having put minimal time into thinking about the problem, I assume it's the idle dropping too low to. I like to have bikes at the lowest possible idle and thought my previous adjustments may have been the problem.

Yesterday I made the observation, that when cold the bike idles at ~2500 RPM, when warm that drops to ~1500 RPM.

I can see that if you set it 2000 RPM cold, then it runs at 1000rpm warm, it may not be running fast enough to iron out any 'issues' hence the stalling.

So, maybe try setting the idle to 2500+ RPM when cold and see if that helps.

 

Don't forget to email Kawasaki at customerservices@kawasaki.co.uk <customerservices@kawasaki.co.uk> and let them know of the problem, they seem to be in denial at the moment.

 

I'm going to try having the idle higher for a few weeks before emailing kwak. I have also experience the pulsing throttle, which was a bit disconcerting when it happened.

The rev limiter isn't great, but I wouldn't call it a fault. It's there for emissions issues, so I can see why they won't say it's a fault. On the test ride I thought I could live with it, but decided to upgrade the ECU after a month. Not really worth the money as you can cut cables to get round the limit. Makes the bike much more fun.

 

The performance ecu (the ebay one I can assume) Is the closest thing we can get to the thailand replacment, it takes away all the limiters, but yes, I have heard of it stalling still with it.. In thailand they got that for free as a RECALL due to the complaints they got with lack of power, limiting & the cutting out.. Why the hell should we need to pay for something that we are entitled to in the 1st place.

My bikes are possibly one of the 1st new shaped KLX250's (meaning the new design, not the 2010 ones) sold in the uk, they are '58' plates bought in october.. so ive had this problem since I got the bikes with the cutting out, was told time & time again that it was the tight engine, after running in ( I ran it in as Kawasaki tell you to do to the dot) was just as bad & not only that I find out while overtaking that at 50mph the bike limits like a b1tch making highland a-road overtaking a rather scary experience..

Then I contact Kawasaki UK... waste of time as they dont care... they tell my dealer the problem with my bike is aparently water ingress into my ecu connector, so they slap on grease (yeah, not a special electrical sealer, but just moly grease) all over my wires & ecu connector, looks like a 'pund of mince' & guess what, it didnt fix anything.. But better still, my bikes had never got wet by this point, they were cutting out since the day they came out the crate.. I had two brand new bikes ordered in.

As for the taking the rpm up... my idle on a warm/hot engine is up at nearly 2000 rpm to stop it cutting out, that helps stop it from happening as much.

As for the excuse for the limiter being there, im sorry but the US bikes fitted with a carb, meet far worse emissions than what we have over here... & the thailand bikes had to meet the same standards as our bikes, yet they had the ecu's replaced by kawasaki as part of the recall to remove the limiter.

Ed