This morning I fitted up the carb for the first time since putting the 351 kit on and tried starting the bike. It did crank over and I could head there was compression (unlike the old top-end) but it didn't fire. At one stage I heard a pop so thought I was close. But then I noticed a few drips of oil on the floor between the front wheel and engine and freaked! On closer inspection the oil was coming from the Smog opening. I bought this head off Adrian in the UK where they have the smog stuff, and I didn't realise that coz my Australian bike the opening was blocked off. I had plugged the holes in the smog opening with some exhaust cement but obviously that wasn't strong enough. I know one of the mods recommended here is to put a blanking plate over the opening. Problem is that I don't have the equipment at home to make a plate up. But I saw someone on here had basically made a blanking plate out of the smog plate by sealing off the reed valve. So that's what I have done.

First step was taking the smog reed valve apart and cleaning all to soot off it:


I managed to find some JB Weld as it seems to be the preferred goop to do any sort of serious sealing work on this forum

I then straightened (actually I almost reversed the curve to it would push the end of the valve closed) the reed valve stop so that it won't let the flap open, but I didn't that on its own won't make a good enough seal. So that's where the JB Weld comes in - I JB Welded the valve to the plate and then screwed the reed valve stop back on.


Next, I found the right size bolt to plug the smog pipe connector then tapped the hole out before screwing the bolt in with a bit of loctite:


So that's the blanking plate "solution" ready for installing:


I've just got to give the JB Weld a few hours to cure before installing the plate. I also need to figure out how I'm going to put the plate on without removing the head again. Hopefully I can, although I predict I will be losing some skin off my hands and finders in the process and no doubt make a blood sacrifice to the DIY Gods I think I'll also put a new spark plug in just to take that out of the equation of possible reasons why the bike won't fire.

Who said this job was going to be simple?

 

Accck!...how barbaric!

Very creative. Threading the smog hose barb was a nice touch.

 

I'm waiting to hear how she runs now......

Nice job, barbarian!




I have yet to use JB Weld. Carry it around with the KLX, yet no one has needed it. Knock on wood as they say. Who ever "they" are.

.

 

Just finished up putting the smog blanking plate on and it wasn't as difficult as I expected



I slapped in the new spark plug (coz I had it already) and did the check to make sure it had spark - it was a good spark. Once it was in place I pulled the choke and hit the button for a second just to get an initial turn and it nearly fired straight away. The second hit of the button and she was away! I pushed the choke in fairly quickly as it started revving faster almost immediately. Even after putting the choke in she was still idling a little fast so I adjusted the idle to get it to a more reasonable speed.

ROCKIN!!!! She lives!!!!

 

Nice job on the threaded plug. Way better than a vacuum cap and more permanent. With that plug in there I doubt the JB weld/reed valve part of the job is doing you any good.

I have used JBweld twice in my life with great success. Once to repair a cracked fuel bowl on a diesel tractor, worked for years, and a second time to hold the trailtech magnet onto the disc brake rotor for my vapor and it has been solid.

 

High beam is correct. The threaded bolt on the air inlet is adequate. Maybe overkill..

 

Hey, the JB welded reed plate is just belt-and-suspenders...nothing wrong with that...LOL!

Has she "blowed up" yet from this barbaric DIY disaster, Arctra?

 

No, the bike has fired up quickly and run nicely "on the bench". I put everything back together last night and plan on doing a "run-in" ride this weekend if the weather is decent (it's pretty cold and wet today).

Thanks mate. To be honest I am surprised someone hasn't done it before as it seemed like a pretty obvious thing to do. That made me wonder whether there was a reason no-one had done it, which is why I thought that the bolt was the backup to the JB Welded reed valve rather than the other way around. Either way, I am now more confident of the mod and maybe I have now done something that others can do in the future.

 

Knocking on wood - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia