I may be late to the game, but when I jumped out the clutch switch I ended up with problems.

Less than a year old KLX250. Initial crank ran fine. So did the next 3 starts. After I let it sit a while, it would turn over but the FI light would flash. Bike wouldn’t start. Yanked the heat shrink and clip off the clutch switch, plugged it in, and it started up just fine with no FI light. Did kawa patch this mod and is this something already known? Couldn’t find any posts about it.

 

On page two of the threads here, you'll see another tread titled "clutch switch mod". It covers the issue of this switch on FI bikes and what it does.

 

I read it and I understood what it does. That’s why I did it! I’m thinking Kawa may have patched this workaround. It seems like, at lest for a 2020, the ECU wants to see the clutch switch change states occasionally to allow you to start. I don’t know if it was a number of starts thing or if it was the length of time I had the engine off. The FI light flashing while it was turning over and immediately being remedied by removing the jumper, plugging it back up, and pulling the clutch to start it tells me Kawa is actively trying to prevent this now.

 

Maybe there is a tuner/programmer out there that can work around that. Seems lots of FI bike owners have to use them to defeat some of the various pitfalls of computer control. After a life time of many, many motorcycles, I only bought my first FI bike last month. Now, I have had tuners in some of my cars/trucks for performance and even addressing stupid stuff like dinging seatbelt alarms and such. Not sure what tuner(s) are available for the FI KLX and what their capabilities are. Surely someone will check in.

 

Well this is concerning... Since the clutch switch mod is mandatory (or should be), the issue raised by @DLRussell will need to be rectified.. Hopefully, DLR, your implementation of the mod is faulty - intermittent continuity variances, etc, etc - there could be many issues with an implementation of the mod..


If not a problem with your implementation, it would seem the that the "clutch switch mod" needs a "mod" for the new KLX's - a toggle switch on the handlebar...

 

My thoughts were a manual switch to toggle before cranking. My implementation was simply a heavy duty staple stuck in the connector that plugs into the clutch switch and some heat shrink over the connector. It would be nice to have a programable ECU to make any changes you wish, but no one has stepped up to the plate. I have two electronics degrees and programming knowledge. I reckon I should at least look into it.

 

Lets hope your staple did not provide stable continuity..

The first step to "cracking" the ECM would certainly be to identify the "diagnostic port" , if any, and then try to determine the protocol needed to initiate communication.. A dump of memory contents - spread out in front of a experienced ECM "Cracker" - could tease out tables and their memory locations ?

 

Forget their programming. You'd want to make your own anyway. Youd need the ability to tune though. I dont have the resources for it. Looks like the megasquirt kit from diyautotune would be the best bet. If i ever decided to fix the fueling, Id go that route. Wouldnt be much more, if any, than an ejk. Other than the shop time id need to tune 😭. If i ever need more power, it would be easier for me to finance a crf450rl than buy everything id need for the klx. JH Motor Club is close to what a crf450l is stock and getting close to the same cost 🤣

On a side note, I dont think my attempt at the mod could cause the engine to spin over like everything is normal but not fire and cause the FI light to flash unless Kawa programmed the ecu to recognize it hasnt seen a clutch pull so dont let it fire and throw an error. The FI light only flashed while i was pressing the starter button.

 

The EJK and the PCFC have the issue of fueling taken care of..

The Kawasaki "detune" or "soft limiter" built into the ECM programming is the problem remedied by the Switch mod.. Jeff had his PCFC tuned at a dyno shop WITHOUT having first done the switch mod - the results are eye popping.. The power loss is incredible !

Another data point, created during Jeff's efforts, is that the stock injector (at least on the new EFI's) will not support 30hp. This means that somewhere below 30hp, the stock injector becomes basically useless.. I hope 28hp is possible with the stock injector - as this is easily "doable" with the 351 kit, full performance exhaust system, and the KLX BB EJK or a dyno tuned PCFC on a lidless airbox.

 

Hi!

When I first tried the clutch mod, I also had this error, the FI light started flashing. It scared me a little, so I didn’t use this mod for a long time. But a month ago I decided to give it another shot, and it’s been working flawlessly since then. Nothing was changed between the two attempts, so I have now idea what the problem was the first time. The bike is from 2009.

I think you should give it another shot as well, maybe disconnect then reconnect the battery.