Looking good Todd you are the man[sm=smiley20.gif]

 

I got the KLX300 petcock installed last night. Works perfectly! I rode the bike up to the gas station and put over 3 gallons in (it had some in already from my leak test). I'll report back on range before reserve as soon as I can.

 

I did a write up of the install here. Any questions, let me know. I couldn't be more pleased with the outcome. It's so cool being able to see the gas in the natural colored tank!

 

Just got back from a 218 mile ride around lovely N. Texas. Some pavement but mostly dirt and deep gravel roads.

Note the reading on the bike's trip meter (not the GPS which is total for the trip).

THAT'S RIGHT! 152 miles and NOT ON RESERVE YET!!!!



Here's a picture of the remaining fuel after 152 miles. It's kinda hard to see in the picture so I marked it:



There's at least one half gallon left in the tank.

My bike gets between 52 and 58 mpg depending on conditions. Today I fought a 15 knot headwind for half the trip so it was closer to 52.

I'm now confident to ride with my friends on their big dual sports without holding them back due to limited range.

 

I finally got my tank today and got it installed. Thanks to Todd (bmwhd) for blazing the way - his instructions were great. I went one further and made a fan replacement (you have to remove the stock fan to make the tank fit). Another small change from Todd's instructions, I found that the relay could be squeezed into the rubber cable protector near the coil instead of exposing up on top of the right radiator.

I won't repeat all the install photos since Todd already did that. We'll jump right to the end result and a few fan pics.

Edit: remove dead pics

 

Wooo hooo, how long did it take you to put it all together??
Looking good. Too bad I spent all my money on a Muzzy muffler, and a whole bunch of other performance stuff. My bike just got more powerful naturally, guess its done with the break in, about 750 miles on it. I can tell a differance and now don't want any more power, oh well I'm gonna get it. I really need a bigger tank lol, oh well we will just have to wait a while wont we.

 

I'd guess it took 6 or 8 hours total but I didn't keep close track. Thanks to bmwhd the job was pretty well defined so I knew what to expect. Today went pretty quick since I had everything prep'd and ready to drop in the tank. I checked my valves a few days back and since I knew my tank was going to arrive real soon, I just left the bike apart and did all the wiring and other stuff needed to prepare for the new tank. Today is was a matter of a few test fits, a tweak here and there, a little fab work, then bolt it all back together. I already had the fan bracket made, but did not have the fans mounted since I wasn't sure about clearence, so I still had to do that, plus a little soldering.

All in all, I'm real happy. This is the tank that Kawi should have designed in from the beginning. The tank size was really my only complaint with the KLX250S. Now that's solved - I'm golden, life is bliss. [sm=smiley14.gif]

Note that after you rejet and install the Muzzy, I think you will lose about 10 MPG or so. Not horrible, but it sure makes the larger sized tank even more attractive.

I filled up today. I'll try not to add any gas until I hit reserve and see how many miles I get.

Oh, hey, Incabiker - you crack me up. Only a few weeks ago you were just a humble mountain biker sayin' you just want to putt around trails. Now you're doing all the performance mods and installing a Muzzy. Are we that bad of an influence on you? [sm=devilgrin.gif]

-Brian

 

Ahahah, ya I was just thinking that to myself[sm=smiley36.gif]. I was getting all hyped up about the mods, like "Woooo Hoooo[sm=happy046.gif] lets mod this sucker out completley, ya" and after just a few recent rides I decided that it really suites me just fine stock, especially after that little power gain recently from the break in. You guys are bad influences, shame on you and the effect you had on poor little me[sm=nono.gif]

 

NOBRAKES very inventive with the fans! good job thats quite a fabrication.

 

Thanks. The fan was something I felt I needed from day one due to the kind of riding I frequently find myself in - slow technical terrain, blazing new trails, exploring for new trails and connections between back roads. The going is sometimes slow and arduous - I hear my fan kick on a lot.

I was mildly worried about it, but once I started fitting parts it came together quite nicely. I had done a previous mock-up with thinner aluminum that had 4 fans, two on each side. But even with those thin fans, there was not enough clearence to mount the fans on the left half of the radiator.

Since taking the photos, I've added some of that thin sheet aluminum with some red RTV gasket maker to seal up the gap on the right between the fan and the radiator, forcing the air to come in through the radiator fins. I think that will finish it up for now.

Future upgrade or for the next guy: 60 mm seems to be about the right size to fit a pair of fans and cover the right half of the radiator. However, it is possible to fit much thicker fans in there than the 1 cm fans I used. A thicker fan can have a larger blade pitch and be able to move more air. While I'm not unhappy with the air flow from these, more is better in that department. Also, while shopping for a better fan, something made for outdoor / weatherproof would be great and undoubtedly provide longer life. If anyone finds a more suitable fan, please share.

-Brian