New rider! Questions about my used KLX

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Aug 21, 2014 | 02:55 PM

#31

deej

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Joined: Nov 2005

Posts: 21,060

From: Washington

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Welcome to the forums!

Aug 21, 2014 | 09:58 PM

#32

Oldad

Senior Member

Joined: Sep 2013

Posts: 168

From: Southern Illinois

1st Gear Member

First Motorcycle. Really?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zeno

I just bought my very first motorcycle, a 2006 KLX 250. Zero experience with motorcycles - both riding and mechanically.

I bought it from a very reputable dealership but I still may have been an idiot due to inexperience.

I do not have an owner's manual or service manual for it, so I'm relying on a Cyclepedia subscription and online searches - which is pretty good but still missing some things.
OM is in post, but may end up having to buy an OEM SM at a ripoff price since 2006 manual isn’t on eBay and I can’t find a PDF of it anywhere.

One of the two previous owners appears to have already done some things to the bike:

13t front sprocket (yay!).
KDX Snorkel replacement
Kouba 2" lowering links (reserved yay - a little afraid of warnings that 2" compromises bike and 1.25" is safer, but I'll be taking it easy for a while since I'm a beginner)
Removed radiator fans to fit on aftermarket tank (which I have as an add-on that I do not plan on using)…
Unfortunately fan did not come with bike so I'm having to put one on from eBay. Still need to find correct screws for it, OEM ones are ripoffs.
Possibly desmogged the bike? I am not sure. There's a tube that just dangles from the airbox all the way down past the rear shock, close to the kouba links. Can't find it on part schematics. What does this do? Maybe oil seepage type tube that doesn't have any catcher type thing in it?
Has aftermarket Supertrapp exhaust pipe with lame packaging tape around connecting end. Doubt I’ll use this, either, since I’ve only found one post even mentioning Supertrapp for KLX250. Also like my pipe being quiet since I plan on using this bike primarily for dirt trails right up against neighborhood, and I’ve read reviews that say stock pipe is actually better than a Supertrapp. Anyone actually have a Supertrapp for KLX250 and recommend it? Saw an old post from Mustang(?) but no impressions after the fact.

So here’s my concerns that I’m hoping some of you fine fellows and gals can help with:

Title transfer from 2011 (from 1st owner to PO) showed 2,721 miles on odometer back in 2011.
I bought the bike with 2,600 miles on odometer here in 2014! WTF?

When I did an online VIN check nothing fishy came back (no salvages or insurance claims or anything weird).
Maybe PO replaced speedometer cluster?

Actual PO was dealership owner’s father and used it as an RV bike and didn’t use the aftermarket gas tank or exhaust pipe, either - and supposedly took good care of it maintenance-wise, and sold it due to getting too elderly to enjoy offroading anymore.
I’m trying to get some answers from dealership on this one but they seemed to be unaware of mileage discrepancy.

I don’t think they were trying to pull one over on me - they just hadn’t compared title to odometer (and they were selling it on consignment originally).
FWIW, bike seems to be in pretty good condition and runs pretty well for me (I think).
Gasket air suction valve cap appears rusted. What the hell does the gasket air suction do, and is the cap important? Google has yielded me zero useful results. If it rusted completely out and dropped rust flakes downwards, what would that do? I’m referring to part 11065-1190 on this page: 2006 Kawasaki KLX250 (KLX250H6F) Cylinder Head | MRCycles
Attaching pic as well in case I’m wrong on what part it is.
If PO ran the bike for a while without radiator fan at all on RV trails, should I be concerned about damage from overheating? What's the easiest way to tell if overheat sensor is working (to get temperature warning light to come on?).
Idle seems a little rough. Not as bad as some videos I’ve seen - it seems to “hunt” for a stable RPM and varies between ~1300 to 1500 every now and then. Even after warming the bike up on a 20 minute ride in 90 degree heat in Texas it still stalls somewhat easily in 1st gear and doesn’t have a smooth/stable idle. Maybe this is me just being a newbie and not working friction zone right with clutch, too? When it does stall out, I quite often have to pull back the throttle when I hit the start button to get the engine going again - just the start button by itself may not start it back up, even though I don’t have to do this from neutral when I first start up the bike. At speed and any RPM higher than say 1800, engine seems very stable, but I've only ran it up to maybe 35 mph at this point. What should I do here? Can old gas cause this, and seafoam by itself fix it? Should I clean carb/rejet/install Kouba extended fuel screw and adjust fuel/air ratio, etc? It's not producing black smoke so I don't think it's too rich, and it's not popping on decel, so maybe it's not too lean?
How doable is a carb dynojet install for someone with ZERO mechanical and motorcycle experience? I've found some good resources (like the HMF install guide), but still not quite enough for me to dive in with confidence.

Sorry for the wall of text and appreciate any help I can get. I plan on being around for a long time (this will be my only bike for several years most likely).

If this is your first motorcycle to ride or mechanic, you sure don't sound like it. You must have some motor-head experience then, with all the intelligent questions and understanding of some of the mods you already have proposed.

Where are you really coming from?

Oh, and welcome aboard.

Aug 24, 2014 | 03:56 AM

#33

Zeno

Thread Starter

Member

1st Gear Member

Joined: Aug 2014

Posts: 97

From: Waco, TX

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oldad

Thanks for the compliment!

Seriously, zero firsthand mechanical or motorcycle experience.
I'm so new to working on anything mechanical that I'm terrified of ruining things... hell, I already have, but was able to work around them! Since my SUV has no hitch, and a hitch + trailer would be too expensive so I could take my bike to a mechanic, and I'd have to get on really fast roads to reach one... I'm trying to take care of the mechanical stuff myself (at least for now).

I've already stripped the oil drain thread and had to get a longer oil plug bolt

That was my first time to ever touch a torque wrench and I must've overtightened and missed the "click". I also made a rookie mistake involving my spark plug and spark plug cable but it's so embarrassing I'll skip it

I just spend a lot of time reading/searching/lurking forums, and I had already read a bunch on the KLX250S (and a few other 250cc dual sports) and basic motorcycle stuff for a few months before I made a purchase.

klx678 - thank you so much for your post! That is very convenient having things all in one place. I already have the KDX Snorkel, and the PO replaced or simply moved the existing Kawi needle(s), but I'm still going to have to pull the carb and check it, clean it, or modify it at some point

I already bought the extended fuel screw.

Unfortunately, the HMF page that had the awesome carb pull tutorial with pictures was just taken down in the past couple weeks! 404's now

I actually just replaced my air filter and pulled off the entire airbox lid since I was thinking my spark plug - and the old spark plugs PO left in tool bag - possibly indicated rich condition (reading spark plugs is still very greek to me).

Plus my idle was rough anyways and I was wondering if that may be from rich condition as well since I already put Seafoam through system.

It does seem like since I took off the KDX Snorkel lid altogether, the idle is a little smoother and doesn't hop up and down as much. However, my legs were feeling hotter from radiator - so maybe I'm wrong and now it's too lean (not sure). Or maybe when air/fuel mix is good you do feel more heat on your legs? I have no comparison.

Klxster - Thanks for your input on exhaust. If/when I feel more comfortable being loud within my neighborhood, I may look into a DG-R exhaust

It may not be too loud anyways for the time of day I ride. I'm just not sure how loud it would be from the houses near the field I ride in.