Really.....?

REALLY....?


Almost have my '09 KLX sorted out and ready to ride. I picked her up about 3 weeks ago, a nice low mileage garage baby with a long list of farkles and very little wear and tear. PO had owned it since 2010.

My first clue was on the test ride. Bike sounded great, started quickly, tranny shifted smooth.... but once I got up over about 10 miles per hour the front wheel felt like it was square. I got back to the driveway and took a look. The bead on the brand new front tire wasn't seated correctly and the tire wasn't round. The PO had the original tire, so I pulled the new one off and swapped out the old one.... while he watched...lol I'm not sure he had ever changed one before. Problem solved.

I get her home and start giving her a good once over... I bet the plastics have been pulled off at least 1,093 times. The hardware is all beat up, and about 1/3 of the fasteners are not the right ones, washers missing, grommets torn up or missing. A trip to the hardware store and a bag of stainless fasteners later and all is well...not to mention I can take her apart with two tools now instead of 5.

Valve cover gasket leaked like a sieve ('09 remember)... One new gasket later = problem solved.

Nuts holding the powerbomb header on were less than finger tight. Once I got the plastics off, I found the front mount on the FMF Q4 was not used. The holes didn't line up.. so I elongated the hole in the mounting tab an bolted it on. Problems solved.

NOW HERE is the one that pushed me over the edge... The PO told me he had just changed the oil and filter. Well... my trust is shattered so I picked up a couple filters and some oil. Oil coming out looks pretty clean, so it probably wasn't too long ago. There is no crush washer under the drain bolt. PAY ATTENTION -> I almost left the filter in there... but no, I decide to go ahead and use a new filter and I want to see if there is any metal in the old filter. I pull the cover... and the ****ing spring is in between the filter and the cover (sticking out of the hole in the filter)... at least the filter was in the correct orientation and shouldn't have blocked oil flow (and the way the valve cover gasket was leaking.. pretty sure she was getting oil), but damn man.

Ironically, the PO included a factory service manual with the bike.

I guess he didn't read any of it.


OK, I feel better now.... time to ride!

 

Some people are better if they never even think of picking up a wrench, and the world is better for it, leave these people alone.

 

LOL... my father is one of those, can't trust him with a hammer. My mother on the other hand, could have built a house with a pair of pliers and a pocket knife.

I've got a set of Race Tech forks springs on the way so she won't dive so hard on the front end, and an old style shift star on the bench to try and head off any future shifting issues before they happen.

I just got back from a running her around the back-forty a bit and she's running good. A slight hesitation sometimes around 5000rpm so I may do the 'ground mod' and see if that clears it up.

Once I get my Christmas bills under control, I'll throw on some ***** and rim locks and see how long it takes to send myself to the ER

 

Wow! It sounds like the '09 is definitely in better hands now! Have fun with it!

TC

***Oh, you might see if the PO did anything with the jetting when they added the FMF exhaust, that might be your 5k issue???

 

I know it has an aftermarket needle in it.... clip on the third slot from the top.. but I haven't pulled the bowl off the carb yet to check what is in there. I did run without a lid and later without a snorkel, both of which had surging up top. Runs smooth up top with lid and snorkel in place. Next weekend is supposed to drop down in the 20's (too cold for my old bones to want to ride), so I will probably pull it then and see what I have. I should probably go ahead an order up a DJ128 before then.

 

Yep, very familiar with Thor. Force is their tool..
Also, take care with the ER trips...we don't bounce as well as we used to. Looks great.

 

oooh, you got the slow color. Maybe you can find some green plastics somewhere!

congrats, she sounds like she's getting sorted.

 

I'm currently too slow for green.... they said I had to get faster before I could upgrade..

 

Damn it Jim!!

So I just took the battery loose and cleaned up the contacts...... I go to reassemble and there are no trapped nuts under the battery terminals. ****er just used a larger screw to cut threads in the soft alloy of the posts and called it good....

 

Those are what we call "original thinkers."