Shut the gas off, drain the carb, or just tip the bike on its side for 30 seconds, and then turn on the gas and it will fire right up.

 

Hey everybody thanks for all the replies! I wasn't getting any email notifying me of responses, hence my late reply. Looks like I've solved the problem. I disconnected the hose that connects to the rear portion of the carb. This hose connects to the air filter. It seemed like a bit of fuel came out ... possible carb flood? Anyhow, that gave me a good enough look at the carb so I used some carb cleaner and that seemed to do the trick. I squirted it in the two small holes bored in the interior/inferior/posterior portion of the carb body. The bike now fires up.

LESSONS LEARNED: I now know that I need to turn the petcock to off and run the bike until she starves of gas on her own. I wasn't doing that. I now use a battery tender as well. I was about to take the bike into the shop to have her checked out and I'm still thinking of doing so since I'm not 100% sure how thorough a check she was given before I bought her used from a dealer. She has 9200 miles and I'm told that the valves need to be adjusted around that mileage.

In addition...some important screw heads (the one to drain the carb..and one of the four screws that hold the carb head down) have been stripped useless by a previous owner. No biggie right now, but should a kawi dealer be able to replace these fairly easily?

Question...this drilling of the main jet... Does it stop jet issues in their tracks?

Thanks again for all your input!!!

 

sub, the main jet isn't drilled, it's replaced. Only the starter jet is drilled for cold starting improvement. A Dynojet kit is the best overall fix for jetting issues IMO.

 

My bike does seem to have issues starting up. The other day it took at least six tries before she fired up. Is this normal or should I consider the starter jet getting drilled while replacing the main? TIA!

 

Yes, the starter jet is too lean for many bikes. Just a quick drilling of the jet with an .018" drill bit by hand stops that hard starting...unless you have some more serious issue. This is very common on the KLX, and it's an easy fix.

 

Agreed!

 

Heed TNC's advice. He knows wherefore he speaks.

Also, if it hasn't been done yet, remove the plug from the idle mixture adjust screw and check the adjustment of the screw. Turn the screw in gently until it seats while counting the turns. Most people find that about 1 1/2 turns out works pretty well. Yours may be set too lean (too far in).

Ron

 

Ron, I'll try that out. Let me consult the owners manual for where that screw is. Still new to this.

 

had similar issues...let the bike sit for about 3 weeks...had a hard time starting it...about 10 tries..and finally fired and started...rode about 70 miles that day...bike fires up every time like always....i guess i should always set to off and let the gas run out before letting it sit too long...