I bought a non-running 1986 KLR250 with 3200 miles. It is now a running KLR, but it does not "run" correctly, and this is where I need some help.

Firstly, while the bike will run, it will not START without the use of canned carbureted-engine starter fluid. I have reason to believe this is due to the air filtration, which is largely non-existant. the rubber duct connecting the air box to the carburetor has shrunken to a point it will absolutely no longer fit to the carburetor intake. My research has found this is common. Also, all I have in terms of the air box setup is the plastic box itself; no filter(s) or any of that.

I also have adjusted the valves back in to tolerance. and this did not help with the starting problem.

I like to consider myself mechanically inclined, as I have resurrected two 1984 ATC250R's from the bottom up. I am afraid, however, I am not the best with four-stroke engines.

I would really appreciate some help with this bike, both in specifics and theory as to how the whole air/fuel system works.

 

30rack:

Did you pull and clean the carb thoroughly, especially the choke/enrichment circuit? A number of us 06+ KLX250 owners with the Keihin CVK34 carb have just slightly enlarged the enrichment jet to 0.018" diameter. This lets just a little more fuel flow through the circuit while the choke lever is engaged. But before doing that, get FRESH fuel, drain your float bowl (either with drain on bottom or by tipping bike on side, with petcock off), close the drain screw or right the bike, open the petcock to refill the bowl, and try again. This carb often seem to be sensitive to hard start with older fuel in the bowl, so we often turn off the petcock and run the bowl dry before shutting down, then when starting, open the petcock to let fresh fuel in.

Not sure if this would be applicable to your carb, but this indicates we have the same carb http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawasaki_KLR250

This is a nice tutorial on the CVK40 carb, which I think is different from yours, but the theory is the same Care & Feeding Of The Keihin Carb

Welcome to the forums. Keep us posted on your progress.

 

The carb is spotless through and through

 

I have the same hard starting problem, did you find a FIX?

 

Hi,

I have a klr250 I bought in non-running condition. After cleaning the carb once it would run but was very hard to start. I ended up cleaning the carb multiple times with multiple different methods. What finally did it was to "drill" through the starter jet (which is non-removable) with the thinnest wire on a mig torch cleaning wire set. The wire did not actually drill out any of the brass but was what was needed to drill out the gasoline varnish plug in this very small jet. I had replaced every removable jet, soaked the carb in pinesol, boiled the carb in lemon juice, used spray carb cleaner - but none of that got rid of the solid varnish plug in this pressed in jet. I could not see that it was plugged but the wire would not pass until I spent a while "drilling" it through. Carb cleaner would not flow through the jet until I cleaned it with the wire either.
It starts pretty well after cleaning this jet, usually 2 kicks.

This site is a good reference and there are also a couple other sites with KLR250 threads - all with good inspiration and time saving tips from other's experiences.

Good luck with the bike. I like mine, though I have a tough time getting it to loft the front wheel!

rube