KLXer's,

Ive had this bike now for 2 weeks and have been slowly reading everything I can on this forum about the bikes.

My SF has an FMF exhaust(stock head-pipe) and the airbox cover was removed under the seat. I have a few questions regarding this situation.....

- Is there any easy way to determine if the carb as been jetted without tearing it apart?
- Any clue what standard idle speed is? With or without these mods? When starting up and still cold she idles between 1200-1500rpm and then after some driving around its more like 2000-2200rpm....is this normal?
- When driving at higher speeds I hear some very slight ticking/clicking(metal sound for sure). Could this be the excess noise that is attributed to running without the airbox cover?

Thanks in advance for any input!

 

Hi there Arickrock, welcome to the forums!

I am also new here and have been digging through tons of posts to answer my questions. I don't have the answers to your questions but I've read everywhere not to take the airbox lid of unless you don't go through sand or water.

I hope for you the jets have been replaced becaue so far you did some "major" mods to the air/fuel system.

Get a dynojet kit and make sure you have the correct sizes for your setup. What's your altitude??? If you are at sea level you can compare with many of the other users here and their mods and jettings*.

I did some free mods that gave me better throttle response. It was very worth it, it's called the smog removal I'll give you a link to show you.

Next cheap mod for me is the 13t front sprocket.

 

If it has a FMF pipe and the lid is off it most likely was rejetted. Pretty much anything beyond just a slip-on requires rejetting. I'm going by memory here, but I think the standard idle is around 1350 RPM. The idle shouldn't fluctuate that much when the bike is warm. As for the ticking, it could be something loose from the extra vibration of the lid being off. How many miles are on the bike?

 

These links helped me a lot:

Carb Mods Continued (Jetting and SMOG REMOVAL)

09 KLX250s DIY: Carb re-jet/ Valve check - ADVrider

FAQ Master Thread-DO NOT DELETE - KLX/KLR 125/140/250/300 - ThumperTalk

 

The ticking and clicking noises are 99% probably the normal noisy valves and cam chain that the KLX has.
As for your idle, that is too high. But as my bike is EFI I will have to leave it up to the carby boys to assist.

 

I have experience with your situation. If the bike runs well - except for whatever is wrong that's causing the high idle - it has been rejetted. Pulling the lid with a slip-on causes a terrible lean condition and horrible performance - I know because I tried it recently.
Obviously you are going to have to find the problem that's causing the idle issue.

Now on to something really important - If your cams are stock and timed as such, you'll have a tremendous "sucking" sound coming from the airbox anytime you open the throttle. It will be loud! If you don't hear that then your cams are non stock or have been re-timed a la MCM.

 

Wow! Thanks for all the info!

Ricardo - This bike will be on the road 97% of the time so I am not to worried about the lid in terms of sand/water. Does the 13tooth sprocket give you more low end power or high end speed? Im very happy with the power so far so just want to do further mods to try and get a little more top speed out of it.

Brieninsac - The bike has 4,000 miles on it and is INCREDIBLY clean!

Grahamgower - I tend to agree that it is probably normal noise since the lid is off but better to ask and hear the choir sing the same tune than the other way around and never know.

Klxster - Bike runs great. This is my first bike and I dont have a ton of experience as to what normal sounds should be but I dont believe I am hearing any tremendous "sucking" sound.

I have the lid in the spare parts box that came with the bike and was planning on putting it back on and seeing how it runs. I have also read a lot about the snorkels.....this lid currently just has a whole in the top. Does that mean the factory snorkel was removed or was there maybe not one to begin with?

The previous owner didnt perform any of these mods. The owner before him did. The only thing the guy told me before I bought it was that he had turned up the idle a little bit because he liked it to run high.......????In my ignorance at the time I just said cool and ran with it. I will plan on doing a little testing/playing with the idle screw and see if I can use that to bring the idle down without having any other issues.

Thanks again for all the responses. These forums rock!

 

Yes, there should be a snorkel in the hole. If it's missing you might as well buy the KDX one many of us are using. It's a little wider allowing for more air flow. As for the ticking I doubt it's the valves or cam chain with only 4,000 miles on it.

 

Or just leave the snorkel out. Why waist money on something you dont need.

 

hey graham

just out of curiosity what does your klx idle at when cold and when warm?.
not sure if mine is idling too high.

Thanks