I know you guys must of heard this thread 100 times but I am still having trouble figuring out how to start my KLX after the longest winter (Still have 6 feet of snow here but roads are clear so time to take out the KLX!) ever.

I hope somebody could tell me all there ways of starting the KLX after sitting all winter.. Without taking the carb out to put has in? I've heard spraying gas in the air box (without the filter of course) while holding down the starter, but that sounds quite dangerous, or it could just be me.

Anyways, our weather here is still sitting at ~0c - 6c max but warm enough to ride, hopefully you guys can help me get her started. Thanks

 

Did you drain the carb before it sat for so long?

 

I was lazy when I put mine in the garage for the winter. Full tank of gas, left the petcock open.. wouldnt start this spring so I emptied the gas out, put new in gas, threw a new plug in (old one looked fine but what the heck i already had a spare handy) and then she started right up.

I suspect bad gas.

 

Turn on the gas and drain allittle out of the carb, theres a little allen key screw on the bottom right side

 

I Spray WD40 or carb cleaner to get mine started after a long sit.
Sounds like you might have to clean the carb since you didn't winterize it.

 

I put mine away last fall with petcock open, but the gas had fuel stabilizer in it. I kept thinking I'd have another chance to ride and it never happened. So after sitting for 4 months it would not start. I drained the carb, nothing. Then I drained the tank and carb, put fresh fuel in, still nothing. So I pulled the carb and cleaned it. It did not look to have any dirt or deposits, but still had fuel in it, even after leaving the drain wide open until it stopped dripping. Anyway, after cleaning the carb it started right away. I have never drilled my pilot hole.

From that day forward I decided to run the carb dry after every ride, unless I know I'll be on it in a day or two.

 

Siiiiiiiiigh! LOL For all you noobs.

Shut down procedure.

1. After riding as you are pulling into your driveway, or to speed things up you can do this a block from your house, turn off the gas.
2. Let the bike run until it actually dies from gas starvation, (this may take 2-5 minutes) But that's ok it will give you time to put away your gear.
3. Park it and now you're ready for the next time you ride whether that be in a day, or a month.

Start up procedure.

1. Turn on the gas
2. Wait for 10 seconds
3. Start the bike as you always do

This works everytime, not just sometimes, And there will be people that say you can drill something or whatever and thats all good and well, but just do this proceedure and let us know. Trust me it will work.

It was a mix of trial and error, reading other posts all over the net and personally talking to bike mechanics and racers. The short of it is that gas does change, and it may just boil down to how well your carb seals air out that allows this "change" that occurs over a few days or weeks. I was wondering if I should make the procedure a sticky at the top? What do you guys say? I will leave that up to you, I'm not trying to get self recognition, but if this procedure can help just one owner that is ready to pull his or her hair out trying to get the bike started, then its all worth it. Here is the link to the discussion if you want to read it all, and it is an interesting read to say the least. Then below that is the procedure I came up with, and feel free to quote it and edit it for content and then if everyone agrees I can post the procedure as a sticky and lock it.

https://www.kawasakiforums.com/m_96672/tm.htm

Shut down procedure.

1. After riding as you are pulling into your driveway, or to speed things up you can do this a block from your house, turn off the gas.
2. Let the bike run until it actually dies from gas starvation, (this may take 2-5 minutes) But that's ok it will give you time to put away your gear.
3. Park it and now you're ready for the next time you ride whether that be in a day, or a month.

Start up procedure.

1. Turn on the gas
2. Wait for 10 seconds
3. Start the bike as you always do

Now I know some of you are asking why not just drain the bowl and then you can start the bike. Well there are two reasons. It it harder to drain the bowl by hand than to let the bike do this as it runs out of gas, and by running the gas out using the motor, it assures that all of the small areas that would otherwise still have this junk they call fuel will be empty, ready for fresh, (fresher) gas to get in and do its job. Now all of that being said, I came up to work yesterday to let my son ride the moped up on the lawn and I cranked on the bike for a few minutes, and then I thought I wonder if I can drain the bowl and do the "after thought" procedure to get this thing going? Well I drained the bowl, turned the gas back on and two kicks and it was running. Keep in mind that the moped is a two stroke, and it has been sitting up at work in a mechanical room for about 2 months. So either way, whether running the gas out using the motor so you are ready to go next time (which I think is faster and more efficient) or you drain the bowl using the screw at the bottom of the carb, the results are the same, you get your bike started.

And I even guess some people would say that this is a hassle, but I gotta tell you that cranking on a bike for 5 minutes off and on only to run the battery down and still have not started the bike is way more of a hassle than a little time taken to get ready for the next ride. This last summer I rode my bike everyday for about 3 months, and it always started right up, but there are a couple of reasons. one it was warmer out, cold weather affects fuels in a negative way, and more importantly by riding the bike everyday I had gas in the bowl that didn't have enough time to "change". Next summer I will probably go back to leaving the gas on and not draining the bowl. but on the wife's bike the procedure will always be to run it out of gas since she doesn't ride as often as I do.

 

The true way to put away your bike is to:

Drive in the garage, take off the key, leave petcock on.

Upon returning the next morning, put the key in, pull the choke, and start the bike. Repeat this process everyday for as long as you own the bike.

Yes. Ride it EVERY day

 

why are you turning the bike off anyway ? you should be riding 24/7.

sleep is for pussies.

 

you could just drill the starter jet out, with that mod there is no more draining or emptying your carb, just pull the choke and start, even after all winter. started mine up in a cold shed the other day, -8 deg