What's up People

Some of you know me, most of you dont. I dont hang out here to much but still drop by from time to time. Since I've already done most of the standard stuff to my 06 Klx250s I've been thinking about whats Next if there is going to be a Next. I dont keep up on all this stuff so what I want to talk about might be old hat to some of you but hear me out or maybe point me to where I can find the answers. I've done casual searches here but nothing deep.

Big Bore kits. Seems to be several variations.

1 - the Standard Kawi 300 kit. Out because of cost and for the money you can go bigger.

2 - Kustom Kraft 330cc kit. Out because of still needing a 300 cylinder I think and for sure because of the cost.

3 - Thumper Racing seems to offer both a 340cc and 365cc kits. the 365cc I'm sure is race applications only and out of budget, Butthe340 sounds real interesting and from what little I read seems to have real good reviews by people. I contacted them but never got a reply back.

4 - This 331cc kit by William / Bill Blue. I became aware of this gentleman because his name kept poping up in my searches. Seems he's got good reviews too. I contacted him and the price is in the budget but I asked about this 340 kit. Said nobody had ever asked him about it and he would check into it and get back to me

5 - If there is any others I'm unaware about please point me to them.

Since if I were to do this the budget would be 400-450 for the basic kit that leaves only 3 and 4.
I'd like to know if anybody out there has installed Thumper Racings 340cc kit and what you thought about it as far as build quality and installation goes. And the same goes for the people who have gone with Bill Blues 331cc Kit. I believe there is more then a few of you out there.

My biggest Hesitations on something like this besides cost of course would be doing the actual installation and the Extras, Isnt there Always Extras. I've done all the basics, Race exhaust, jetted carb, The freebies. Hell, I've even done the suspension and greased the Major bearings,and checked the valves But This Upgrade intimidates me a little bit. Mostly the concern of getting the cams / timing / and value adjustment back right. Would I need one of those 80.00 valve adjust shim kits to do this. And really, how hardwould this be, I'm a compent shade tree and I got the manuals.Bill Blue told meabout 4 1/2 hours, I snikered and said ya, for me thats about 4 1/2 days.

Extras, Isnt there Always. I get the impression I'm going to have to do at least a little something something to the head to balance things out and get the most from the upgrade. Whats Actually Needed if Anything, Whats desired,and what can I expect it to cost. Of course then we come to cams.It kind of seems pointless and a no brainer at the same time. I'm not building a race motor so why bother. And yet, if I could get a set of cams for around a hundred bucks why not. The motors already open and hopefully I'm only going to open it Once. So, is cams a yes or a no and why.

Finally, we come to the Pumper carb. I had a Mikuni pumper on my sporty and and I must say it was pretty nice, But it cost me only around 180 new and that was a different style bike.I'm not real sure I need one on the klx for my mostly street riding. It just squirts a little gas in when you first twist the throttleon take off and thats about it right. I know Bill blue sells one all setup up for the Klx for about 330. I'm sure it's a sweet carb but Wow. Thats almost as much as the big bore kit itself.

I live at sea level and for a 250 my bike runs pretty good. Couldnt I use just a jet change and still have it run pretty good. AndIf so what size, I run a 128 and a 40 if I remember right. At 330.00 I'm pretty sure I'm going to stay with the stock carb. Now if anybody knows of any sub 200.00 pumper carbs that will work I'd be interetsed. I'd like to hear from both sides on this issue as to why the pumper is worth that much more. there's got to be a Lot of justifying there.

I could see spending a grand on building a nice motor but I aint got that. I'm willing to spend the money for the kit and the Required Extras and maybe a tinny bit more. Where am Igoing to get the Best bang for my buck and what did it cost you. I'm thinking about a nice running 331/340 with no or minimal headwork, no cams, and a rejected stock carb with a nice open airbox and good exhaust. I'm also thinking 500-600 bucks. Is it Doable, Is it Worth it. Will I be like Wow, or That's Sweet, or That's Nice, or just its ok.

Since I live in florida I cant convert a dirt bike so I'm stuck with dual sports. For the money the Klx is a nice bike. I'd love a light 400-450 cc but that leaves only the DRS 400 and I dont care for the Look of the bike and the higher priced bike are just that Higher Priced. I plan on keeping the klx for awhile, Itmight be worth 5-600 to bump it to 340cc. As far as Resale goes though, how much more does a nice 331/340 go for over the standard klx250 in the same condition. I Dont want to lose too much money.



After all this talk about big bore kits, what's thedeal on the New Clarke tank I've seen lately. Looks to be the same as the stock tank when mounted but seems to sit a little higher and holds 2.8 gallons. I hear it mounts up real nice and looks like factory. I'd want the black one I think. Might be just the Right Accessory for a big bore kit. Anybody bought one of these and mounted one. What's the Deal on these. Any Pictures up here.



Finally, Bill Blue mentioned to me that he also sold stainless steel brakelines for about 100 bucks for the pair. I had them on the sporty and they were worth every penny. Might be pretty good on the Klx too and worth the money. So like the clarke tank if you got them I'd love to hear what you think and even Better if you got pics of them mounted.



I guess thats about it for One Post, It's a lot But the answers should be interesting and it ought to be a Good Post.. Soooo give me your thoughts and experiences on the above matters.



P.P.S. Oh ya, It's a Great Forum and no insult intended to the admins here But this site is Real Slow for Me. Average page updatesbouncing around and searching / reading messages in the forum is like 30 seconds and sometimes seem more like 60 seconds.Not sure if it's just real busy or what But Speaking for Myself I'd hang out more if I didnt have to dealwith that. It's Real Frustrating. Thanks...



LV

 

wow.... thats too much to read this early.... lol...

 

mate that's a big wall of text. I installed a Bill Blue 331 on my KLX250 around November last year, took me a couple of days working a few hours at a time. If you go to the klrworld forum http://klrworld.com/forums/index.php?board=112.0
you'll find an excellent pictorial guide on how to install the big bore kit.

You ought not need a shim kit as the valves don't get touched during this process.... well, you slip the timing chain to the side and pull the cams out. But then you put them right back in the same spot, so as long as you're torquing the cam cap back up correctly then the clearance ought not change.....

Bill's work is great and he's very good to work with, fast to communicate and very helpful. He sourced a barrel for me since I'm in Australia, did all the work and then sent the lot to me.

I run with an FMF Powercore pipe, standard header, no airbox lid and standard carb. Howevr the carb has the N1TC needle on 2nd clip, 132 main and 40 pilot. Starts great, runs great, lots of power.

Highly recommended.

 

My motor mods-
free mods
13t countershaft
fourstrike works header and slip on
FCR 35
Bill blue big bore (about 6 hours for me to do 2 hr a night for 3 day) 200 miles on it love it.

Stroker supension rebuilt by WER ( Drews a great guy)

clarke tank- no more hitting reserve at 45-50 miles

Bill blue front break line- ( still trying to get the dam air out)

 

I went with the KLX300 parts. It's not THAT expensive, it drops right in and there are NO extras or gotchas to worry about. It was surprisingly simple. I have about 1000 miles on it now and would do it again in a heartbeat. I'm concerned about the crankshaft in terms of going 331 and bigger. I cant get a good feel from those that went that big as to what that does to the life of the crank. Anyway, I have the KLX300 kit, full stainless Muzzy and rejetted, with the KLX300 parts. Airbox lid is ON but have the suggested KDX snorkle. In terms of fueltank. I wt with the Acerbis because nothing had to be eliminated or relocated and the tank bolts right in. It's 3.7 gallons with the first 3.2 gallons usable. The last .7 is in the wings and you need to lean the bike to get to it but it is there and you can use it. The above mods dropped my fuel economy on the roads from over 70mpg down to the mid 50's so at about 150 miles I'm thinking gas though range to empty is 200+.

 

Kbekus, you said your needle is on the second notch...Is it from top of needle? Mine has small boggingfrom idle to +/-1/10 of the throttle. Got a 300 cyl, wiseco piston, 40 pilot, 132 main Fmf Q4 with powerbomb headers and the n1tc needle with the clip in the center notch. I thought aboutputting backthe 35 pilot to get rid of the bog. Seems like its flooding. Or maybe I should just play with the air mixture screw...?

 

LV, on the pumper carb, you said it just squirts a little extra fuel in when you open the throttle. That's true, but the big advantage to it over the CVK is that the slide is directly connected to the throttle cable where with the CVK, the throttle cable is simply connected to a butter fly valve which when opened, cause the engine vacuum to open the slide. So you get a delayed effect with throttle response with the CVK that is not there with the TM33/34 or FCR carburetors. The raw fuel squirt is there to help compensate for the lean condition that initial opening of the slide causes.

The CVK was designed to "smooth" out the throttle response. Note that there are CVK pumper carbs. I think your sporty might have one. The main issue with the CVK is that the throttle cable does not directly control the slide. It controls the butterfly valve opening, which in turn causes the slide to open indirectly through build up of engine vacuum.

Perhaps my use of "issue" is biased to my preferences. The CVK was designed that way for a purpose, so the folks that designed it probably said, "the main issue with non-CVK carbs is that they have 'instant-on' throttle response".

So the answer for you should do depends on what you want. If you want front end raising, rear wheel roosting "instant-on", get a Keihin FCR35 or Mikuni TM33/34. If you prefer smooth-on, keep the CVK.

As for big bore, any of the big bore options you mentioned are fine. Just pick the one that works best for you. Installation shouldn't be any problem for you. Re-timing the cams is not a big deal. And while doing a valve clearance check and adjust while you have it all apart is a good idea, it is not a requirement. If it was running before, it will run after. But since you have everything apart for the big bore, checking valve clearances while you're in there is kind've a no brainer. You don't have to buy the $80 hot cams kit. You can pull the valve cap cover off, set top dead center, and measure your valve clearances - write them all down so you know the clearances of each one. Then when you take it apart to do the big bore, you can see what shims are installed and knowing the clearances and the existing shim sizes, you can then order just the shims you need. The benefit of the whole kit is that you already have all the shim sizes so you don't have to wait while you order the correct sizes to bring them back into spec. Of course, if they are already all in spec when you check, you don't have to make any adjustments at all.

 

Not trying To Be An ***, but What's With The oDD capitalization?
The first Word of Each sentence should be capital, as Well As proper Nouns.
But You Just Don't capitalize Words Here and There whenever...


Sorry, Engrish resson Over.


I would have to say that any of the big bore kits are as good as each other. Get the cheapest one... You'll be happy.

 

What I cant decide is how much stress or potential shortening of the bottom end's life we may cause with the big bores. I have the KLX now and want to do the 331 but I worry about the potential damage. I plan on a lot of commuting miles, not just weekend riding.

 

LV,

I installed a new KLX300 cylinder (from www.ronayers.com). I wanted to go 331/340, but finding a used jug was becoming frustrating. Most of the used ones on Ebay were selling for nearly what I payed for the new one. I think I bought the piston kit and head gasket from www.rockymountainatv.com. I can't say if a Big Bore mod will be worth it for you, but I love it! I'm going to bump it up again (to 340) someday. I mostly ride my bike to work and back (less than five miles total), with a trail ride when I can get friends to go. Changing out the cylinder is fairly easy for the average mechanic. I tied my cam chain to the handlebars with a shoestring to keep it tight around the crank sprocket.

The Bill Blue TM33(34) pumper is a luxury for me. Your bike will run fine without it. I like to tinker, and I can afford it, so I bought one from Bill. Finding a Q0 needle jet for it was a pain, and it took 6 weeks to finally show up. I don't know if you will need the needle jet change at sea level, I live at 5300ft and ride to 11,000ft.

Stainless steel brake lines are definitely worth it (I bought Bill's). I had to relearn how to use the rear brake,as the change in force with the new lines caused me to "lock up". I've got it figured out now and a gentle push on the pedal gives me nice steady braking.

I bought a 50 tooth rear sprocket because 14/50 is thestock gearingon a KLX300. I like it for trails, but if you're going to be riding mostly street, I would keep the 14/42. With the increase in displacement, you'll finally have the power to pull you and the bike with 14/42 gearing.

Good luck.