My rad shroud also vibrates against the tank... I'll check that again too but i have a bad feeling that's not the issue...

Alright, so from what i'm reading when i do a search, i can also adjust the tensioner manually by taking out the 12mm bolt at the tensioner and adjusting it one "click" with a screw driver?

I wanted to learn to tinker with the bike eventually but i bought it new.. so i wasn't expecting to have to learn this early!

Maybe i'll bring it to the shop... booooo

 

I had this very same thing occur and the very same result, can't be happier about it, It was always noisy the top end between 5-6000rpm, I have 12,000 kms on the bike, and I am the second owner, then I started to notice the tick was loud at startup when engine was cold, so I wasn't sure if I did the valve adjustment correctly, I took it to my neighbor who owns a bike shop, had him take a look, he said the valves are in spec and everything is fine, so don't be concerned, he stated these bikes are notorious for noisy top ends, but I wasn't buying it, seeing the noise was initially only heard at 5-6000 rpm, now it has developed it at cold startup and idle, so I decided I had nothing to lose and I would try the cam chain manual adjustment, I opened her up and used a long robertson screw driver bit and pushed until I heard a slight "click", I thought to myself, could this really be it, did I even hear the click when I applied pressure, ah well, replaced the bolt, turned the key and BINGO, smooth quiet engine, took it for a run, no noise or clacking, or tick throughout the RPM range, absolutely quiet, verdict was still out on this one, I waited till the next morning cold start to be sure, in fact I waited 2 days to get around to firing it up again, and I am a believer, it fired up, ran on the enricher up to 4000 and not a peep from the top end, smooth, like a new machine to me, been real happy about this, thank god for this forum.

a little background since I got the bike it was bone stock and I was pretty unhappy with the power alright, I didn't like the fact that between shifts the revs would drop off so quickly, and it felt like it would bog trying to get the power back up into a useable range, now with the mods, she dops off no more than 1000rpm, easy shifting, if I get on it, and work it hard, it will drop less than 500rpms, accelerates so much better, I ride mostly on road or gravel/dirt road, have not been on bush trail yet with it, anyways after a few mods and dollars, I couldn't be happier with this KLX, I have had many a bikes in my time, had my license since 16 and I am now 47. Started on dirt, then enduro, then street form 400-750cc, then to a cruiser yamaha vstar, now this, and I tell ya, I am having more fun with this than all my previous rides, it brings back the kid in me and puts a smile on my face everytime I grab a handfull of throttle with the sound of my Q4 pipe.

dynojet kit, airbox lid removed, AIS crap removed, and FMF Q4 pipe, shes a blast to ride.

thanks to everyone on this forum for the input, the information shared here is invaluable.

Ride safe, cheers Greg.

 

Thanks macgregor77!

The only difference in symptoms in my case is that i haven't heard/noticed any noise on a cold start. I'll check for that tonight. I think i'll go ahead and try the manual adjustment.

macgregor77 is right - this site is invaluable, especially to newbs.

 

I'm currently in frequent contact with Mark Krieger of Kreiger Tensioners. He wants to make a manual tensioner for the KLX250/300. I've taken pics, various dimensional measurements, and a "rubbing" image of the tensioner mounting surface on the cylinder head. There are a couple of oddities with the tensioner on our model, but he feels they can be overcome. After he receives the exact pattern image I sent today, he will have a better idea of design and fitment.

 

Hey Higgs;

NOTE*** initially it was only making the clacking or vibration sound at the 5000-6000 rpm range, after about 1,000kms later it started to develop at startup when cold loud and would taper off, but basically it became like a rattle or clack all through the power range, seeing I knew the valves were in spec and this was somethign that progressed and gradually got worst, then I figured it very well could be the tensioner on the chain, but wasn't really sure to tell you the truth, but I was so "surprised" and "happy" to find out thats what it was, a 5 minute fix, and she runs smooth as heck now, try it, you go nothing to lose, you will be glad you did it, trust me on that.

UPDATE*** a co-worker has the very same bike, with 1000 less KMS and he has developed the very same symptom, he sent me an e-mail yesterday, asking next time I bring my bike to work can I let him know, he wants to hear mine, as he states his has developed some top end noise and thinks it maybe his valve train ;-), wait till I tell him that I can fix it in the parking lot at work in 5 mins, yup, I am going to make him a believer too, Ride safe everyone, these KLX's rock!.....cheers MacGregor.

 

When loosening the 2x 8mm bolts, does it only click 1x or does it click 1x for each 8mm bolt and if it's only 1x then once I hear it, do I just re-tighten both 8mm bolts and do they need to torqued and if so, does anybody know what they need to be torqued too?

 

You loosen 1x 8mm bolt and the other 8mm you very slowly loosen till you hear the click sound (1x click). Then just re-tighten the bolts. As for torque, I forgot the specs, but it is not much. Just don't put you weight into tightening it, just the weight of your arm on a 1/4 inch rachet is enough torque.

 

Does it help if you have Rage Against the Machine playing at 130 decibels when doing this adjustment?

 

Awsome, thanks, I will try tonight when I get home, my bike is ticking in the 5-6 thousand rpm range but it's not ticking on start up yet, hopefully there will be another success story for this fix tomorrow..

 

YAY!!! no more anoying clacking between 5-6k rpm... I love this site.. lol