It came from ........................a BARN

[TeamCheap]

!990 KLR250, 1650 miles on it cost me much less than the average american car note.

I have the title for it and I did get it to fire up but it needs lots of work.

This may be the end of my chinabike, between the xr350 and the klr250 i'll be set except neither has electric start like the chinabike.

[SpudRider]

Congratulations; that's a nice find, TC! Please do keep us updated!

Spud

[pete]

Great bike...
I ride with a guy who had one of those a few years ago.."he's now got a DRZ400"
He use to take it everywhere we did on XR/DR/KTM..
They scoot along at 100kph "60mph" quite nicely on the seal..
The only mods he had on it were a bash plate/barkbusters/after market can..
good bike...

[Weldangrind]

If you need parts, let me know. I've got a bunch of stuff that I won't likely be using.

[TeamCheap]

Originally Posted by Weldangrind

If you need parts, let me know. I've got a bunch of stuff that I won't likely be using.

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind.

I need to give it a good bath then clean the carb-air filter, change the oil, plug and check the battery which will most likely need to be replaced.

right off it needs:
a front brake lever
fork boots
hand grips
bark busters
a mirror
blinkers (he had the originals but one is broken)
tail light/brake light (he had most of it except the actual light)
chain (the O-rings are dry and cracked)
new tires (the back one is so big it looks like he had to cut the side knobbies for clearance)

He said it was smoking a bit when he parked it but it will start so I'll check it out and do some cleaning then fire it up and see what it does.

The rear suspension is very soft so i'll have to mess with that once its rideable, he is much lighter than me

[FastDoc]

I love it! :P

It's the same color scheme as my first KLR650! I forget the year.

A barn find too. Wonderful.

I bet the smoke is just valve seals. Change the oil and ride it a lot and I bet it fixes itself. The smoking on my YZ on startup from the valve seals, thank God, is also gone.

You have an excellent comfortable do-it-all trailbike there sir. I suspect it will clean up well and earn a permenant part of your collection.

I'm excited for you. :P

[TeamCheap]

I did some scrubbing on it after work today before tearing it apart and it did clean up very well.

Getting to the carb is a pain but it needs a good cleaning.

I only work 3 hours friday so when I get home I'll go at it again and I expect to be riding it around later on friday.

[FastDoc]

Bet you are working on it as I type this!

Can't wait for the results!

[TeamCheap]

OK, I just came in from the garage and had fun riding the KLR around the yard for about 40 minutes.

It is rough running/sounding and will most likely need a top end rebuild it was smoking but since its 22 years old I figured its old enough to smoke, actually I got it to quite smoking after draining the oil in it and only adding enough and not over filling like it had been I also ran seafaom through it.

After the oil change is when I ran it for a good 40 minutes and got it hot enough so that the fan came on only when I stopped but I was working it in the yard in 1st gear mid revs very little chance for good cooling at the slow speeds.

After the run I dumped that oil and put in a filter but didnt have enough oil here so we put it up.

I put a touch of seafoam in the fuel as well to hopefully clean it up a little more I di clean the carb and it was nasty but I'm sure there are a few nooks and crannies I missed.

the rear spokes are losse so i'll have to work on those saturday since it gave the rear a loose uncertain feel to it.That montr knobby they put on it will have to go, i noticed the sides of the knobby was cut to make clearance Hmm.

[SpudRider]

I'm glad you got the bike running, TC! Indeed, tighten those spokes as soon as you can.

Spud

[TeamCheap]

OK so here it is after some cleaning/washing.



The rear side covers are just stuck on there because I was working on it but I wanted to stick them on so I dont lose them in the mess that is my garage.

It starts on the first kick usually and runs strong but it rattles from the engine so bad I dont want to ride it until I get it fixed which is sounding like some serious cash.
Probably balancer chain and sprockets as well as timing chain.

[Weldangrind]

It cleans up nicely. I wonder if there is a provision for adjustment on the cam chain and balancer chain. I was able to adjust the balancer chain on the old XL250S, and I replaced the cam chain tensioner springs in the TW200.

[TeamCheap]

The timing chain is auto adjusting and I havnt found an adjuster for the balancer yet.

I think its more tha balancer chain because it doesnt do it all the time mostly at idle, off power, running freely but once a load is put on it usually stops making noise and sounds really good.

With it in gear, bike stopped, clutch in, it will chatter loudly but if I feather the clutch out it will quiet right down.

I think I will have to tear it down.

[SpudRider]

The KLR cleaned up nicely, TC. I hope fixing the engine noise doesn't end up being a big chore.

Spud

[MICRider]

Just wondering, does the KLR250 use a similar balancer chain tensioner system to the KLR650? I'ts always been the KLR650's Achilles heel (and still is!)