KLR650 Stalling

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Teach

Guest
Hi all,

I have an 06 KLR650. When I start her up in the morning and let her fast idle for roughly 2 minutes from a cold start, I then take the choke off and rev her gently a few times......pull in the clutch and shift her into 1st gear and she will stall just about every time. If the bike does not stall it will jump forward somewhat and almost stall. Once the bike is ridden and the day warms up some this does not happen anymore, only when it is cold and has been just warmed up. I can prevent the stalling by bringing up the rpm with the throttle while placing the bike in gear. Then I can just ride away normally but it does tend to go into gear clunk'ishly. I have been told this can be an oil problem as some oils have aggressive additives that can cause the clutch to still grab when the lever is pulled in. Currently I am running Quaker State 20/50.

Anyone have a cure for this? Thanks

Teach....
 
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mattymurn

Member
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All KLR's do this, but make sure you run a MC specific oil. Not necessarily a motorcycle oil but not auto as they have a bunch of additives that are not healthy for wet clutches. I had good success with the shell Rotella oils which are actually diesel oils but work very well in Motorcycles.

If you have an automotive oil in there, change it out first chance you get.

Even after doing this, the stalling when putting into gear when cold thing will still be there, you just have to get used to it

matthew
 
T

Teach

Guest
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Can this be overcome with a more lengthy warm up? Thanks
 
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Darren klr

Guest
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Hi Teach

The problem you are having is common to all wet clutch motorcycles and there is nothing wrong with yours. I too have an 06 and this trait is more pronounced on mine than any other bike I have owned. What is happening is, over time , the pressure from the springs in the clutch basket are forcing the oil out from between the clutch plates and the discs. Consequently the clutch is difficult to disengage in the morning . Two tecniques that remedy this problem are ,placing the transmission into second gear before starting the engine, pulling your clutch lever in and rocking the bike back and forth until the rear wheel turns freely.or , with the engine running in neutral, pull your clutch lever in (to disengage the clutch) and blip the throttle a couple of times to break the clutch free from the plates before placing the trans into gear. hope this helps Darren
 
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klrman

New member
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We hasve 2 KLR's and happens to us too. What I do is just roll the bike down my garden with the clutch in so everything losens up and then just put her in first gear and drive off. Smooth as butter. Takes my bike more than 2 mintues before I take the choke off. I have a stainless steel oil filter, so 20 seconds after I start the bike, I roll it down my garden and then drive off but I still have the choke set about 1/2 way otherwise it would probably stall too. After a few mintues of riding I take the choke off all together and that works best on my bike anyway.
 
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Guest

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Both of my KLR's have done this as well.

The clutch will loosen up a tad if you pull the clutch in and let it out quickly say 5 times while its idling before you ride away....its not perfect even then but seems a bit better.

After your bike has sat for a day try starting it in gear sometime....you would swaer the clutch cable snapped and was not working at all, as the bike jumps ahead so aggressively when you hit the starter button.



Hence why I am very careful to have it in neutral in the morning when i go to start it.

It does not seem to matter what oil I use it does it anyways.
 
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Norm

New member
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Some have found that Mobile One helps the clutch snatch. Mine improved when I went to Mobile One but is still fine after switching to Rotella S. Are you sure you want to run 20-50 in a water cooled motorcycle?

I hate oil threads because they usually are repeats of the same excercise of trying to inform people about the same issues over and over and over, ad nauseum.

I recommend that you consider a lighter base weight such as 10-40, 5-40 or even 0-40 as I run. The thicker base weight 20-50 oil will tend to cause more clutch snatch and engine/transmission drag when cold. Heavier oil will also take a lot longer to provide flow to the cam bearings which is much more of a concern than the imaginary issue of the oil thinning to much.

I have run an oil pressure gauge on a KLR for a couple of years to monitor oil pressure with a variety of oils and temperatures. The 0-40 runs at similar pressures in hot conditions on the highway to 10-40 or 20-50 but has a lot better cold flow.

Do what you like, it's your bike but if interested, do some research of SAE and API lubrication papers and some field research. I promise you that you won't be running 20-50 in a water cooled motorcycle when you reach the end of your invesigation.

PM and I can send you a link for some excellent oil service articles.

HIH

Norm
 
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Teach

Guest
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Hi Norm. I should have stated that living in the Okanagan Valley Near Penticton is the reason it was suggested to me to run the heavier oil. With the 40c days we often get here in the summer months the heavier oil I was told would provide better protection. I'm no oil expert, I was simply following another's advise with the 20/50. I am open to other input
 
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Norm

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It is always a better idea to run a multi-grade oil with a lower base number so long as the API rating is the same or better. It is almost never a good idea to run a multi-grade oil with a higher high temperature SAE number. There might be a few exceptions but I can't think what they might be unless one has a bad oil burner but it's better to fix it. The oil burner issue with catalythic converters is a moot point as much oil consumption will foul the cats. Bikes (and not all) are the small exception to cat appliction for on road vehicles.

Read the articles I sent and go from there. Keep in mind that most people including magazine writers don't have a good understanding of oils.

HIH

Norm
 
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Teach

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First off, thanks to the fellas who supplied the oil info articles. Great reads! Who'd a thunk oil had soo much goin on! grin

Secondly, goin through my morning warm ups now I pull in and release the clutch lever several times while the choke is still on and the revs are higher. When I take off the choke, I give it a couple revs with the throttle while pulling in the clutch lever again and releasing. After doing that a couple times and when I finally drop it into first gear it slips in smoothly with no more clunking or lurching forward of the bike. Great tips,

Thanks again.

Teach....
 
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edzzed

Member
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odd, I read the entire post 2wice just to make sure I read it right the 1irst time right. my 99 with 28,000 kms on it has had regular oil changes by myself. I try and do as much of the work on it as I can. It went into the shop for the valve shim adjustment shortly after buying it. It has NOT been in the shop since. I know about the doo hickey and have not addressed that. Don't know if I will at this point, you'd think maybe if it was an issue with my bike it'd have cropped up by now. But back to the oil, I have always used the manufacturers recommended oil weight, just used 100% synthetic car oil once it was broken in. I have the clutch issue as well but to a much lesser degree. If the bike sits for a week it'll do that. To start it cold in the morning is no problem. The carb was worked on to change the jetting when it went in for the valve adjustment. Didn't like the popping when gearing down. I have always run it once a week even when it is off the road 5 months of the year. Don't want condensation forming rust internally. There is absolutely no slippage of the clutch, I have never needed to adjust it. The shop adjusted it when I had the valve shim adj. My only complaint to date is the license plate assembly. I have bent it over and lost my plate twice. the last being the worst. 56km up a logging road. I did go back and find it and put it back on when we got home from camping, no tools. I had to ride around for a week with the plate in the ruck sack. Strange that not once did I get pulled over for no plate. I should take some pics cause my new kenda knobby broke the fender off where the bracket is. In other words the plate still had the bracket and part of the fender attached to it when I found it. Aside from that maybe I lucked out cause there were 2 brand new klr650's to choose from. One seemed to stand taller than the other. Ed
 
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