Hello Kumuya.

I have done 22000km. No problems with fatigue yet. All the newer bikes should be good for about 100 000 km if serviced regularly. My friend is riding an 1982 GSX 1100 with 220 000 km on the clock. Only proper servicing done and 2 head gaskets. a full rebuilt has not been necessary yet for him.

I would first try and properly service engine, and make sure all valve clearances and timings are set properly before rebuilding. But if you go the rebuilding route, have the cylinders bored to the 500 spec, and change internals as necessary. This would make future spares easier to get. Just be careful that you do the rebuilt at a good workshop. Have a good look at the costs involved. Might rather be worth your while to trade in on a standard 500.

Good luck and let me know how it goes.

Regards

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Pleco

If its stupid, but it works, it aint stupid.

There is no problem with settings ..... after the accident I checked all this but I experience a little loss of power, is not disturbing but overall it makes me to get a plan in replacing cylinders - and about workshops .... here nobody works with special tools and service manual to verify torque applied when mounting parts so .... what you do with your hand is well done and so you get experience and you know that is your ass in your saddle and how you repair is how you will ride and this makes you be careful and do a good job.

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Hello Kumuya.

I wonder if it woulb be possible to change the top and pistons to a 500's only. That is if the rest of the parts are the same. I would do everything myself as well, but the reboring to the bigger size, I would not be too keen to do. The tolerances are way too small to make an error there. As I understand, europe is quite small maybe you can catch a train and get it done in a neighbouring country?

I know we have discussed the plugs issue already, but try a set of 9 plugs and see if there is an approvement with the power issue. I took my bike on a 150km ride this morning, and it is riding like a dream.

Let me know if I can assist in any way with your rebuild. The experience might come in handy for me again one day!

Regards

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Pleco

If its stupid, but it works, it aint stupid.

Hi Pleco,

Yes we allredy discussed the sparks issue but I took them out and are OK. Instead I talk with other bikers here in Romania and they told me that I could have this problem because in carburetors can be watter retained from fuel or when is cold outside and I run with it when I stop because of temperature difference between engine and outside.

So what I've done was to buy a bottle of Fuel carburetor cleaner, put in a full tank of fuel and entire bottle and after 200 km since I used that ... I can feel improvements - on the bottle sais that is to be used for 35 liters of fuel and it removes water from tank, carburetor, cleans fuel system etc. and it seem to be as advertised ... but used with 15 liters of fuel

I'm still in doubt if I will try to use pistons and etc for 500 or try to find for kle400 I don't know if it worth the effort. As original it had 31KW and KLE500 has 34KW. I have a custom made exhaus so I have as many as a KLE500 and since I don't intend to do performance with it ( since is a heavy cow) I will make this transformation only if I can't find what I need for it.

Anyway I still want to make a brand new engine (changing pistons, etc.) because I intend to keep it for a long period.

Is a good bike to ride with passenger and lugage on a road with many holes

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Pleco, I went past the workshop where I have mine serviced, they say D8EA. I suspect the 500 takes D9EA because it runs hotter due to more power. On my dads 500 the fan comes on more than on my 400, I've only had the fan come on once that I can remember.

It was a very hot day in the beginning of this year, was already in the high 20's when I drove to the City Bowl in rush hour traffic. It briefly came on when I stopped in the parking garage.

Maybe your bike is running a bit lean? Is the air filter clean? And how is the fuel consumption?

Nicki

Hello Nicki.

Thanks for that feedback. I will have to look at this straight away. I will have to retune the bike, so that it can run properly on the 8 range plugs. The thing is the bike seems to run fine as it is. Maybe we can meet and swap bikes on a short trip to see if there are any differences. Then I can visit Dirkie if necessary. I get between 18 and 22 kms per liter at this stage, depending on how I drive.

Give me a shout if you have time.

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Pleco

If its stupid, but it works, it aint stupid.

HELLO EVERYBODY FROM GREECE.
I HAVE IN MY POSSESSION A DOCUMENT FROM MOTODATA 2000 AND IT SAYS THAT FOR KLE 400 FROM 1991 SINCE 1997 WE SHOULD USE SPARKPLUGS NGK OF TYPE DR8EA (GAP O,6-O,7) OR DENSO OF TYPE X24 ESUR-U (GAP 0,6-0,7) AND FOR BATTERY TYPE YTX12-BS (V/Ah 12/10).

I HAVE MORE INFORMATIONS AND FOR MORE BIKES(KAWASAKI ONLY), BUT IN A BOOK. I'LL TRY TO MAKE TIME AND GET THEM IN PDF FILES TO SHARE THEM WITH EVERYONE.
IT,S A SHINY DAY HERE IN THESSALONIKI ALTHOUGH ITS WINTER AND I THINK I'M GOING TO GO FOR A RIDE.

Hello guys and girls.

Just another small problem and solution. I had a very annoying rattle on my right hand side fairing panel, and could not find out what it was. Took it to a friend with knowledge, and he found that the front black air deflector that mounts onto the side of the radiator were rattling on the front edge of the fairing. Bent the mounts out of the way a little, and no more rattle.

Regards

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Pleco

If its stupid, but it works, it aint stupid.

I also have the same problem, mine is the left side. Yesterday when I took all the fairings off before taking the bike for a service, I noticed that the right side has a small block of foam rubber on the corner that pushes against the radiatorguard, and the left hand side does not, so I'll be fitting one to the left side as well to try and cure the problem.

Pleco, usually it only vibrates when you are going to slow/idling, so just open it up, man

Hello There guys.

I need some help here. I went on a long trip on the weekend. 5hour continuous on Saturday, and about 9 hours on Sunday back along the scenic route. Somewhere along the way my voltage regulator / diode pack overheated, and burnt out. Now if you read brian's thread about the funny ignition system, you will know that this bike does not run if the headlight has drained your battery flat. I found that out while being about 60km from any assistance if I did not have a backup pickup along for the ride. I would still be walking!. I have been told many things on possible causes from battery to bttom half of field coil overcharging, to faulty component. I was also told to not fit this unit myself, and to not use a replacement part. (the one from Kawasaki is about 200USD and the replacement about 40 USD) Guess which one I bought, and guess who fitted it? I took my ammeter and found all three coils charging exactly the same. 1 theory down. I checked the battery after it standing overnight after a short charge. 12.7 volts. 2nd theory down. There is a 30 Amp fuse in the main charging circuit, which did not blow. No faulty components then. This was the first time I rode the bike for such a long period over some very rough terrain. Maybe the prolonged effect of running the bike with headlights on bright (lots of dust) and continuous driving ( the guys in the pickup never got tired and just kept on going) overheated the regulator. Did anyone else have this problem before?

I have driven the bike about 15km and back, and the replacement regulator is quit warm but I can still touch it without changing my finger prints.

Any and all ideas and tips would be welcome here.

Regards

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Pleco

If its stupid, but it works, it aint stupid.

I had once a problem with battery .... and I don't know if is your case but I found on my own way that KLE has a powerfull recharge system that is designed to work at a full consumption rate (all "electricity eaters" turned on). So as I had a crap battery (no name) with servicing and with KLE powerful recharge I somehow managed to "dry" the battery and make calls to be picked-up

After this incident I started to check once a month the level of battery fluid.

Even if this is not your problem this is a little "trick" to keep in mind - because I also had a Varta battery on gel an my little bike dryed that battery too and I chosed to have one with servicing because I could add fluid in it

Anyway after 60 km in summer I can't touch even bike frame so .... everything is overheated and this helps battery to become dry

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Thanks for the advice Kumuya.

I also have a sealed batt, and cannot check fluid levels. I found this website, and will be trying to work through it some time. It is a very comprehensive test. It seems that I need to draw more current away from the regulator, so that it does not have to dissipate excess voltage into heat. Maybe I should have kept my headlights on bright for longer?

http://www.electrosport.com/Images/fault_finding.pdf

I would maybe temporary connect a voltmeter over the regulator to see whats happening to it.

Regards

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Pleco

If its stupid, but it works, it aint stupid.

Hi all,
I know this isn't a pressing issue like a lot of the mechanical and maintenance issues that have been posted, but i was wondering if anyone could shed some light on this...

I recently bought a new KLE500 (supposed to be 2007 spec), and the lower engine covers (clutch etc.) are painted with gloss black paint. This is the only recent (2005 onwards) KLE that I've seen that doesn't have the copper/magnesium look covers. Even the latest pictures on the net show the 2007 model (blue body colour), still with the copper coloured engine covers!

I read in another forum somewhere that guys were complaining that the copper coloured paint was rubbing off after just a few weeks! I wonder whether the decision to change to the (seemingly) more hard-wearing gloss black was a direct result of complaints or if it was just a styling 'upgrade'? Or maybe I just have a re-worked/"dodgy" KLE engine!!! Extremely unlikely I guess, as it was bought from an official dealer!

Anyone else get gloss black covers from new?

PS:I'm loving the bike! Going up to the mountains (Drakensberg) for the weekend, for the first longish ride on the new bike (+-500kms round trip, with some good farm roads and gravel tracks thrown in for good measure!).

I've got a 2005 spec which I bought this year. The covers are copper/magnesium coloured and I have not seen any other colours. However, the cylinders are bare metal and black paint. Maybe they deemed it cheaper to use the same paint all over?

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Current Bikes - Kawasaki KLE500 '05 (May 06)
Previous Bikes - Hyosung GF125 (Oct 05 to May 06)

Interesting link

You should know that as you have higher rpm's you have higher recharge power and as you said that you use to roll throttle to use that maximum torque at 7000 rpm .... you have a little excess of power on recharge .... I usualy use high beam on day light ... and fitted a higher capacity battery - that's how my bike works

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