I'm in Argentina making my way to Chile. Yesterday after riding for a few hours the bike started to act up while going highway speeds - 100km/h - and I thought it was strange because I knew I had a half tank of gas. I naturally switched it over to reserve and it kept doing it - it was like a lack of gas...

I pulled over and tinkered around a bit. I was at 2600 meters above sea level so I remembered people talking about "rejetting" the carb. I figured I couldn't do that and did what I know how to do... I looked at my fuel filter and it looked fine then thought it may have to do with the air so looked at my air filter. The air filter was filthy so I shook it out. After about 15 minutes or so I had everything back together and I was back on the road and the bike was fine.

Today I also rode a lot, let's say about 400 miles, and it was fine... totally back to normal. On my way to the Chilean border it started to do the same thing that it did yesterday. I turned around to the nearest town and found a place to stay.

When it started acting up I was at 1800 meters above sea level so I figured it's not the altitude. I thoroughly clean the air filter yesterday and lubed it so it can't be that. I also assume it's not the fuel filter since the bike ran fine all day and only started to act up after a full day of riding... I have an extra one though so I can change it. In the lower gears it seemed normal, it was just at the end of the day when I was going about 95km/h.

I've been reading stuff online but can't find any fixes... some say it's a clogged screen in the tank, others say the carb, others say the petcock, some say the muffler. What should I look at and where should I start? Also, this is the last of my trip - I only have about 200 km left and will finish on the other side of the mountains in Santiago (basically the last day of riding in my seven-month trip:-).

I apologize in advance for my lack of knowledge but I figured that's what these forums are for - helping others when we need the help:-) Thanks in advance to those who reply.

For some reason it's not allowing me to edit the original so I will just post a reply... so right after posting this I decided to take the bike for a spin to see if it was still doing it and as I thought it isn't - at least it didn't... I took it for 10 miles at 100-120 without luggage and it's not doing it at all.

The bike sat for about an hour in between checking into the hotel and posting the original post. It seems like it's only doing it when the bike has been ridden for long periods of time... and just recently did it start doing it because before I would ride it for longer and it has never acted up.

Lots of possibilities. Some are obvious (tank vacuum due to clogged vents), some not so obvious (deteriorating petcock, interior swelling in fuel lines, loose baffle in exhaust, and a hundred more). Once when I had a similar issue it turned out to be a loose exhaust baffle; another time it was apparently excess engine heat causing partial vapor lock, although I never got the problem to come back after it nearly crippled my trip during a hot spell in Texas, so I never really found out for sure.

If you don't get it sorted, ask at DSN_KLR650 : DualSportNews' KLR650 Discussion List.

Mark

I would perhaps rule out vapour lock due to fuel being in the fuel filter, could be the coil 'breaking down' when hot, I am not familar with the KLR, but at least I have bumped your thread up!
please post what the solution was when found!

__________________
'He who laughs last, was too slow to get the joke'
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palace15 culd be on the right track, when you stopped and clened the filter, the CDI will have had chance to cool down........ sometimes they need a tap with a screwdriver......common on Honda XR600R which i own dunno for sure about KLR. seeing as its not playing about at low speeds you can rule out the idle jey, there is on the XT600 a filter under the float valve seat.....worth a check maybe?

other than that good luck!

Martyn

Thanks everyone for the help. I didn't do anything and it stopped doing it - or it hasn't done it in a while.

When I posted this it was supposed to be my "last" day of riding but when I got a ticket once in Santiago I got it a month out... I couldn't stay in Santiago for a month so I decided to go on a mini trip up in Northern Argentina and heading back down through the Atacama. It has been a few thousand kilometers since Paso Libertadores and and haven't had any issues.

Anyway, just wanted to say thanks and I can't post what the solution was because it stopped doing it.

Cheers

If you have any more problems you might want to drain the carb bowl. That has fixed mine more than once.

My bike would also stutter and flutter when riding in really hot temperatures . I finally figured out the vaccume hose to the petcock was collasping and shutting fuel flow. I put a new heavy duty vaccume line on it and have had no more problems.
I have now gone to a bigger tank with manual petcock.

Hi Bigdon,

love your tank , I have an IMS 6.6 gallon with the three side vents, you know the one , That tank on your bike looks the business, was it a bit ov a job to get it to fit ?

I took off a 6.6 IMS to put this one on. It was a bit tight to get it on but have had very good luck with it so far.

I am having this exact same problem, in almost the exact same place, Cordoba, Argentina. I've had this problem for several thousand miles. Eventually a mechanic changed out the carb in Peru, which seemed to cure the problem. Yesterday at the end of a 300 mile day, as I got into stop & go traffic it started again, coughing & spluttering & eventually dying. I left it for 45' or so to let it cool down, then it started back up again? If anyone is still out there from the original thread, I would appreciate any help you might have. Cheers.