klr 250 Transmission

[jd66]

Hi, Do you guys know why wont my bike shift all the time ? When I go from 1st to 2nd or 2nd to 3rd I have to double cluch the bike or shift really slow. It just dose not seem to shift smooth all the time. Any ideas would help Thanks JD

[tirebiter]

This may sound dumb, but are you wearing new boots? There's no "feel" till the boots break in.

How's the oil?

[12bridn]

Yeah, new boots will do that. Also, check the shift lever and make sure it is set properly for your body/foot size. If you have to lift your foot real high to downshift, you may need to rotate the shift lever a spline or two forward.

[jd66]

Boots sneakers or shoes it dont matter ! its in the tranny !

[12bridn]

Bent shift fork prolly. Didja drop it on the left side?

[heller44]

I have just got my klr250 running for the first time last saturday, and i am suffering the same fault as you are.

Have to lever up about 2-4, or more times to get the next gear.. but going down it is sweet as.

Original thought was that i had put it together wrong, since i had to split the cases to do major repairs.. but if you are having similar problems it might help me out, hopefully a cheap fix.

Transmission rooted means this old bike becomes un-economical, needs piston rings and bore as well, but at least the mikuni pumper works well.. ?

[jd66]

I have the exact same problem !!! only my klr runs like new!what a great running bike! I tore it down and had the frame tank and plastics shot with a three stage paint ! it looks and runs mint ! but just dont shift right ! I have to shift it up 3 or 4 times to get it to go to the next gear ! I really dont want to get into splitting the cases. one hope I found, was a small peice of tool steel looks to be part of the shifting somthing or other , problem is only on up shift down is fine !!!!!!!!

[heller44]

at least you aren't alone..

whats a 3 stage paint anyways? heard of 2 and 3 pack paints, used a nice 2-pack to repaint my busted-arse tank, but only 3-packs i have heard of, or used are silicon based for antifouling..

hopefully i will find some time to break mine open and see whats happening this week.

[jd66]

The 3 stage paint form Germany made by Sickens, I think thats how you spell it ? Anyway I went to my kaw dealer and got the Gasket I need to rip it down but the weather this week in N.Y. is in the high 70's I want to take advantage of it !! let me know how you make out !! thanks Jeff

[jd66]

Have you got to pull yours apart yet ?? I did And found nothing !!!!looks like the cases have to be split !!!

[jd66]

Dose any have a good used low milage klr 250 motor for sale? contact jmar66@aol.com

[heller44]

pulled the clutch case off this morning.. gearshift is looking good, bit unsure of the star looking bit on the end of the drum, loks a bit weird to me.. going to give kwaka a call and see what the mechanic there reckons..

might be a possibility thet it is worn similar to the probs i have heard with the klx's.

looking at the inside of the clutch cover, there is a nubbin that stops the gearshift shaft from moving too far to the right, if it moves too far it will skip over the shift star(?) and not change.. might be just enough lifting the pedal to shift it, down might be pushing it to the left more..

had this happen before on a dr250 suki so i hope thats it.

will call kwaka and check, but i think i might just get a compression spring the right size to fit over the nubbin and push a decent, but not too strong load on the end of the gearshift shaft, to push it back hard to the left..

thats the progress so far, haven't had much time for toys lately..

if it feels like the shift is ok when you have the cover off, i'd be very hesitant to crack the case and look in there without exhausting everything else first. been there just before to fix the smashed casing so i speak from experience..

good luck champ. ?

[heller44]

g'day again..

h'yokay, end of story: gearshift is sweet now.

all done with tools in the shed, only purchased a little spring.

now here's what i did.

dropped bike over onto left hand side, dropped coolant out. removed clutch cover, removed clutch as well to give me room. removed gear shift shaft out right hand side, then stood there looking amazed at the pool of oil i had created on the floor.. had a vague and forgot about the hole on the other side of the case.. ?..

after i cleaned that up..

bent the claw part(?) on the shift lever down a little bit, so that it engaged properly with the detent star(?), only a little bit cos there's not much play there. that made that feel a lit better, it looked like that was my problem all along, but i went a bit further..

removed the detent star and shaped the 2-3 point to look like the 3-4 point, cos it was all sorta fugly shaped. then removed the detent roller tipped spring arm, bent the tension spring straight ends a bit more to put a bit more pressure on the detent.

finally when i put it back together, i used a compression spring from the local hardware store that fitted over the nubbin on the insde of the casing, and compressed enough to fit in between the casing and the end of the shift shaft with a reasonable amount of pressure.

filled it with fluids, and took it for a blat up the street.. shift real well, still easy to find neutral, and the shift is firmer than before, but how i like it. nice hard click in each gear. going down the street i turned and looked behind, couldn't see the road cos of the oil smoke out the exhaust... ? really need to rebore this thing soon.

hopefully you have the same issues and i have been able to help.

cheers ? ,james

[wickedsprint]

This may sound stupid but my last trans did this when I installed the shifter in a way that it slightly rubbed the case bolt..and it prevented upshifts past 2nd gear due to that..then when I reinstalled it downwards...it was BARELY touching the frame preventing ANY shifting..check the SIMPLE stuff first.

[jd66]

You are right 100% the shaft travels to far to the left! What a stupid set up. how ever I have to fix what is there!

#1 What do you think if I cut a grove for a circlip and wave washer in the shift shaft on the outside the left case by the shifter ,that will pull the shaft to the left.

#2 Or I can do what you did, put a spring over the nubin on the case,pushing the shaft to the right !but how long is the sping have to be ? thanks jeff

[heller44]

didn't fix it completely. still happens occasinally now, just had it out today.

I already had to pull the motor down and do a rebore and new piston / rings/ gudgeon this week, will take the motor right out and split the case again and see if there is anything ammiss in there.

.. i am really going to hurt tomorrow..