The Motorcycle: KLR 650
Big enough for highway speeds, nimble, able to take on a variety of surfaces, bomb proof, underpowered and ugly. No sir no middle age ass jewelry here, no bar hopper Harley or leather ass chaps for me. No sir. I went with the ugly ass, “what the hell is that” dual sport bike and kevlar gear that makes you look like a tool not James Dean. So be it. I’m in it for the ride not to pick up aging biker chicks with stretched and fading tattoos. (I’m pretty sure no one can fine my address from this blog, so I think I will evade the certain beat down the last statements would surely invoke.. god bless the internet!)
KLR Will Not Start
These steps are if you push the starter and receive an ear full of ugly silence. ( so electrical not fuel related)
1. Battery
Check the battery: If your headlight is bright thats a good sign, but check with a multimeter to make sure. If you have 12 Volts your battery is good, rejoice, move on to the next step. If you don’t have 12 volts try to charge the battery. If it wont hold a charge, yell at it for letting you down, make sure it feels shame, then replace it.
Note: If you’re planning on replacing your battery, you may want to check out one of the new light weight Ballistic Batteries. 10 lbs lighter and only 10% loss in charge after sitting for a year! The future is nigh!
2. “Stranded Switches”
More commonly called safety switches. There are two of these “helpful” little buggers and if they go bad they can not only leave you scratching your head but stranded on the back road to nowhere.
Clutch switch – as the name might imply this switch makes sure the clutch is pulled in before you start the engine. To test and see if this is the cause of the trouble unplug the wire to the clutch switch (left handlebar behind the grip). Bridge the connections with a piece of wire, like a paperclip. If it starts, you’ll need to bypass it to get to a place where you or a mechanic can clean up or replace the switch. An easy way to do this is turn the tines of a mini fuse vertical and plug it into the connection. This should get you going. If not move to the next switch.
Kickstand switch – If this is the culprit the bike will die as soon as you put the bike into gear. To bypass this one trace the lead up from the kickstand until you find the wire harness to unplug. Once unplugged, just like the other switch, bridge the connections with a piece of wire, like a paperclip. If it starts, bypass it until you can get the switch cleaned or replaced.
Here is a handy YouTube tutorial. ( it’s not mine, but its still handy)
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thats him officer 