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Yep, after some thought I think I will have to shelve the "Arrow" exhaust idea as it is also very expensive over here. It's about R 8000-00 (South African Rand) over here if I am not mistaken. I will probably go for a once off custom job. I must yust find someone down here in Cape Town that is willing to do a once off job. I want equil length but also want the pipe under the bash plate (offroad riding). If the bike goes better with the "Rimfire" mod. vs plain holes, I'm not sure. Attached find pics. of my bike on a recent bike weekend in the Cederberg mountain range north of Cape Town. It's a very popular route for Adventure bikers. Fantastic rugged scenery and a lot of different riding conditions, some quite technical. :cool4: |
Hey!
Long time since I last made a post in this particular thread, so I thought that I could give you some updates about my KLE 500. Well, not much have changed, except that I changed the chain and sprockets for the KLE 500 two days ago; however, there was a slight problem! I've received a front sprocket with 1 tooth less! "Damnit!", I thought to myself. I could either return the sprocket and change to a "correct" one with 17 teeth, or go for the one I bought, and I decided to go for the one I bought, mostly due to the reason that I have allready "released" the rear wheel, and I worked with the KLE outside, not in a garage. OK, everything installed. I decided to take it for a short spin, and I was shocked! It felt A LOT stronger everywhere in the RPM range. Of course, this is due to the front sprocket, which also results in "moving" the RPMs 400-500 higher than before, but really. This made a huge improvement! 6k RPM @ 110km/h, instead of 5.5k, if I am not mistaken, but I can live with that, and the engine itself shouldn't take any damage by that either (I rarely visit the highway anyway). Of course, the maximum speed is probably reduced, but it is so worth it! :thumbup1: Let me restate - it feels like a totally different motorcycle with the new front sprocket (in a positive manner)! I can not answer if the fuel consumption has changed yet, as I have not driven far enough to actually measure it, but I'll give you more updates about it as soon as possible! edit: Just passed 20000km with my KLE 500! :) /Mollrik |
Hey there.
I am glad the sprocket change made a differance. You have definately got a lot more torque down below it seems. I have just past the 24000 km mark on my bike and did a tappet clearance check and adjustment. It is one heck of a mission to check the tappets. If you check the manual you will see what I mean. The bike is going great now with the "Rimfire" modification. I get to 160 in no time and it holds the speed much better. I am contemplating trying out the #115 main jets. If I remember you said there is quite a differance in performance between the #112 and #115 main jets. I will have to order the OEM jets as I can't get the aftermarket ones in that size. BTW. Fuel consumption is not too bad at about 20 km/l. :thumbup1: |
Hey!
First of all, there's no need to go from 112 to 115, barely any difference at all - might even go too rich now, so keep the 112 main jets! Yes, I did a valve clearance check (think that's what you mean) around 6000 km ago, but might have to do one again; there are some small (quiet) valve ticking going around, not sure if it has been there before. Do you hear any valve ticking on your KLE 500 (according to some people, this is completely normal, but want to double check with you too)? /Mollrik |
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I think I will stay with the #112 main jets then. As for the valve "ticking" sound mine is the same. After checking and adjusting the clearances I still have that "ticking" sound. I also don't think it is something to worry about. Someone once said: "A loose tappet is a happy tappet". (not too loose of course!) |
Hello everybody!
My name is T-Rider and I am new to the HUBB. I'm from the Netherlands and I own a '93 KLE for something more than a year now. I read all the above and I was wondering if the Arrow exhaust will also fit on the older KLE models. Did anyone of you tried this? I was wondering since the site of Arrow says it is only for the new model, but the engine and frame did'n change a bit in layout (only cat's and some other carb settings right?), so I thought it should fit.... anyone tried? Thank in advance |
I'm not sure if they still make an exhaust for the KLE its not listed on their site anymore and searching returns no results.
However if you can get one i would try finding someone with a newer model and do a side by side comparison just to be sure |
OK, time for an update of how my beloved KLE 500 is running.
As I've stated before, I now have a front sprocket with 1 tooth less, for a better acceleration, but which costs me with a lower top speed. The top speed of my KLE 500 at the moment is 175km/h, losing around 10km/h with the new set-up, but it sure is worth it, as the acceleration from 0 to 100 goes within a flash (~5.5 sec last time I checked). I also realised that my KLE 500 went rich at WOT (as I stated with the 115 main jet), so I opened up the airbox with some more holes (as I also stated before), and it seems like it runs a bit stronger now, specially in the higher RPM region (where one usually loses HP with a rich mixture). An other way I realised it was rich were due to the fact that it went a little bit better cold than warm. So what is my opinion about the KLE 500 with the modifications I've made? Well, it feels like a whole new motorcycle. It performs really well, after 5k RPM, it starts to give some signs that something is happening inside the engine, as if it wants me to go WOT (read this with a "grain of salt"), it skyrockets after 5k while going WOT (well, of course, this should be the case with stock settings as well, but I'm positive that the power delivery now is improved a lot, if we should compare it to stock) Will I continue modifying the bike with larger main jets and perhaps change camshafts for more performance (read - higher duration)? For the moment, probably not, but who knows, that could change :thumbup1: It's obvious that the KLE 500 has a lot of power stored inside the engine, but it needs some modifications to actually achieve that, as the carb settings are rather lean (doesn't include the KLEs pre -96), and the intake is rather strangled as well (small snorkel (I've made some measurements, comparing the small snorkel to the bigger one in this particular thread, so scroll back, and you'll see them)). What about the fuel consumption with my setup? Well... 0.5liter/10km, which includes normal driving (some highway, some citydriving and so forth). I have no idea about the fuel consumption if I should only be driving on the highway, but I'm sure it would be better :thumbup1: Will I buy a new bike soon? Probably not, as I love the characteristics of the engine! Even if you go WOT @ 4k RPM, it actually delivers decent power. I hope that this post hasn't been redundant as of my previous posts, but hopefully, it hasn't :) It would be interesting to hear from more people what modifications you have done, and your results! Regards, Mollrik |
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I am glad your bike is going well. I have ordered the #115 jets as I am very curious to see how she goes with them in. I get the feeling the bike needs a little extra fueling on the main jet after the "rimfire" mod. As mentioned the motor has a lot potential. I read somewhere that the airbox compares to that of a 50cc bike. Bad design! Will keep you posted how she goes with the #115 jets. :thumbup1: |
FYI
Hi again I installed the #115 jets and there is quite a big improvement. The speed picks up much quicker. I now get to 170 km/h without a problem and quite quickly. The bike will happily cruze at 150 km/h all day. Not sure about the fuel economy but I will keep an eye on it. Wonder if the #118 jets will work? I seem to be going in the right direction. |
Hey!
Nice to hear that you got such a great improvement! I'm quite happy with the 115 main jet, but something tells me that I'll install 130 main jets and shim the needles (to meet GPZ 500 carb settings), and see how that would work, instead of just improving this in small increments :thumbup1: Though if one should go for a 130 (or a size or two smaller) main jet, I'm sure the snorkel will not longer be a choice (unless one wants to drill most parts of your airbox (though removing the snorkel will result in more intake noise)) If you, however, are going for bigger main jet sizes, please, keep me updated! Winter is soon here, so I'll probably do some carb modifications by then (though I'll probably wait till somewhere early next year). Regards, Mollrik |
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I'm sure if you want to go with those jet sizes then you may as well go for the Dynojet Stage #3. You will have to take out the airbox and install induvidual K&N cone air filters. Not sure what the Dynojet part no. is for the KLE 500. Should give realy good performance. |
You don't have to use cone filters with the dynojet stage3 kit an aftermarket standard style filter will be fine it just means you will need to use the smaller jets in the kit You get 126/130/134 size dynojet jets which is equivalent to 135/140/145 Keihin jets
Keihin jets vs. Dynojet jets - ThumperTalk |
Hey!
As I pointed out in an other thread, you can NOT, and I repeat, NOT, use cone filters on a motorcycle (or any machine, for that matter) using CV-carbs (Constant Velocity), without a HP-drop. If you really have to, you must make some kind of restriction to it (have been some discussion about this on the other forum I'm visiting), but it will result in A LOT of time to actually make it run fine (read, don't do this :thumbup1:). First, you need a laminar flow, which you will not get from those cone filters, resulting in a slide which wont lift as it should, resulting in a huge HP-drop. Second, it's all about pressure, and by adding cone filters, you will "mess" with the pressure balance needed with CV-carbs. If you really want to use cone filters, change to butterfly type (CR), but I think it's just "over the limit", so to speak :) I will not use dynojet kit. First, I think it's too expensive, and their parts are questionable in quality, have heard several rumours of the shims actually break down :S I am thinking of going for 120 or 125 in main jet size, and then shim the needles to remove the lean-ness in their respective operation area, but so far, I will wait with the changes. :) Regards, Mollrik |
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