KLE500 poor performance below 3000rpm.
 

Hello all. This is my first post. I have just bought a '05 KLE 500 and this seems like the best forum I have found that deals with this bike. The only problem I have is that power delivery under 3000rpm in any gear but 1st or 2nd is very poor. I have to ride through urban areas in a low gear because it is very reluctant to accelerate at these engine speeds. I was wondering if this is normal for this bike. I have stripped the carbs and everything seems ok. I have also fitted new plugs. The bike is totally standard and has only done 1700 miles. Any comments greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Dave (Cleveland, UK).

Hi
Welcome to the HUBB

The KLE will only really accelerate above 4000RPM after all its ony a 500 so doesn't have so much low-end torque as a bigger bike
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...s-needed-31587
Have a look at the graph near the bottom of the page theres not alot of torque below 3000RPM

Also what speeds are we actually talking about? doing the 30mph limit or the 15-20 stuck in traffic. Also what gear are you in when doing those speeds?

Personally if i'm doing urban riding i try to keep the revs at about 5000rpm that way i can accelerate easiy if need be. The only exceptopn being on long straights or gentle downhill road in which case its in 6th

hope this helps

Shaun.

Although the kle500 isn't exactly a "grunty" motor, mine pulls well enough below 3000rpm, and just gets lumpier at lower speeds. it does sound like something isn't quite right.

Carb balance may be an issue? also the idle mixture may be out. It really needs to go on a dyno to look if it isn't fueling correctly.

Thanks for the reply. The torque curve you mentioned ties up well with how the bike performs. I have been travelling through town at about 2000 rpm. It looks like this is too low for the bike, I'll have to get used to using the gears to keep it revving. My last bike was an SLR650 and it pulled like a train from very low revs so I guess its just a case of adapting to a smaller twin, at least I'm happy now that there is nothing wrong with the KLE. Apart from this I'm happy with the bike although I've seen plenty of comments regarding the cosmetic finnish. I'll have to see how it fairs after a couple of winters!
Regards, Dave.

Thats all it is Dave, you have to keep it in lower gears at slow speed. Mine is as lumpy as hell if I try and get it to pull at low revs/high gear.

As for the finish, Ive had a few Kwaks and all of them go a bit rough looking on the metal work but they last as well as any others.

I was talking to a fella the other day and he was on a 650gs Dakar, it was an 2006 and it was well rough. I asked if he had done the dakar!.

My tip is to make sure you have enough WD40 to scare the neighbors.


Regards
Roy

:)
 

your right, the pulling from low revs on high gears isn't good. It doesn't feel good for the engine, like it's struggling. As a rule of thumb now I like to keep the bike at 4000-4500rpm in gears 2-6, it seems to sit there and run silky smooth and then starts going higher at 60 - "100" mph in 6th.

In really heavy traffic I tend to ride the clutch alot, i just can't bear the engine bobbly at low revs when doing 5-10mph.

So far I've been completely trouble free for 25000miles :-)

Rich

My bike ran real rough below 3k rpm. Not anymore.

yesterday I got a custom header/pipe made. Without jetting up yet this thing is still like producing what feels like 15HP more off the bottom!! It feels like triple the power.

Guess what no more vibrations and the bike can pull 5th gear at 2k rpm with 16/44 gearing.

So vibes are all the restriction making the engine rough as.

header/exhaust pipe
 

Hi there all,

Jimmy101 posted as having a custom header/pipe made. Could you post more details as to what this entailed? Did you get equal pipe lengths? change the exaust? costings? Country you had this done in? etc.

Regards,

Shaun

I too would be interested to see the header pipe for my KLE :thumbup1:

Hi. Jimmy101 did you just have new equal length headers attached to the standard muffler or was it a complete pipe and muffler?

Hi all,

I had custom headers made - any motorcycle exhaust place will do them but they will need your bike for a day. I got mine done in AUS brisbane at:

Motorcycle Exhaust Professionals

I has a carbon exhaust that they just fitted it up too - probley not as "tuned" as the arrow full system, but if you have a spare can hanging around the headers and connector pipe only costs $500 in mild steel. Arrow system is about $1200 in AUS.... Im sorting my jetting, but dual #100 seem to do the trick with unmodified snorkle (small one).

The power increase riding home with lean jetting was still VERY noticeable and also how the bike hit 9k very quickly.

hi i have the kle b6f 07, an have all the same issues as you 1000 mile on clock. very lumpy engine, the issue i have is that to set off in 1st gear with clutch out my rpm has to be at 3000 . to get a smooth set off. that i find very annoying it traffic. if i dont have it at that the bike feels very lumpy like i am in the wrong gear. is it about 3000 rpm to be normal.the clutch is ok. thanks

ride the clutch
 

hi your advice about riding the clutch was good advice. but does this shorten the clutch life. as it feels like it would or is this the normal way. thanks

Hi Chip,

You do realise the thread you have tapped in to here hasn't had a new post up until yours since 2009? :oops2:

However, some of the information is still valid.

Yes, riding or "slipping" the clutch will shorten the life of the clutch plates a little, depends how much you do it though.

I recently bought a '94 KLE500 and am trawling through the threads looking for useful information as well.

Cheers,
Ock. [in Oz]