Hi

I have just installed the #112 jets, N96J needles and larger snorkel. I have put back the original air filter as I wanted to keep everything within the original spec.

I took the bike for a short spin around the block and there definately is a great inprovement in the performance. It pulls stronger and revs quicker. It probably is not so fuel/air starved anymore. I set the air screw at 1 3/4 turns out. The spec says 1 1/2. The N96J needles are a lot thinner.

I will take the bike on a longer run this Sunday and see how it goes. From what I have felt on the bike so far this easy mod is highly reccomended if you have a newer "greener" KLE 500 and want to squeeze out a few extra ponies without too much fiddling and fuss. I am a bit two minded about re-installing the DNA air filter as I am not sure how this affect the air/fuel ratio's and the performance. I gave the bike a good caning (WOT) and there was not any stumbling or hesitation.

To sum up the parts to change are as follows: (Kawasaki OEM part no's)

14073-1481 Duct, Intake (larger air box air intake snorkel)
16009-1657 Needle-Jet N96J
92063-1117 Jet, Main #112 (main jet)

I will report back on my Sunday ride.

Forgot to mention. I got the main jets from another dealer. The main jet is not a genuine Kawasaki part. It is inscripted " 112 Factory K " I was wondering if the size shown on this jet (#112) is the same size as the genuine 112 jet. It physically looks exactly the same exept for the inscription. Any thoughts?

Hey!

Nice to hear the good news

My main jets are not genuine either, and they are working just fine!

I doubt that there should be any problems with your jets

Give me more updated after your long trip, as I am interested to hear your results; my KLE runs great with the new carb parts too, but, I do not have the big snorkel (running with DNA air filter AND er-5 exhaust)

edit: I actually do no think the DNA increases the "air flow" that much more. Of course, it's better than stock, but do not think by much, so I don't think you will encounter any problems. If any, I think your KLE is running rich now, as they older ones are famous on that part (have several sources that can point that out, if you are not too sure about that), so I think installing the DNA will actually be a good thing!

edit2: If you are wondering why I am using the ER-5 exhaust, see this link, and the images below, as it describes the tuning process of KLE, but it doesn't include the jet sizes Tuning 500 KLE (not even the original german texts includes it, as I've read that one through (translated, ofcourse))

Here are some dyno graphs for the KLE 500

Original (48 hp):


(original site: KLE-Tuning2)

Modified airbox/filter (54 hp)


(original site: KLE-Tuning3)

Modified airbox/filter + yoshimura exhaust (the point is the equal headers) (58 hp)


(original site: KLE-Tuning3)

And, here's the bonus! KLE 500 with GPZ 500 camshafts (with all the modifications listed above; I will not use those camshafts, of course, as they lower the low and mid range hp, and too much hazzle, I think. It says 65 hp on the translated page, but I think 63 is more correctly)!



(original site: KLE-Tuning4)








/Mollrik

Hi

Wow! Thats some serious gain in HP. As you said its a bit pointless installing GPZ 500 cams because it takes away the low/mid range on the KLE and that is where you need it on the bike. I wonder if those Dyno Graphs are showing power at the wheel or if it a optimized crank figure. If it is at the wheel, then its a serious improvement. I will re-install my DNA filter after my long ride and see how it goes.

If you check your spark plugs some time, then let me know how they are burning. (pics)

Hey!

I can more or less guarantee that those are crank horsepower, not back wheel horse power. Why? Well, the GPZ 500 makes around 50 hp stock, and 52 hp with the famous "FoG airbox mod". Getting more than 52 hp at the wheel will drastically lower the engine life. The GPZ 500 has 60hp at the crank, and around 62-63 with the FoG mod, so it's most likely at the crank!

edit: even if the graphs above lists the crank horse power; just modifying the airbox and change exhaust is well than enough (58 hp if done "right", but that's probably not the case for us with the 112 main jets, as we will probably need bigger ones and modify the airbox even further, but I think what I have now is enough ). The big bonus with the ER-5 exhaust is - less vibrations AND I'm positive it have gained some horsepower in the higher RPMs . About the spark plugs; I'll probably take some pics later on, as the last time I checked (4 holes, 6 now, and still a bit too rich :P); It were running rich!


/Mollrik

Hi

I went for my Sunday ride and I must say I was quite impressed. The power gain is very noticable. It pulls a lot stronger and harder. I took the revs to about 9000 and there was no hesitation, flat spots or stumbling at all. It is running perfectly

Ok, so the KLE is not a superbike but this small mod for is definately worth while as it makes the bike more fun to ride. Bigger grin factor. I am sure you can do more if you want to get carried away, but I pesonally think that this is enough. If you realy want loads more power then I think its best to get a bigger bike.

I am going to try it out with the DNA filter sometime this week. It should be a little more responsive. I need to clean the DNA filter before I install it as it is a bit dirty after a weekend of gravel road touring recently. Apparently you need to get a DNA universal cleaning kit.
I will also be keeping an eye on the fuel economy. I am sure it will be around the same as the previous set-up.

Forgot to mention: I did a high speed run on the highway on Sunday. It was a long flat straight run with no wind and I could only get 165 km/h (WOT) and not a km more. It stops dead at 165. The bike gets to top-speed very quickly, pulls great, but the top end was less than I expected. I wonder if the DNA filter will sort it out?

Any thoughts?

Hey!

Nice to hear that everything went fine!

I am thinking about getting the larger snorkel myself tomorrow, and duct tape the holes, as I should probably get the correct amount of air that way, instead of speculating around as I am doing right now with holes (I still have the feeling that my machine is running rich).

If I'll get the larger snorkel, using the DNA air filter, and the ER-5 exhaust, I might actually get one size larger main jet too (115, main jets are darn cheap (2$ a piece) anyway, so feels stupid to be greedy about them (and the snorkel is not that expensive, either)), as the ER-5 exhaust is "flowing" more, and the DNA filter itself also helps.

What are your opinions about this?

/Mollrik

Hi

Yep, I think it is worth a try.

As you say the old spec KLE's ran a little on the rich side so I guess a liitle more air/flow will not hurt.

BTW, Do you have the ER-5 headers as well. If so how does the ER-5 header pipe fit under the KLE sump plate. (pics) I still have the original headers with a custom made slip-on tail piece. Will send a pic later.

I have also decided to remove the "clean air system". The vaccuum switch, pipes etc. The early model KLE's did not have this. I have ordered the OEM blanking plates and gaskets. I dont see the point of this gimmick as it seems like extra maintenance.

How do you think this will affect anything (performance etc.)? Any thoughts?

I have been struggling with my 2005 KLE500 since I bought it in March 2010, with a hesitation when I open the gas while cruising at 80km/h plus.

After cleaning the carbs out, checking float levels, checking air screw adjustment, checking the plugs, cleaning and re-oiling air filter, this problem persisted.

Eventually last Tuesday I went to a local Kawasaki dealer, and they told me the bike has an aftermarket exhaust. My immediate question was whether the carbs had been rejetted. I took them off, and low and behold, the jets were still the standard #92 and #95 jets. Although I had read this thread before, I am currently not in a position to spend even a couple of hundred bucks on doing the conversion. The Kawasaki dealer said I must change the jets to #95 and #98, which meant I only had to buy 1 jet. This I could manage. After a battle, I eventually got the #98 jet. Yesterday I took the bike out, and it pulls better and runs great up to about 100km/h, but now above 100km/h, if I open the gas to get more speed or to maintain my speed on an incline, it hesitates, and it appears to me, more than before. I went to the dealer, and they said that unfortunately, due to different aftermarket exhausts, this is a trial and error exercise until I find the right combination, and that I must try #102 and #105 jets.

Spye has kindly been advising me via pm. So after my visit to the dealer I decide I may as well get prices on the parts to do the conversion with #112 jets, N96J needles, larger snorkel, and the rimfire conversion.

I contacted another Kawa dealer that was very helpful in sourcing the #98 jet, about prices and availability of the required items. They have just informed me that the bigger snorkel, 14073-1481 Duct, Intake (larger air box air intake snorkel), is no longer available.

Does anyone know if I can do the rimfire conversion with the small snorkel. I know the german instructions say "Some models with small snorkel have performance defects after the modification!". But has anyone tried it.

Failing this, does anyone know where I can source a big snorkel.

Hello everyone, I'm new to this forum

I found this amazingly interesting thread, and so I thought you guys might be able to help me with your awesome knowledge. Sorry for digging out such old thread, but I thought it would be better than posting a new one.

I bought KLE 500 that was restricted to 34HP (made for German market). A guy I bought it from told me, he removed the restriction for me by swapping the main jets to 112.

Surprisingly, now it runs fine untill 7K rpm, where it suddenly looses power. It looks like it would shut off for a moment and then starts to pull again, but definitely with power way under nominal 48HP. It's even hard to reach 9K on the road, while it easily rev's to this point on neutral gear.

Now the thing is- the symptoms seem to indicate a lean mixture. However, the main jets are as they are supposed to be. No additional mods done so far. Air filter brand new and clean, fresh fuel in the tank.

So the question is- was this engine factory restricted in other way than just the main jets? How about a needle? A throttle?

What can I do about this? I'm afraid I'll kill the engine by running it lean. I'm even afraid to drive it to the workshop in this condition. :confused1:

I must also say, that though I have some experience with car engines (done two stroker motors and some minor other mods), I have never had any contact with carburators- always FI, so I'm a total newbie in this subject.

Hello, again!

I'm sorry for not being very active in this thread lately, the reason for that lies both in how my bike has been running, and what to do with the carb settings.

OK, if you guys remember, my last setup included two 125 main jets, two N96J needles with one washer. The problem was that the bike never really ran THAT great. Sure, there barely were any stumbles (too rich), and it ran VERY good at WOT, but I didn't want to recommend the settings to anyone, since it wasn't "perfect".

OK, so what will I do to fix this?
Well, I've ordered two 130 main jets and two N36N needles, the same setup as the GPZ 500 carbs. That will most likely take care of the problems, but I'll inform you guys as soon as possible, if there's still any interest about this! I will probably wait some weeks to a month before I do the change, since there's still snow everywhere! :P

(and yeah, I know all these needle changes aren't that cheap, so no need to mention that!)

Regards,
Mollrik

edit: I tried to answer your questions in your other thread, Mendelmax

Hi there

From my last post I have changed my settings as follows: Main jets, #100 and #98 left and right respectively. Back to N60D needles with no shimming at all and the small snorkel with one 16mm hole in air box. Air screw at one and three quarter turns out. I have opted for "milder" settings as I was getting horendous fuel economy of 18 km/l on a city commute. I am now getting 21.25 km/l. The bike pulls nice and throttle responce seems crisp. Yes, I can go for the other set-up, with better performance, but the trade off seems OK. I was getting 13 km/l (140 km/h) doing high speed touring!
BTW, do you have some sort of chart that explains the various keihin needles, taper and length etc. eg. N96J vs N60D. I cant seem to find anything. It will help when selecting a needle.

Hey hey!

Whoa, 13km/l on speed touring!? That's...insane! Maybe your bike was running way rich, because I've never reached such low numbers on my KLE 500, but yeah...your bike will probably get a better mileage with those main jets anyway, so if you are happy with your current setup, then go for that!

About the jet needles! Nope, haven't found a chart about the keihin needles, have been trying to get one for a long time, but gave up!

I can also keep you updated about the mileage from my bike with the new carb settings, if you like, but yeah...I'm sure they wont be as good as yours!

Regards,
Mollrik

Hi All

Thanks for all the jetting information from your real world testing! Let me introduce myself: I'm a South African living happily in Scotland, and enjoying the lovely country roads here.

I've been through all of the post to help me in deciding what jets to order for my bike, a 98 KLE 500 A7. Firstly I installed a K&N air filter and the larger air intake snorkel which I managed to get from a scrap dealer on ebay. This larger snorkel made the bike hesitate hugely from 1/4 to 3/4 throttle even when accelerating slightly. So, off with the snorkel then.

I decided to order the N96J needles, and a 112 and 110 jet to work with the larger snorkel. Since then, I've chopped off the standard silencer, and mounted a 2010 KTM SXF silencer (sounds really good! 33mm outlet as opposed to 22mm standard) - this doesnt have any adverse affects with the standard jetting and small snorkel.

So, with just the K&N filter, KTM end can, and 17/46 gearing, I got over 53mpg (19km/l) yesterday on a country ride averaging about 40mph (some fast 85mph, some slow single lane)

I'll let you know how I get on when I receive the jets and refit the large snorkel. I don't really wan't to start drilling any holes, so hope that I can get the jetting right without huge increase in fuel consumption (I commute 74 miles a day).

Thanks again for all the useful info, especially mollrik and spye.

Cheers.