KLX 450 HELP! 1

Dear Dirt Bike,
I just picked up my new 2008 Kawasaki KLX450R. I took it out this weekend for its first run, and to be hon¬est, I'm bummed. First I start it and it won't idle if I don't keep my hand on the throttle. Every time I decelerate, it sounds like there's popcorn blowing out of the muffler, and then on the trail I got it to start bubbling and blowing out coolant on a yucky, muddy and tight trail. On top of all of this I want more power out of my new 450, but hey, I've got three years of payments and don't have a lot of bank right now. The trou¬ble is, I don't even know where to start. I can't even get to the carb. There are more hoses and lines on this thing than my truck. I am afraid to work on it. I took it to the shop and they told me I needed to buy a bunch of parts and it would be 95 dollars an hour to fix my brand new bike. HELP!
We really like the KLX450R, but seri¬ous trail aficionados always demand more out of a machine that is fairly tongue-tied from the factory. Unfortunately, the reality of our situation is basic; off-road machines have to be quiet, and meeting the guidelines requires the manufacturers to bottle them up. Lean and fixed jetting, incredi¬bly confined exhaust systems, and vari¬ous devices meant to control emissions are wrapped around a very advanced chassis. This has shoehorned the entire engine and carburetor into a cave that is nearly impossible for the normal lay¬men to get access to. We sent this mis¬sive to the boys at F2 Racing and the reward is a real 'How to' make it power¬ful, get to the carburetor, make it easier to work on and, ultimately, more enjoy¬able on the trail. Here goes.

After removing the seat, remove the gas tank. While you are at ft, pull the clear plastic cover off the front of the sub-frame. It is held on with the two front air-box bolts. This will allow for more airflow to the airbox. Remove the tailpipe.




This is one of the things that scares people: the subframe. Remove the two lower bolts and the one upper bolt. Loosen the air box clamp. Now you can flip it over on the handlebars and expose the shock. There is a breather hose on the lower left rear of the airbox that will need to be unhooked to give you enough slack. Remove the top shock bolt first and let the swing arm fall. Now remove the lower one and pull the shock out.



Hey, now you can see the carb. Loosen the throttle cables and pull them out. If you want you can mark which one goes on top. Yes, if you get it backwards, the throttle will go the wrong way. Remove the hot start nut. Careful; it has plastic threads. Don't forget to unplug the TPS sensor. That's the white one with three wires that goes to the left side of the carb. Okay, finally you can remove the carb. Leave all those pink hoses attached.


You may notice you can't find a fuel screw. It's behind that little aluminum plug with the hole in it. Remove the float bowl. If you strip the screws, don't worry; we provide tricky stainless Alien head replacements with the F2 Power Back kit.






Use a small punch to knock the plug out of the float bowl and put it back on the carb using the stainless screws.







www. f2racing. net
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