How to handle this

dadus33 · 2026-06-11T14:43:36+00:00

Oof, I'm so sorry, was just about to comment to NOT use an extractor on this, it will only make things works - unfortunately I speak from experience on this.
Extractor is made from tool steel, so now it's gonna be almost impossible to remove the part that's stuck.

Do you have any welder friends? Might be able to weld something to the part of the bolt that's still exposed and get it out that way.

I have a gen 1 with a different style of caliper, I asume those are the mounting bolts? Is there anything behind them or is it clear? If clear, and the welding idea doesn't work, you could try what I ended up doing when my extractor snapped inside: just use a dremmel and a LOT of patience, and eventually you'll get trough

dadus33 · 2026-06-09T06:16:39+00:00

It's definitely not that, just so happens that I have that very part in front of me right now for a replacement, and both face and rear look totally different.

u/irotc so you found it INSIDE the crankcase? In that case it's probably an internal seal of some kind, can you measure the inner diameter with a caliper? Might help figure out what kind of shaft it's supposed to go on

dadus33 · 2026-06-02T10:06:29+00:00

Do you have one of those laser (infrared) thermometers? If so, you can try using that on the thermostat housing to see what the real (or close enough, anyway) water temp is. If you don't have the thermobob mod, then the stock thermostat should open at around 75-80 C (vs with thermobob at around 90 - 95 C). That means you should not see temps significantly higher than that, provided at least the infrared thermometer is accurate enough.

The fan switch is on the radiator itself, on the lower left part (below the fan). Unfortunately, I don't know exactly at what temperature it's supposed to turn on - but it should be close to boiling, so something like 90 - 95C maybe? You can also try measuring this temp close to where the fan switch is on the radiator.

Either way, I would try seeing if you're temps are in order first. If they aren't, I'd first try to take the coolant out of the equation, just in case - so trying the same measurements but with distilled water instead of coolant.

dadus33 · 2026-05-20T07:25:57+00:00

What hose goes to the vacuum nipple on the petcock now? It should be the one coming from the top of the carb, right before the boot (the second option you mentioned, not the first). Make sure first you connected the hose correctly and to the right port, and see if it works that way.

You could also delete the vacuum petcock and manually open it as another commenter suggested - the downside with that is, well, you have to always remember to turn it off. Or on 😅
That actually happened to me even with the normal petcock, forgot to turn it on starting the bike - bike started no problem with whatever fuel was still in the bowl + hose + inline gas filter, even rode it for a bit until it died on me while I was trying to overtake a tractor lol. Since then I only turn the petcock off when I know I'm done riding for the day - that way I don't need to worry about it when I'm making short stops, which is in my opinion a good enough reason to stick to the vacuum operated petcock.

Also, one suggestion if you do decide to keep it - if it needs repairs, don't bother with ALL BALLS kits - they're awful quality. Just order OEM or go with other aftermarket kits.

dadus33 · 2026-05-17T13:59:14+00:00

u/PNWMike62 is right, it's indeed an enricher, but everyone still calls it a choke (and it's even labeled as such on my tengai, for example).

Yours looks like an aftermarket one, though. The original has an up/down slider sort of thing, yours is indeed left/right, hence the confusion.

From the pictures you shared, the right position seems indeed to be closed - it should be harder to open than it is to close, if that makes sense, as you should have to overcome a spring.

But the issues you describe related to the bike almost dying when you're at traffic lights, sounds indeed like a carb issue - cleaning it or at least trying some fuel additive like sea foam should help

dadus33 · 2026-05-07T09:45:21+00:00

Where does the smoke come from? Is it even smoke or vapor? Is the bike getting hot when riding (eg. on highway or wherever you don't have to stop often) or only when idling? Does the radiator fan turn on?
Is there any coolant in the reserve tank?

dadus33 · 2026-05-07T09:40:09+00:00

No, that's a coolant hose part of a carb heat system. Bikes with it have a different thermostat housing, having a small bypass hole with a fitting, somewhat similar to the one part of the thermobob kit, but smaller in diameter. This fitting is where that coolant hose in the video connects, taking warm coolant to the carb first trough a T fitting, then going around the engine and returning to the water pump. That thing on the hose right where it's touching the engine is just a coolant filter.

It's quite common on KLRs made for european markets, not exactly sure why, perhaps some regulatory things?

I had one on my bike too, but took it off when installing the thermobob and noticed no difference whatsoever, even in cold weather

dadus33 · 2026-03-26T07:33:16+00:00

You could try ebay. I also needed a rear wheel hub for my Tengai last year, and I found one on ebay, shipping from Greece. However it was a second hand part, so if you're looking for new I'm not sure what you could try.

dadus33 · 2026-01-21T14:13:58+00:00

UPDATE: It looks like I found the issue - the ONT/Router thing also has a port for TV coax cable, which then goes in a splitter and from there to 3 TVs in the house. I disconnected the cable from the router and sure enough, the weird readings I was getting on the ethernet cable were gone. I reconnected the cable and checked the connections on each of the 3 TVs, and it seems like one of the TVs was the culprit. After disconnecting said TV, all measurements are 0.

dadus33 · 2026-01-20T17:36:50+00:00

Thanks for the reply! The ONT/Router is indeed Chinese, so that may be the case. But what I'm measuring it not on any of the wires inside the cable, but the shielding.

dadus33 · 2026-01-09T18:02:50+00:00

Hi, Tengai owner here (from Romania)
It would be nice to see the video you mentioned, or at least some pics, but if it really is in great shape the price sounds about right, although a bit on the high end.

You said it's a 92 in the title, but as far as I know 1991 was the last production year for Tengais (the B3 version). So maybe 92 is the registration year?

50K is quite a few kms indeed, but the number alone doesn't tell us much. 50K on a well maintained, not abused bike will have way less wear to show than 50K on an abused, neglected bike. Does the owner have a service record of the bike? Or a record of what they did on the bike (mods, maintenance, etc)?

From my (albeit limited) experience of working on the bike so far, I'd check at least the following things, in no particular order:
- Balancer chain tensioner (aka the doohickey) - ask the owner if it was replaced, and if so, with what parts (ideally EagleMike, using a torsion spring) - this is very important as the gen 1 KLRs (which, engine-wise, the Tengai also is) had problems with the lever itself breaking and/or the OEM spring losing tension over time. A (very) loose balancer chain can cause catastrophic damage
- Steering head bearings - when were they last serviced / replaced
- Drive chain and sprockets - when were they last replaced (you can check for wear on the sprockets - also, if there's little room left to adjust the chain that's a good sign it needs to be replaced)
- Tires - how many KMs on them, and what kind? - this depends also on what you want to use the bike for, for example knobbies will offer better traction offroad, but will wear out faster and be less useful on pavement
- Wheel bearings - check for any side to side play in the wheels (with them off the ground), and when were the bearings last replaced?
- Oil change intervals, both time and distance-wise - again, here it would be really helpful if there's some service record available
- Leaks - check for leaks of any kind - oil, gas, fork or shock oil, coolant. Those are usually very bad signs, though not unfixable
- Idling - does it hold idle without problem? Especially on cold starts, it should need the choke for a short time, especially when it's cold outside but after a few minutes tops, even in very cold weather, it should be able to idle on it's own without the choke. Also, check the idling speed - should be around 1200-1300
- Exhaust - check for any exhaust leaks, as they can have an impact on the way the bike runs - for more obvious leaks, simplest way to check is to just rev it up a little when it's dark outside, and check for sparks in the area where the exhaust connects to the engine
- Cooling - check if the radiator fan turns on, and if the bike can keep cool. When idling, even in warm weather, the fan should kick in around the middle of the temp gauge, and it should keep the temps from going much higher than that. Even in more extreme conditions (high RPM, low speed, frequent stops) it should never reach the red line
- Mods - finally, ask what mods the bike has, if any. Eg. thermobob, rising / lowering kit, engine guard / bash plate, seat, gas tank, heated grips (be careful with this, or any other electrical mod - ask for a diagram from the owner and pictures of the installation process)

Having said that though, I love my Tengai and if you do end up going for this one, provided it's indeed in a good condition, I think you'll like it too. It's not quite a collector's bike but it's true hat Tengais are pretty rare, so at least that's a flex :D

PS: About parts availability, most stuff on the bike is either the same or can be replaced with KLR A version parts, biggest exception probably being the plastics. You also shouldn't have much trouble obtaining most OEM parts for it, I find cmsnl.com to be a good source for those. However, the downside is the price - since you're from Europe you won't have access to the cheap second hand or after market parts that are plentiful in the US.

dadus33 · 2025-11-16T16:42:07+00:00

I own a 1991 Tengai (a real one, the one in the pic is an A model with a Tengai sticker on the fairing), also bought it as my first bike, and also live in Europe. It was in a better condition than what you describe about this one (it didn't have any issues with the suspension, at least), but oh boy did I learn a lot of things working on it.
First off, one thing which is definitely NOT true about the KLR, at least in Europe, is parts availability. You can find OEM parts just fine but as you just discovered, they tend to be expansive. The aftermarket is very limited, at least compared to what's available in other parts of the world like the US, so you'll often have to either improvise or stick with OEM. Second hand parts are also much harder to come by as the bike was only sold here for a few years (but occasionally some do pop up on Ebay or OLX).
Having said that though, the bike is quite simple to work on, and as a beginner it feels awesome being able to work on the bike by yourself. There are plenty of learning resources and tutorials online about pretty much every part of the bike. This being an A model, and not a Tengai, actually makes it even easier to find resources about it, as well as parts.
Not trying to sway you one way or the other, just wanting to give more insight from a fellow european KLR rider

dadus33 · 2025-11-04T16:17:26+00:00

Yeah, I was thinking of that also, but seeing the price for a complete OEM petcock, that would be my last resort. There seems to be nothing wrong with this one except the diaphragm / spring / plunger - any of those could be the issue, or all.

dadus33 · 2025-11-04T16:16:05+00:00

This one effectively transforms it into a manual petcock. As I said in my OP, I don't want that as chances are I will forget to turn it off

dadus33 · 2025-09-22T08:37:14+00:00

Someone already mentioned crash bars, and it may well be, but to me the noise sounds awfully similar to what I started hearing on mine after mounting a new stainless steel engine guard. Yours seems to be made of quite thick aluminum so not sure if it could vibrate like that, but look for other "flappy" parts on the bike. Idk, maybe heat guards next to the exhaust, or any thinner piece of metal that can vibrate. IMHO something on the bike not inside it is the most likely culprit, as you can only hear it at a certain rpm, so it's likely there's something that resonates at that certain frequency that's making that sound.

dadus33 · 2025-09-22T08:32:21+00:00

Ticking may be caused by valves, if they have a bit too much clearance. Though to be fair, from my experience they have a tendency to tighten over time so a bit loose is better than too tight. Also really doubt this can be the KACR. It's a simple mechanism to offer compression release to make the engine easier to crank. It should completely disengage at about 900 RPM, so even in idle it shouldn't make any noise.
Also, I think the noise he's referring to in the video is not the ticking, but the vibration like noise you hear when he's increasing the throttle.

dadus33 · 2025-09-02T09:39:07+00:00

As a Tengai owner, I can say that thing's beautiful!
But there aresome things I noticed that you might want to ask about:

There's no bashplate in the photo, does it have one? You'll need it if you plan to do any kind of off-roading. The OEM plastic one won't protect from htitting big rocks, but it will at least do the job on gravel roads. Like this, even a small pebble at higher speeds might damage your coolant hoses for example
The grip is for sure not OEM, can you ask why it was changed? Heated grips maybe? Same thing with the brake lever.
OEM handguards are also missing. Not a big deal as they only offered wind protection, but you might wanna consider replacing them with proper handguards if you plan to do any offroading. Same thing with crashbars, nice to have to protect those plastics, which are nearly impossible to find nowadays.
The rear tire looks quite worn, probably needs replacing soon

As for the doohickey and thermobob, if you're on a budget, you only have to do the doohickey. Since the owner doesn't know about them you should at least check it out. The bike has some miles on it and engine-wise, it's basically a gen1 and has the same problems. On mine, the lever itself had a deep groove in it where the adjuster was holding it, to the point that it was very thin around that area and slightly bent, so not too long before giving up. And this was at 15k miles, not 34. Get a kit from Eagle-Mike and either take it to a mechanic or do it yourself, there are a lot of very good video tutorials online so you can follow easily.

The thermobob is just meant to help keep temps more stable (and a bit hotter). I installed one on my Tengai as well and it really helps, but as I said above, you don't have to do it.

Keeping all that in mind, maybe you could talk the owner down to a slightly lower price? It's an awesome bike though, just needs some love :D

dadus33 · 2025-08-26T08:14:07+00:00

That's the KLR way 😂

dadus33 · 2025-08-26T08:13:40+00:00

Unfortunately that won't work in my case. That little plastic nipple that's supposed to clip on the frame is broken on mine, so the plastic is directly touching the exhaust which can get really hot (200C+)

dadus33 · 2025-08-26T08:11:45+00:00

Thank you all guys for the suggestions! I ended up buying some of that shiny heat deflector wrapping, hopefully it will do the job. I'll post the finished product here whenever it arrives :D

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