KLR600 Choke Cable Eliminator

The choke cable on my 1985 KLR600 has been a source of problems. I don't think it works...my dealer looked at it and sez it does. Basically, it is my impression that I get no noticeable difference between on and off positions, whether starting or running.

I'm fairly confident that the actual enricher on the CVK40 carburetor is operable, but the cable has either stretched or somehow bound to the point that it's not pulling the plunger. The sleeve is loose in the lever end of the assembly. You just can't tell with the stock set up.

So, as I now have the KLR600 all apart again working on the suspension, I've decided to take the opportunity to remove the choke cable altogether and replace it with a choke cable eliminator (about $30). 

This is a plug-n-play part. The cable and enricher components are removed and this is plugged into their place. The on off plunger is then located on the left side of the carburetor...

.....just like the old days!!! 😊

The lever side of the cable is on the left handle bar as shown in the photo. Unlike the later model KLR650s, the lever is in a very precarious position and is known to easily snap off in a fall.

The enricher is located on the left side of the carburetor.

The enricher is removed by sliding the dust cover back and "gently" turning a vinyl set nut. Some guidance has indicated that the carb needs to be removed. That's not the case. I had to move the coolant overflow tank and I lifted the fuel tank off to get to the cable. The real key is to find a gentle position in which to turn that vinyl set nut. I got it out with a pair of needle-nose pliers.

Since I'm replacing a vinyl engine part with a brass part I decided to apply a very small amount of medium locktite to the two threaded surfaces without letting any get on the enricher or plunger. 

The part did not come with instructions. While generally intuitive I believe that the smaller 10 mm nut adjusts the pull knob/plunger tension. Looser and the pull knob did not stay out. Tighter and the pull knob tightened equal to the pressure imparted.

Lastly on the mod is removing the cable and lever. As previously mentioned, the fuel tank had to be lifted to remove the cable. Then the single 5M bolt that holds the choke lever on the handlebar side of the cable is removed with a small 4mm hex key.

That's it. The cable is removed and the choke is now located down on the left side of the engine. This location shouldn't be too much of an inconvenience for people that aren't used to it. The enricher on the KLR is only needed for the cold start...i.e. when we first get rolling. I've rarely had to go to it subsequently on Gen2, Gen1 or the new-to-me old 600B1.

Update:

After a couple weeks, I can confirm that the cable eliminator is a good mod. Right out of the gate, I could tell that it worked during startup....which was my issue with the stock cable and stock lever. While my dealer was telling me the stock assembly worked, I just didn't think so. To now absolutely know that I have a working enricher leads me to the conclusion that I did, in fact, have an issue with the stock cable.

As to operation, it's a simple pull where the plunger stays in place during warm up. Once the warm up is complete the plunger is pushed back in and I'm off. Good mod!