Seeing as there are no dirt bike forums here, I thought I'd ask a question relating to my new toy, a 1984 Kawasaki KLR250, and the Kawasaki KSF250 Mojave.

I bought the bike on eBay, with a bad intake cam. I learned that the Mojave uses most of the same top end parts. So, though the cam looks alright in the pictures (intake cam, still opens the valves), I have been looking around on eBay, for cams. I haven't picked the bike up yet, so I'm not exactly sure just how bad the bad intake cam is. But, I have a couple questions-

What would lead to a bad cam on a Mojave, or a KLR? Low oil?

How hard is it to swap out cams? It appears as if I can change the cams with the head still on the engine.

The person I bought it from said when he sprayed gas in the carb, and kicked it over, it would start to start up, and backfire. Would that mean misadjusted valve timing?

And last, does anyone know, would a Mojave cylinder fit on a KLR?

Thanks.

Also, here's a pic of the bike, and the "bad" intake cam.

Pic of KLR

Pic of cam

The cam looks worn out, but, it must still have some of the lobe left, if it can open the valves, when the person I bought it from sprayed gas in the carb. The fuel got in there, somehow, through the carb. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

Cam wear on KLR 250.
I have 04 model and I believe it is not much different from 84. Cam wear is usually due to following:

1). Low oil level as you guessed.
2). Restricted oil passages to engine top end, like plugged up oil pick up strainer. You need to check/clean it espeically on older bikes.
3). Riding at low speeds on high gears - there is not much oil flow due to low rpm and the rather slow motion of rockers impacting on the cam will cause the wear on the cam surface.

I can't say much about Mojave which I've never owned one... not yet at least.

 

Well, someone must have screwed up bad, since mine only has 5,000 mi on it. I've seen them with 20,000 on eBay, and the engine is still completely original.