KDXRIDER.NET

That's kind of what I'm leaning towards. My son doesn't have much experience so that might be good for him to learn with. Once he gets quicker I could change it out and maybe have some straight rate springs made up to suit him better as his skills increase.

Fredette used to recommend 7 or 7.5. Remember that they are damper rod forks, not cartridge, with the manual recommending 10 weight.

I've got a bottle of 10wt so I might just buy a bottle of 5wt and put the 10 in one leg and the 5 in the other for an effective weight of 7.5.

or....you could mix them together to have 7.5 weight in both legs

I've never done that before. I think I'll either do that or just get off my wallet and buy a couple of bottles of 7.5wt. This is already turning into a very spendy project anyway. Unfortunately, I'm also working on a very expensive 1972 Honda CB500 that I bought for $300. Those $30 parts puchases mixed in with some $500 puchases add up in a hurry. If I could somehow make 25 cents an hour for my labor I could come out ahead on these projects.

The key to enjoying these build/resto projects is to never add up your receipts.

dfeckel wrote:The key to enjoying these build/resto projects is to never add up your receipts.

amen.

I haven't posted for a while and I just got back from taking a road trip on my Concours but I have made a little progress. Unfortunately, I am also still waiting for some parts which has slowed me down a bit.

So far I have reassembled the bottom end but I'm still waiting for the cylinder to come back from the plating shop. I rebuilt the front caliper with all new rubber, the shock is installed back in the frame, I disassembled and cleaned the forks and installed new seals, and cleaned about a zillion more parts.

This morning, I decided to tackle the fork/disk guard. I bought a set on Ebay for an 82-84 KX. Unfortunately I could only find them in green. To make them fit I had to do some trimming and then I gave them a coat of paint. Here's what I had ready for paint after I trimmed it to fit my KDX:



Here's what I trimmed off:



Here's the paint I used and some other kind of "goo" that is supposed to make it adhere better:



And here it is after a few coats of paint:



Let's just say that it would have been a lot easier if I could have found the guards in white to begin with. I'm still going to keep my eye out for a set of these in white so that I can switch them out once these have green scratches all over them. Now I just need to get the front wheel cleaned up and install the new bearings and seals and I can start reassembling the front end. One of these days it will start looking like a motorcycle again and my workbench won't look like a tornado came through my garage.

I have a question about the stator/ignition. Here is what I have:



When I bought the bike it would start right up so obviously the ignition is working. The lights however did not work. As I disassembled the bike I discovered that both the front and rear bulbs were blown. The previous owner stated that he had replaced them and they never worked. I have no way to verify this but I am assuming that if he replaced them (6 volt bulbs) that maybe they received too much voltage.

All that I have done is tested both sides for continuity. Both coils (or whatever they are called) measure continuity from through the wind and all the way to the end of their respective wires that plug into the harness. That is all I know to do. Is there a better way to test this before I put it back in the bike? Is there some sort of regulator in the system that could be allowing too much power to the bulbs causing them to blow?

I haven't tested the light switch yet but I will do that before reassembly.

For now I just want to put it back together stock but in the future I will probably look into upgrading to 12 volt to simplify the eventual dualsport conversion. However, I do need for the lights to operate as they should for now.

EDIT- I just tested the light switch and it works fine. I should also mention that the flywheel is in great shape and the 4 magnets are firmly attached.

Finally starting to make a little progress. The front end is back on and the bottom end is back together but I won't have the cylinder back until tomorrow. I also couldn't put the clutch cover back on yet because the gasket I had was the wrong one. Parts are once again on the way and I should have the motor back in and the rear end back on next week. Then it's just a matter of buttoning everything up.

I pulled the carb apart and it doesn't look too bad. I've got a gasket set on the way. All jets are original. This thing just needs a good cleaning and it'll be ready to go.


I've been mocking up the controls so I can figure out how much length I can cut off of these bars. I've decided I'm taking 3/4 inch off of each end.


This has been quite a project. In this picture alone I had to CLEAN everything, replace the wheel bearings and seals, tighten a few spokes, service the odometer drive unit, de-glaze the disk, rebuild the caliper with all new rubber, replace the brake pads, trim and paint the fork protector, safety wire the spokes, and disassemble and service the forks and replace the seals. It also needs a new front tire but I want to see it run before I spend any more money than I have to.


Here's a couple of shots of how it sits right now although it should start progressing much more quickly. I put a Baja Designs dualsport kit on my XR so I had the original headlight laying around. I've always really liked the looks of the older XR headlight bucket so I'm going to run it on the KDX. To my eyes, the KDX headlight bucket really dates the bike so I think this will be a nice update. The only problem is that I will need to source a 6 volt bulb that will fit the socket.

I have and ride a 87 Kdx 200. I wouldnt use the stock computer unless you can find a after market sending unit. My sending unit was bad when i got it and i replaced it but it died shortly after getting water and mud in it... The ingenuity of it just isn't built to last >_< which is sad because the rest of the bike is amazing!

Hope you get it all fixed!

It is looking good!

I have and ride a 87 Kdx 200. I wouldnt use the stock computer unless you can find a after market sending unit. My sending unit was bad when i got it and i replaced it but it died shortly after getting water and mud in it... The ingenuity of it just isn't built to last >_< which is sad because the rest of the bike is amazing!

Hope you get it all fixed!

I'm hoping I get it all fixed too. The stock computer doesn't work but I stuck it back in there just to get this thing all back together and off my workbench. Once I get it running and all seems well I plan to buy an aftermarket computer to replace the original.

It is looking good!

Thanks! It's coming along. Tonight I got the motor reassembled except for the head. I still need to clean the head before I can bolt it on and I'm sick of cleaning parts so it will have to wait until tomorrow. I was expecting a big battle with the KIPS system tonight but it actually went together pretty easily. I can definitely see an end in sight and I can't wait to get this bike fired off and let 'er rip.

I have been trying to finish it up the last few nights and I am finally getting very close. I can't wait to fire it up.

Here's the motor almost back together:


And a look inside the jug:


Motor back in the frame:



Throttle side controls:


As of tonight:


I still need to paint the pipe, re-pack the silencer, put a new number plate background on the right side cover, oil the air filter, and mix up a fresh batch of 40:1 fuel. If I'm lucky, it'll start right up and I can just set the idle and go. I'm planning to get it going this weekend and have it ready for the trail the following weekend. I hope my son really enjoys it and it gets him as addicted to motorcycling as I am but I'm also looking forward to "borrowing" it occasionally. It's been a while since I rode a two stroke and I'm really looking forward to it.

WOW nice job!

Thanks! It was a lot of work but I'm pretty happy with the results. I'm kind of having crazy thoughts about building a hybrid next but hopefully I can talk myself down.

WOW, that looks real nice!

Super jealous man, it looks sweet!

air cooled KDX is nice