1989 KDX-200: Budget Rebuild

[KDXrider1989]

Just picked up this E-1 yesterday for $200 as a donor bike, but I realized that with a little bit of work and a few small stuff that I could get this bike running good looks ugly from the outside, but it was said that it had the top end overhauled in December... I'll have to see about that. Good tires, good air filter, FMF pipe with a nice bash guard, cracked gas cap, forks leak oil and I'll need to change out the water pump seal along with a few other gaskets and seals. Stripped completely of electronics as far as lighting goes, but I never use my headlight anyways so that's not a problem. Bike was taken apart because the right side casing gasket was leaking and also the kickstart was slipping. The PO took it apart only to find that it was the kickstart boss that had worn out. I'm on a very low budget as far as rebuild goes, so a lot of the original parts will be used unless it's worn out. I posted this to the Q&A section because I figured I'll run into some questions or ask for some of y'alls suggestions. I'll keep everyone posted on the build







don't know why the PO bought an H-series muffler, I'll more than likely end up selling it

[KDXrider1989]

Made a lot of progress today, took apart the entire cooling system and cleaned everything. There was a lot of trash in the carb, took me at least an hour and a half just getting it cleaned out. The head looked like it ate some piston ring in the past, but the cylinder and piston are beautiful! I wonder if the PO had any run time on the new top end, gaskets are brand new also. KIPS assembly slides in and out smoothly, but the right side sub valve will need to be repaired or replaced. Clutch basket looks brand new and the clutch plates seem to be in good shape. This bike came with 607's, but I had to flip the reed petals over because they were a little worn. All in all I cleaned up almost everything and made some gaskets and inspected everything. Going to see if a local dirt bike shop is open tomorrow so I can order the water pump seals so I can install them and go riding

[dfeckel]

Nice to see another E saved from the boneyard :)

I'm doing the exact same thing on a '93 KDX right now. I bought it as a basket case for parts, but realized that with some effort and a few more parts, it would be a runner. I'm going to get it together and give it to my bike-less buddy.

I hope your KIPS valve replacement goes well. The sub valves on mine were TRASHED. The right side was completely missing, with the bushing dropped down into the valve bore, and the left sub valve was half gone and what was left was rounded off and polished like a marble. Almost unrecognizable. The sub valve bores are so worn that I probably won't bother putting any new sub valves in. I might make something to partially block the ports to regain some bottom end, at the expense of some top. I wonder how temperature resistant JB Weld is...

[Julien D]

The difference in a KDX between subvalves working and not working is tremendous. I have thought about playing with different combinations to see what will work. The center valve and main rod are quite sturdy, so that could be left functional. Then try RH closed LH open, vice versa, both closed, and both open, to see what provides the best all around performance.

There are some tricks you can do to extend the life.

Make sure the lower journals are fairly tight. If they are much too loose, use a punch on 4 sides close to the journal edges. This will close up the hole a bit, and help it seat more securely. if you go to far, you will need to drill it back out. Replace the set screw on the RH guide bushing with a collar that holds it more securely. Just a little movement there can bind/break valves.

[Fletch]

I had left hand valve closed and right and center working and the power was decent at low end and just fine up top.

I have an 89 as well and all the things good on your bike are bad on mine! Except my kickstarter worked. Now I am contemplating doing what you're doing or just moving on to something else.....

[KDXrider1989]

Nice to see another E saved from the boneyard :)

I'm doing the exact same thing on a '93 KDX right now. I bought it as a basket case for parts, but realized that with some effort and a few more parts, it would be a runner. I'm going to get it together and give it to my bike-less buddy.

I hope your KIPS valve replacement goes well. The sub valves on mine were TRASHED. The right side was completely missing, with the bushing dropped down into the valve bore, and the left sub valve was half gone and what was left was rounded off and polished like a marble. Almost unrecognizable. The sub valve bores are so worn that I probably won't bother putting any new sub valves in. I might make something to partially block the ports to regain some bottom end, at the expense of some top. I wonder how temperature resistant JB Weld is...

Sweet, you should post some pics when you're done! The valve itself and the gear on mine are fine, it's only the little stem on top that broke off. I was thinking the same about using JB weld and how well it would hold up against heat and vibration. I've had bad luck with JB weld 75% of the time so I'm debating on whether I wanna put that stuff inside my motor or not

[KDXrider1989]

Make sure the lower journals are fairly tight. If they are much too loose, use a punch on 4 sides close to the journal edges. This will close up the hole a bit, and help it seat more securely. if you go to far, you will need to drill it back out. Replace the set screw on the RH guide bushing with a collar that holds it more securely. Just a little movement there can bind/break valves.

Lower journals? I havn't taken out the valve assembly completely, but it looks like they're fine to me. Nice and clean, and tight. I assume the PO re-did the KIPS when he overhauled the cylinder and piston

[KDXrider1989]

I had left hand valve closed and right and center working and the power was decent at low end and just fine up top.

I have an 89 as well and all the things good on your bike are bad on mine! Except my kickstarter worked. Now I am contemplating doing what you're doing or just moving on to something else.....

E-1's are great bikes! You should restore it if it won't cost you too much

[Fletch]

Yeah I'm looking at about 6-700 when all is said and done, Not too much to go wrong after that I hope, but then I'll be in about 1200 bucks.... I'll definitely be watching your build though. I sure liked the three rides I had on it before it blew though

[TWMOODY]

What are all the little dings from in the head ?
Does the top of the piston have the same marks ?

[KDXrider1989]

What are all the little dings from in the head ?
Does the top of the piston have the same marks ?

My best guess would be from broken piston rings before the brand new top end. And nah, the piston, rings, and cylinder sleeve are all brand new. The PO tried buffing and polishing out as much of the dings as he could but they still show.

[KDXrider1989]

Didn't make as much progress as I did the past 2 days, but I did get a few important things taken care of. The triple tree was so notchy and stiff that it led me to believe that it had never been taken apart to be cleaned or greased in at least 10 years. I'll only post pictures of some of the work I performed on the bike since I got it, because if I posted a picture of every step I took in cleaning this bike up there would be well over 100 pictures already :) I tried the sand paper/electrical tape method of stopping leaking fork seals, but how the hell did y'all do this?? I only got the sand paper/electrical tape only past the dust seal, that's it. Well I am going to order new fork seals anyways, this bike has been sitting for a while and they are probably old and worn out. Rear tire and swingarm seem to have some play in them, I'll have to disassemble and investigate later. Cleaned out the entire cooling system: radiators, hoses, cylinder head, reserve tank, water pump, etc. theres grooves in the water pump, I'm guessing from the impeller. Is this normal? How would I fix it, new water pump seal? I'll need to order 2 of them (one for this bike and the other for my other KDX), kickstart boss, gas cap, fork seals, and I'm sure I'm leaving something out. I am currently at a halt because of the broken sub valve, do they still make these? If so, how much are they? I heard rumors about kawasaki discontinuing the making of KIPS parts on the E-series KDX, not too sure if it's true. If it is, I'm considering taking the sub valve to a machine shop and have them weld the broken valve and then trim it so the guide can slip in perfectly (tell me if it's a bad idea or not) I also came to a stop when I couldn't fix the leaking forks. The front end will stay apart until I get new fork seals or fix the leaks

and now: some pictures

[KDXrider1989]

I tried editing the picture of the KIPS assembly to show where I applied JB weld, but it didn't show up

[dfeckel]

The E series sub valves, bushings, and pinion gear are still available, but parts like the toothed pushrod and the main powervalve are discontinued, at least as far as I was able to discern. I ended up buying good used parts for the pushrod and main valve assembly, and buying new bushings, pinion and sub valves. Unfortunately, I think one of my sub valves broke in my hybrid this weekend-- halfway through the ride it lost that midrange snap/hit that I've become addicted to. I might be building that spare H series motor I picked up on CL sooner rather than later...

[KDXrider1989]

Today was perhaps the most frustrating day of the build so far, i only got minimal amount of stuff done because practically everything went wrong. I picked up new fork seals and water pump seals today. Water pump assembly is together now, but when I wanted to change out the fork seals I couldn't get the damn base valve out from the bottom of the outer fork tube. I didn't have the correct allen key to take it out, so I grabbed a hex bolt that sized perfectly and used a pipe wrench.... ended up destroying the bolt then I tried a hex coupling that I had to tap with a hammer to fit inside the valve and used an impact to try to break it loose, ended up stripping the valve. That thing is in there, I don't know if the PO used a permanent locking agent or if it's cross-threaded or whatever, but now I don't know how to break it loose if it's stuck. The thing at the end of the shaft that opens up the KIPS was broken, and I have no time to order and wait for a new one to arrive so I welded it back together, I think I did a pretty good job :) Couldn't put the cylinder back on because I still need to repair or replace the sub-valve and align them. Won't put the radiators on until the top end is together. Won't put the wheel on until I get new wheel bearings and until the forks are on, which I won't put on until I have the seals replaced. I'm missing the return spring for the shifter arm, seems to be the only missing part from this bike. I'll see if Ace Hardware has an identical spring tomorrow, that way I can put it on and then install the clutch and basket. I really hope tomorrow and every day after today will be better and more successful

[Fletch]

Yeah I hate days like that too. For me it's best to just take a break and come back to it later when things get clicking again. Thanks for the inspiration by the way, I ordered the parts to get my bike going again. I may have a spare kips actuator when I get my bottom end if you think you'll need one. I may have some other extra engine bits if you need.
Good luck tomorrow
Fletch

[KDXrider1989]

Yeah I think I do need a little break, I've been working on it sun up to sun down ever since I got it Saturday in hopes of having it running by this weekend, but I dont think that's gonna happen And thanks, I think I will need some of the spare part you are going to get rid of. Let me know what you end up with

[KDXrider1989]

Didn't make any progress at all today, got the forks finally opened up and replaced the fork seals. But when I was finishing up the job, I don't have a fork seal driver tool so my stupid self used a screwdriver to seat the fork and dust seals. Good thing it was only the dust seal that got damaged and not the brand new fork seal, either way I now have to order new dust seals. I'm at the point where I just want the thing back together and running, I'll do maintenance later. All I need is a return spring for the shifter arm, repair the left sub-valve, and get a gas cap and put everything back together, then it would be good to go. In the mean time, I replaced the water pump seal on my running KDX, I hope I installed it correctly. I also found out why it runs so sluggish sometimes and super strong other times, and it's because the governor shaft keeps on sliding out of the slot that opens the KIPS, heres a picture:


Any way that I can stop it from sliding out? It moves up and down also, is that normal? And another thing, what's this bolt for?

[chadr]

my bike had a broken clutch lever spring when I got it and the clutch would function fine. You can take care of that after the bike is running if you are in a rush.

[dfeckel]

There is a little dowel that that screw holds in place. Without the dowel, the shaft will move up and down a few millimeters and not engage the pushrod. You will want to check if that dowel is in there. If not, you definitely need to get one. There's no good way to hold the shaft in the upper, correct position without it. I was tempted once, when I lost the thing after pulling my inner clutch cover, to safety wire the arm to the rod, but I came to my senses and just ordered the dowel/pin. It was less than $5.