new member with a 2001 kdx220r

[dude541]

hi all,
new member and first post
i am in great britian,uk,and recently purchased a 2001 kdx220r,which i was told is a canadian import,currently doing some work on it as i want to get it registered over here,and also get a full mot.

first question i have is about the regulator,i have tested it (as described in the manual) but i cant get a ohm reading,may be my multimeter? (the manual says some might not work correctly?) the front and rear light work ok,just wondering if there was another way of testing it to make sure its ok?

second question,i am currently wiring some brake lights up (hydraulic switch front and rear,bay15d 3 wire bulb holder,and matching led bulbs)
just wondering where to take my live feed from? i know some use the tail light feed,but i want a constant feed so they work without having to have full lights on.
ive taken a nosey at a couple of wiring diagrams where it looks like the feed was taken from the brown wire of the regulator?
i dont seem to be getting any voltage from this wire,hence the first question.

any help on the above will be very much appreciated,and i am sure they wont be the last questions!

best regards
john

[Julien D]

Hello, and welcome!

As for the regulator, if you can not get the ohm reading correctly, you could just tap into a hot past the regulator, set your meter to read 12v, and monitor the output as you rev the throttle. It should remain fairly steady, although it may drop a bit at idle. The purpose of the regulator is to prevent it from spiking too high and frying the lights. If the lights appear steady, you should have no problem.

To power your brake light constantly, tap into the hot lead running to the light switch, or just the hot right out of the regulator. As long as you are on the back side of the regulator and before the switch you should get power all the time. Make sure you pay attention to the wattage of all your lights combined. I believe your stock stator is good for only about 35 watts. There are upgraded units available. There is also a nice walkthrough here on re-winding your own.

[dude541]

Hello, and welcome!

As for the regulator, if you can not get the ohm reading correctly, you could just tap into a hot past the regulator, set your meter to read 12v, and monitor the output as you rev the throttle. It should remain fairly steady, although it may drop a bit at idle. The purpose of the regulator is to prevent it from spiking too high and frying the lights. If the lights appear steady, you should have no problem.

To power your brake light constantly, tap into the hot lead running to the light switch, or just the hot right out of the regulator. As long as you are on the back side of the regulator and before the switch you should get power all the time. Make sure you pay attention to the wattage of all your lights combined. I believe your stock stator is good for only about 35 watts. There are upgraded units available. There is also a nice walkthrough here on re-winding your own.

hi julien,
thanks for the reply.
i did some testing today,and from memory voltage from the rear tail light plugs (tail light unplugged) was just over 10v on idle,front yellow hot wire on idle was over 17v! i was getting no voltage reading at all from the hot wire (brown) on the regulator!

i will double check these readings tomorrow.
best regards
john

[Deseret Rider]

Dude 541 In your quest to render the 220 in first class running shape you will want to be aware that there is verified history that the OEM piston may fail with catastrophic result. It would behove you to check to see if the OEM piston has been replaced ? Most of us have gone to the Wiseco piston. In my own case I was given this advise by someone on this forum when I bought my bike and I did find a crack had developed across the skirt on my piston ---I'm lucky that I caught the problem in time. My bike ran fine and I had no indication that the piston was about to detonate----This isn't a problem know to affect the 200's but is a serious concern on the 220's----or so I'm told.

[dude541]

Dude 541 In your quest to render the 220 in first class running shape you will want to be aware that there is verified history that the OEM piston may fail with catastrophic result. It would behove you to check to see if the OEM piston has been replaced ? Most of us have gone to the Wiseco piston. In my own case I was given this advise by someone on this forum when I bought my bike and I did find a crack had developed across the skirt on my piston ---I'm lucky that I caught the problem in time. My bike ran fine and I had no indication that the piston was about to detonate----This isn't a problem know to affect the 200's but is a serious concern on the 220's----or so I'm told.

hi desert rider,
i did actually read that myself,the bike isnt really being used at the moment,when i have sorted a few niggles i will pull the motor and take at look
best regards
john

[rbates9]

This isn't a problem know to affect the 200's but is a serious concern on the 220's----or so I'm told.

This piston problem is a 220 issue and not a 200 issue.

[Julien D]

Indeed. It would seem that they screwed up on the design of the OEM 220 piston and never bothered to correct the issue. Best to avoid the stock piston.