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Hey all KDX'ers - Happy 4th of July!

I am reposting this to the aircooled seciton from suspension. Hope to have some more parts in today!

Well I have started the rebuild of the suspension on my 1980 KDX 175. I just love this old bike and will not give up on her... much to my pocket books shagrin! First step was complete disassembly, which was a breeze except for the swing arm bearings. I have never had them as seized as these ones. Of course, it looked like no one ever serviced them, so I expected tight, It took a lot of heat and a vice, but I was eventually able to drive them out. I then stripped the paint, sanded down some of the bad spots, primed and have the first coatd of "Silver Ceramic" Duplicolor engine paint. $12 bucks and some elbow grease versus $100+ for powder coating.

Now I am wainting on all my parts to come in. I wont post the details on the parts until I am sure they all fit, but here's the general list:
1) Needle Bearings for Swing Arm: 20x27x30 from some place in England - 2 each for around $30 bucks. They also look to be a standard Suzuki part for street suspension. Will post more on this when I am sure they fit
2) Sleeves 15X20X80 out of a KX250 circa 2004. I have to cut them down to 52 mm to fit the swing arms. $11 a piece
3) I am going to refurb the seal caps by cutting a small o-ring groove into them if I can and seal them with RTV. If this doesn't work, I found some Honda engine seals that may do the trick as well as some industrial seals 15X27X3 and some thicker ones if needed. It looks like I can still order these so that may be my route as well they are around $8.
4) Replacement Heim Joints and Boots from Aurora Bearing - These are sweet high wear joints with Zerts. I ordered 3 to do the Torque rod as well. It was the worst. The others wearnt all that bad for 32 years.

All the spherical bearings in the shock linkage are in good shape. Tight and smooth, as well as the sleeve bushing in the center pivot. I was surpised. These are available from Aurora bearing as well.

It took some looking to hunt down these compatible parts, but it is so worth it. People on E-Bay want $80 for a freaking NOS spherical bearing! The boots and Heims are rediculous too. Maybe if this was a show bike it would be worth it, but this is my regular rider/back up for my 2001 220R. I actually love riding the 175 - it reminds me I'm old.

Pic's link: https://plus.google.com/photos/11658141 ... 4523921553

More to come as I work through it... slow and steady!

Hi. Congratulations on getting the suspension bearings rebuilt on your KDX175. I know they can be tough!

What did you have to pay on the heim bearings? My 1987 KDX200 has a few. I am wondering if ANY other place might have them.

Good luck on the KDX175!

Just got the hiem joints - aka rod ends in. Pics added: https://plus.google.com/photos/11658141 ... 7230648226

These are sweet! They are high wear resistance (hardened steel ball versus the standard) and come with a zert, all for $22 from Motion Industries a distributor from Aurora Bearings. You can get these through many distributors.

The parts are so far an exact fit. Part number KKF-12MZ
Decode is:
KK = High resitance hardened joint
F = Fine thread - careful here the stand part number is just KK, the F defines .125 pitch versus .175. Measure your threads with a thread gage or a known size nut.
12M = 12 mm joint. This is the ID of the through hole in the ball, and in most cases it is also the thread size for the threaded male end, which in this case is the same 12MM
Z = comes with grease zert! Love this part, give a squirt after a ride and push out all grit and water! Even if there is an issue with fitment (none detected so far) you could remove the zert and replace with a plug. Then plug and grease it during annual service.

There is alos a T suffix available which adds a teflon ring to the ball between the race. I didnt think it was necessary and woried about wear from shock.... not like I jump my old KDX often, but I aint exactly a petite guy....

I'll take some pictures of it assemble later, plus I got the seal boots in from seals it. They look perfect, but may be hard to fit over the zert. Will post a shot of these too.

Hapy trails!

Mike

DUDE!! You must be a lime green private investigator! What a great job on finding those bearings. That is incredible.

Thanks Jason! My rides are old Kaw's and Gas Gas... that means I'm stuck in a world of permanently trying to find parts that fit that don't cost like NOS. Bearings are almost always available. MSC is a great source as well as Motion Pro. But the best is a local bearing house with a good man (or hot lady) behind the counter! The real test will be the lower half this winter.

One thin to note, I was straigtening the threaded rear brake rod tonight. I didnt have any 6mm coupling nuts (or any for that matter) so I used the wing nut it came with. Woops, that thing must be pure zinc, it started melting like solder when I heated the rod! I barely saved it, but it could use a better part anyway.

I straigtened the torque rod as well. It's also tricky because it has OEM bend just off the mounting tabs. Coat a paint, looks great.

Plan to get into the front and rear wheel bearings. These look pretty standard except for the larger diameter seals around the hubs. Should be some fun green investigation!

Good luck with it. I looked on the Aurora site, but found no prices. I am not serious enough to call. I will have to wait until my hands are greasy to worry that much with it.

Good luck with the KDX175.

Swing arm needle bearings came in and are an exact fit! The part number is: TA2030Z described as: Needle Roller Bearing Open End Type 20x27x30mm Motorbike which I bought from bearingseller on ebay at: http://myworld.ebay....sid=p4340.l2559
The price was $11 each with 4 dollars shipping. These look to be quality Japanese bearings, certainly as good as the OEM and just a litttle better than the rusted shells I pulled (pounded, torched and pressed) from the swing arm.

You can probably get them from a lot of sources with teh part number, but bearingseller did a great job getting them to me from the UK and beat all the prices I could find state side. Aint the web great!

Just waiting on the sleeves now. I also plan on a getting a new shock built from YSS or Works. Though at @ $200 that may have to wait till winter!

Thanks for the continued info. Hopefully, other KDX175 owners can keep theirs going too.

Great info, just getting into rebuilding a 1980 kdx 175, thanks for all the research!