kdx200 flywheel and timing - how to? No start

[Bosquexr12]

Hello everyone,

Just picked up a 1985 KDX from a shop that the owner did not want to put anymore money into. He brought it into the shop because it was becoming harder and harder to start and eventually would not start at all. Shop stated that the spark was indeed weak. I replaced the spark plug and CDI unit and had a buddy hold the plug to the head as I kicked. It produced great spark and even sent a nice shock up to his upper body because I forgot to tell him to hold it by the coil. Anyway I then flipped it over and moved the kickstarter to flush anything out. Took the plug out and put it in 4th running it around the driveway WOT in hopes to clear things up. Put a teaspoon of fresh fuel in the plug hole and went after it. After attempting to kick and bump for about an hour I stored her and began to question the actual timing of the spark. So I pulled the flywheel cover off and removed the allen bolt holding it on there. Now i can't figure out how to properly remove the flywheel. Any tips to remove it on this specific model and how to I adjust timing to be correct? Also wanted to add that I am getting gnarly kickback when attempting to start which leads me to believe the timing is indeed off. Iv'e just finished rebuilding my Xr650r and Drz400 and this is the last of the bunch to get moving. Any input would be amazing! Thanks in advance, Forrest.

I've attached pictures:
Never seen this style flywheel before.

[KDXGarage]

Welcome to kdxrider.net.

I am going to move this to our air-cooled section as it is more of a how to question.

Skid bars, skid plate, VForce 3 reed assembly and a Steahly Offroad flywheel weight. Nice!

I would want to check the stator plate ignition coil. The air-cooled KDX's are notorious for the magnets coming off and falling down into the ignition coil / lightning coil.

I am not sure how the weight is mounted, but you need a special puller for the flywheel / rotor. I backyard engineered a steering wheel puller with washers and 6mm x 1.0 mm bolts before getting a Kawasaki special tool. Mine is naturally a fine Sears Craftsman product , but here is a similar one. Other options may work. Grease the contect points and DO NOT let the 6 mm bolts thread on through the holes down into the coils or plate.

Look on eBay for a "Owner's Manual & Service Manual". They are pretty cheap. It is the OEM manual for JUST the 1985 model.

[SS109]

Very nice looking KDX. Congrats!

That is an odd looking Steahly flywheel weight. I've put many of them on for customers and none have mounted like that. Might be worth contacting Steahly and seeing if they can provide the instructions for removing your particular flywheel.

[Bosquexr12]

Ended up getting the flywheel off without a puller. The shop must have taken it off already to check the timing. Although upon pulling the flywheel the woodruff key fell directly to the floor as I was pulling off the flywheel. Is it supposed to do that or should it be secured in the slot on the crank? Not sure if this would be the cause of the kickback I receive when trying to start. I feel as if the ignition coil was bad then I wouldn't get any spark at all? A bit stumped on this because it appears that the timing is perfect. Any advice of where I should start next? Sorry for the lack of knowledge here, all of my experience is from 4strokes. Thanks!

[KDXGarage]

It is supposed to be a snug fit. I would try to bolt it back up and check it out. Good that it came off.

THREE bolts, not 2. I forgot.

[billie_morini]

Bosquerx12,
I would:
1) spray ether (starting fluid) directly into carb (not through air filter). If engine fires, then that's good.
2) Clean the carburetor pilot jet. It may be blocked. This is a common and widespread problem since ethanol was added to gasoline dispensed at retail pumps
3) verify carb & reed valve manifolds are not leaking. Do this by carefully spraying ether to manifold joints and kicking engine over. If it fires, then you have an air leak. If you have an air leak, then the fuel-air mixture is so lean that the engine can't fire
4) Perform a leak down test. You want to know that the main (crankshaft) seal and rings are okay

[billie_morini]

Woodruff keys sometimes become lose and even fall out when disassembly is occurring on everything from lawn mowers to mini bikes to motorcycles to automobile distributors. The puzzle to me is I can't see the key slot on the flywheel shaft in photos. Can you see it in person? If you can, then use a dab of think grease to hold the key in place while re-assembly

[Chuck78]

What CDI did you replace the original with? The CDI can create timing advance itself by different design parameters, if not matched up to the right source coil and bike (Timimg marks and orientation of stator source coil).

That's my first guess.

Second guess is carb being gummed up and pilot plugged. Likely the first is the real issue, however. Not an exacting replacement for the CDI box...

You could try retarding the timing on the stator plate for now, as massive kickback I believe generally always means too much advance. It doesn't take a lot of rotation on the plate, maybe 1mm in the retard direction. Crank rotates opposite of clutch basket which rotates opposite of countershaft/sprockets/wheel, so advanced is clockwise, retarding timing slightly is counterclockwise.


How did that unique Steahly flywheel weight come off?