1997 KTM250

[KDXohio]

Ok now I'm thoroughly confused...I pulled the clutch covers, clutch, and clutch basket. Kickstart and idler are both fine, the clutch basket and bearings are good....When I turn the engine over without those in its like winding up a spring going forward couple turns and it gets tight then locks however I can turn it as fast and smooth as I want in reverse. So we'll say 20 turns backwards then 2 forward it locks 1000234938 backwards 2 forward it locks. Crank bearings??

[KDXohio]

I realized last night the previous owner had the fly wheel held down with a lug nut so I'm going to pull the flywheel and rule out anything over there before ripping the engine out and splitting the cases.

[KDXGarage]

Nice to hear that KTM has backyard mechanics, too

[KDXohio]

Nice to hear that KTM has backyard mechanics, too

It amazes me what some people will do to save 40cents

[diymirage]

this wouldn't happen to be the same bike that has the greasable rear caliper would it ?

[KDXohio]

this wouldn't happen to be the same bike that has the greasable rear caliper would it ?

Sure is!!

[KDXohio]

well I stripped the top end and found the problem....the rod bearing

Not sure what caused it to start seizing I can barely move the rod the lower bearing is so tight. Whenever I break into the rotating assembly I always use my premix oil to lube everything on reassembly and I only had the thing running for 5 seconds at most before shutting it down

[Actionman]

Im pretty sure the powervalve on those is a simple resonance chamber ala atac on a honda or the evac on the 86 suzukis.

[KDXohio]

Ill post a picture of the valve setup it has 2 small valves on the side of the cylinder and one big one in the exhaust port

[KDXohio]

I've been putting off getting back to this project I was going to have the crank rebuilt but was able to snag a bottom end for 150 which will help with some other problems I've come across.

I pulled the engine last night and found the swing arm bolt had a ball bearing on one side as a washer/spacer and on the other side I found one large castellated nut as a washer/spacer and then they used another castellated nut to secure the bolt

• Flywheel nut=1/2" lug nut=destroyed threads on the crank
  Swing arm pivot bolt crazy spacers
  Grease fitting on the rear caliper
  Radiator shrouds are shaved fairings from a street bike of some sort
  I'm sure I have yet to uncover all the craziness of this thing yet

[KDXGarage]

Oh, you orange guys!!

[tirebiter]

I had a '97 360, one of the best bikes I ever owned!
Made up a dual sport kit for it..

[KDXohio]

I hope mine turns out half as nice as that!

[tirebiter]

I hope mine turns out half as nice as that!

I'll tell ya, when I got it, it was a leaking, drooling pile of dung.
That was about 10 years ago and parts were still readily available, hopefully they still are.

[KDXohio]

Just pulled the flywheel and found a stator from a different bike attached to the case with self tapping screws into new holes..... definitely should have never bought this bike

[newbbewb]

is that era SX a 4 speed?

[KDXohio]

No this one is a 5 speed

[Actionman]

Ill post a picture of the valve setup it has 2 small valves on the side of the cylinder and one big one in the exhaust port

Sounds like the same setup suzuki was using in 97.

[Actionman]

I've been putting off getting back to this project I was going to have the crank rebuilt but was able to snag a bottom end for 150 which will help with some other problems I've come across.

I pulled the engine last night and found the swing arm bolt had a ball bearing on one side as a washer/spacer and on the other side I found one large castellated nut as a washer/spacer and then they used another castellated nut to secure the bolt

• Flywheel nut=1/2" lug nut=destroyed threads on the crank
  Swing arm pivot bolt crazy spacers
  Grease fitting on the rear caliper
  Radiator shrouds are shaved fairings from a street bike of some sort
  I'm sure I have yet to uncover all the craziness of this thing yet

buy a decent thread file (metric) on ebay for $12 and u might be able to fix those crank threads enough to save from buying a new one. Ive salvaged some very expensive linkage bolts and axles by spending a half hour gently filing new threads into bodged up bolts. I repaired a seriously screwed up 02 kdx shock body (someone tried adjusting sag with a punch and ended up hitting the shock and destroying a lot of threads) and it looked like it had never been damaged. Its more than paid for itself. It will repair eight different thread pitches as well!

[KDXohio]

So after moving into a new house and suddenly having work a lot I have had next to no time to work on this bike.
Here's the update I found a cheap parts bike I was able to use the bottom end from and electrical system since I found the ignition system on this bike was completely wrong. Put new rings in it after cleaning the cylinder up and power-valves. Cleaned up the carb and put the bike back together and it seems to run great...still ugly though. It still needs exhaust work (leaks at head and silencer connection) also needs a radiator cap tank bushings and new chain adjuster bolts and also plastic.

About 200$ in parts on the high side and at most 2 more hours of labor
I've been to stupid to stop trying to resurrect this bike that I've finally posted it for sale and very quickly got a buyer lined up for tomorrow if that falls through then I will probably keep going on it but at this point I have a stupid amount of money invested in this thing now and am ready to get out of it while I can still break even!