2006 KX250F Rebuild

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Slick_Nick
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Re: 2006 KX250F Rebuild

Post by Slick_Nick »

With the crank out of the freezer and installed, the transmission can be assembled, and the oil screens put back into place. One last look before it's all buttoned up!

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I use Permatex MOTOSEAL and a crank installer to get the halves together. Believe it or not, the actual service manual procedure is to whack the case onto the crank. After all the hard work I did aligning that crankshaft, I'd rather not!

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There is something soooooooo satisfying about using brand new or replated hardware. While it's just a couple shiny bolt heads, all put together, it really makes the whole thing look like it sparkles.

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Flipped over, starting to put the right side components together. Remember the primary nut is LEFT hand thread.

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Re: 2006 KX250F Rebuild

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Wow!
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Re: 2006 KX250F Rebuild

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The stock basket was worn out, so both it and the inner hub are both being replaced by brand new Pro-X units. The secondary gear needs to be swapped to the Pro-X basket and then they can all be installed and torqued.

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The TUSK "competition" clutch kit has a cool design, once the plates were soaked over lunch they were all installed.

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I broke the sight glass reinstalling it into the clutch cover, so I plugged it for now while I waited on a new one to arrive. Added some blingy green stuff too. All seals of course were new, and that includes the water pump along with it's bearings.

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Re: 2006 KX250F Rebuild

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I elected to go with a Wiseco, forged standard compression (13.5:1) piston. It was installed with the previously gapped new rings, and freshened up cylinder.

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One last look before we close it up!

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With the head on and torqued, I installed a new OEM cam chain, along with the guides and retainers.

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Flywheel and stator installed:

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Re: 2006 KX250F Rebuild

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Cams installed, valve clearances set, the engine was timed, and turned over beautifully! It had lots of compression!

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Shifter on, new sprocket, and new OEM case saver and guard were installed to replace the busted old ones.

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Now, earlier, I had made an error, in that I installed the clutch plates (in my opinion) backwards. Since they have that scallop, I figured it better to have the sweep going back in the direction of rotation, so the oil kinda "flings" from inside to outside. I asked rocky mountain about this, and their response was that it didn't really matter, but it made me feel better. No matter anyways, as I had to pull the cover off to install the sight glass that had shown up at this point. This photo shows the CORRECT orientation of the clutch plates.

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The finished product!

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Re: 2006 KX250F Rebuild

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With the engine finished, the intake and exhaust ports were covered up, and it was set aside. I could now turn my attention to the chassis. New gas tank bumpers were installed with this adhesive. Works great for gluing anything rubber.

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These parts all look nice, but they need a home.

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Swingarm put back together with all new bearings, seals, hardware, and chain sliders.

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Re: 2006 KX250F Rebuild

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Did the same routine with the linkage and dogbone:

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Back to the fresh triple clamps, stem was pressed back in, along with new bearings and races.

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My original plan for the graphics, were to get a new set of OEM decals, and have them duplicated before installing them, just so I could make more in the future. Unfortunately, they have been discontinued for about 15 years, so I had to go back to my old days of graphic design, and replicate them myself using photos and measurements, in Adobe Illustrator. I then took the file to a graphics shop and had them print them for me.

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Re: 2006 KX250F Rebuild

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Lots of bling where nobody is ever gonna see!

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Re: 2006 KX250F Rebuild

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Got some frame fittings attached, and began running the wire harness according to the service manual. Hopefully these photos help someone.

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Onto the shock. I poured over the stock shim stack on ValvingLogic to see what work Enzo had done, seems they stiffened up the low speed compression a bit. I decided I wanted to ride it first with stock valving, so I re-installed the stock stack, but kept detailed notes of what Enzo did so I could reinstall it at a later date.

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Re: 2006 KX250F Rebuild

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Lets take a break from things clean and shiny for a moment, and tear into the Enzo forks. The oil was disgusting! I also drilled out the peening so I could remove and replace the inner cartridge seals.

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I didn't like the idea of using that wrench pictured above to hold the damper rod on reassembly, so I went to the mill and quickly whipped up a damper rod holding tool out of some scrap aluminum.

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Like the shock, I kept detailed notes on all of the Enzo modifications to the base valve, and midvalve. I also noted that they had changed the inner cartridge pressure springs to 1.9's from the stock 1.4's. I went back to stock valving for now, again keeping detailed notes. I delayed reassembly at this point, because I realized the fork springs were just a touch too soft for my weight. They were different in each leg, but basically stock stiffness. I searched high and low for springs, none of the vendors had the .47's in stock. So, I decided to order them right from Kawasaki. They were about a week out however, so I set the fork components aside for now.
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Re: 2006 KX250F Rebuild

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I had the shock charged with nitrogen, but figured I'd install it onto the bike once I got the carburetor fitted. Those FCR's are huge!

Working on the cooling system now, I had ordered some sporty, green hoses ages ago, but wasn't really feeling them. I found a set of nice stock ones locally from a part out, and they cleaned up beautifully, so I decided to use those instead with all OEM clamps.

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The 2006 KX250F has a plastic coolant "Y" piece that was known to crack over time, so when I got those hoses I also picked up an aluminum Y from an '07 and installed it. I made sure that all clamps were angled exactly as shown in the service manual. The '06 has a 1" shorter right side radiator compared to the 2007 and up, so only an '06 lower hose will work.

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The rear caliper was rebuilt with some fresh pads and seals.

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I installed it using the fresh hardware, and all new plastic guards from Kawasaki.

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Re: 2006 KX250F Rebuild

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The same treatment was given to the front brake. It will be installed at a later date once the forks are on.

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My decals came back from the shop. How'd I do? Look pretty close to me! I covered the entire shroud with clear paint protection film.

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Moving forward to the carburetor, it was broken right down, and even the roached mid body gasket was replaced. Each component was cleaned with the aluminum brightner, and blown dry with compressed air. Took me a whole afternoon, but well worth it.

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I decided to start with the Pro Circuit jetting specs for 2006. The NCYU needle taper in the '06 bikes is regarded as better than the following years, so I decided to keep it for now.

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Re: 2006 KX250F Rebuild

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With the carb finished, I installed it back into the bike, ran the brand new throttle and hot start cables as per the service manual, set the cable slack, and calibrated the accelerator pump. With the carb in, I could now torque the bolts on the shock.

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Now that the airbox has something to attach to, it was fitted to the subframe and slid into place. The air boot on the '06 is unique. It was changed for 07-08 to increase bottom end, at the expense of the top end. The difference is very visible when looking at the two side by side.

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Re: 2006 KX250F Rebuild

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Spare fuel petcock replaces the one with the collapsed screen. It was installed into the squeaky clean tank, with a new OEM fuel line.

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Remember that repaired exhaust? Looks awesome on the bike now doesn't it?

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Re: 2006 KX250F Rebuild

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I know some people hate building wheels. To me, it's not difficult, just time consuming. With a proper truing stand, it's not difficult at all. Went with some TUSK impact wheels, Warp 9 spokes and nipples. Of course fresh bearings and seals were installed in the hubs.

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Went with a 50 tooth rear, I would later swap this out for a 49. Depending on the tracks you ride though, 50 is certainly a nice option.

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I havent used rim bands in years. I use the chrome tape. Seals water out like a hot damn! Mounted up a fresh set of MX33's.

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RK Racing gold chain cut to size and mounted up. Looks like bike jewlery.

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Re: 2006 KX250F Rebuild

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The bolts included with the Pro Taper oversized bar clamps are too long for this bike. I turned them down a bit on the lathe and installed them to the upper clamp. The clamp will be final torqued once the forks are settled in place.

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My springs came in! These are the markings on a fresh out of the bag, direct from Kawasaki (Showa) set of .47KG/mm fork springs.

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With all the parts now in, fresh cartridge seals went in. As I mentioned before, I went with the stock valving (for now.) Cartridges were filled and bled.

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Re: 2006 KX250F Rebuild

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Things start to happen quickly here, since there isn't really much to the front end. The forks were rebuilt with the new bushings and seals, and installed.

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I put the front wheel on, and ran the brake line and bled the system so that I could ensure I had the whole front end centered up before torquing everything down.

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All of the cables, wires, and hoses were run as per the service manual. I'm running a billet ball bearing throttle tube for super smooth action.

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The 06 and 07 bikes had a bare metal loop for the clutch cable holder. In 2008, Kawasaki added this rubber bushing which I decided to install.

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Re: 2006 KX250F Rebuild

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At this point, the bike was basically "done" aside from the plastics. I like leaving the installation of the plastics until the very end, because in my opinion, it's the most satisfying part of the entire build. Its where the whole bike really comes to fruition. Not to mention, filling fluids like coolant and oil can sometimes be easier without plastics in the way. I filled the bike with oil, coolant, made sure the brakes were bled and responsive, and gave it about a half a tank of race gas. I opened the petcock, and made sure the carb filled without overflowing. We were ready for the first start essentially.

Except, I walked away. I wanted to make sure I double and triple checked everything, so I went and had some lunch. When I came back, I made sure there were no leaks, double checked everything again, and started installing the plastics. The hardware that came with the bike was okay, but I had ordered a bolt plastic hardware kit anyways for a tiny bit of bling. Made sure to install the heat shield under the right number plate too!

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And that was that! I can't fathom the amount of hours that I put into this bike, but it was so worth it.

After a few kicks, it roared to life! I got the idle dialed in, and after letting it warm up fully, I wanted to seat the rings with some moderate throttle runs up and down the street. Hope I didn't piss the neighbours off too bad!

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Re: 2006 KX250F Rebuild

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If you've made it this far, thanks for following along! Hope you enjoyed the build!

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Re: 2006 KX250F Rebuild

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