1996 KDX200 and I in quarantine together

Welcome to KDXRider.net! Please take a moment to introduce yourself, and meet the group.
Post Reply
KatieX
Member
Posts: 4
Joined: 02:02 pm Mar 28 2020
Country: Canada

1996 KDX200 and I in quarantine together

Post by KatieX »

Hi everyone,

I'm very glad to have stumbled upon this site to find that there is such in depth discussion and community surrounding the bike I chose!

I'm a Canadian from the Pacific Northwest. There is a lot of very technical woods riding here which i do like, but my favorite will always be heading north a bit to where my family is for some high speed, low obstacle riding in the ranch lands along cow track and logging roads. Riding up there is great, its nice to be able to take it easy and enjoy the powerband but also head to the side of the road and climb over some little logs if I feel like it. My 200 suits me perfectly and I'm beyond pleased with my decision to hunt one down and bring it home.

This site has already helped me so much in the 2 days since I found it, with little things like the direction to build a cylinder holding tool while I redo my forks. As I'm sure we are all aware, we have a lot of time at home on our hands these days and I decided to use mine going through the KDX who i nicknamed Uncle Kal, and getting him ready for some spring action with my family. I've started from front to back and as of friday hes got a new front tire and currently the forks are apart on my bench and waiting for a new bushing to arrive before I can continue. Everything else looks good minus the coating on one of the small bushings, so ill just sit tight for a bit and wait for the mail man so I can continue.

Many thanks to all of you, I got them apart fairly easily using a $4 27mm brass hose plug that i drilled a hole into and mounted to a scrap piece of pipe. Probably would have sat around wasting a lot of time if I wasn't able to see this sizing information so easily, so thank you. I look forward to the many other tricks to discover in the topics here.

I'm currently reading about all of the different fork mods people are talking about on here. Ill take suggestions to do some research if anyone has any for a 155lbs rider. I'm not overly aggressive or anything, but I'm also not in a rookie class either. I'm just gettin old which to me seems to mean i like keeping both wheels on the ground, yet I'm willing to bet over 85% of my riding is top end of 3rd gear and into 4th without having to worry about too many surface inconsistencies. I never found the forks too flexible but I also haven't put them in an area where their limits are tested.

Im not set on making any changes as they actually felt pretty good to me beforehand, but I took them apart last night before realizing what a lot of you are doing to the forks so i didn't know yet what to look for so I could give you some better information. The only thing that looks out of place to me as not being factory (potentially) is the spacer up near the top plug is a 1" mild steel tube and its not cut completely square makin me wonder if a previous owner has already customized the shim size. It measures 1.480 at its smallest and 1.505 biggest so my guess is whoever cut it was aiming for 1.5" (38mm). For now, my intention is to just keep using it when my new bushing arrives and i reassemble with the bel ray 5w. I could be persuaded to try otherwise, though and have all the capability to make the parts.

anyways. Thats plenty of an introduction, I'm happy to be here, happy to see all of your discussions, and happy that I can now log in and use the search function :pop: .

I tried to upload a photo of my bike and the trails I like to ride but it didnt work, I imagine ill figure it out someday.

Take care,

Katie
kdxsully
Supporting Member
Posts: 739
Joined: 08:28 am Apr 21 2019
Country: United States
Location: North Cackalack

Re: 1996 KDX200 and I in quarantine together

Post by kdxsully »

Clever name. KDXGarage has photo instructions n in his signature. He’s on the way. Welcome
I like turtles
User avatar
KDXGarage
KDXRider.net
KDXRider.net
Posts: 14047
Joined: 06:45 am Nov 01 2004
Country: United States of America
Location: AL, USA
Contact:

Re: 1996 KDX200 and I in quarantine together

Post by KDXGarage »

Welcome to kdxrider.net. Thanks for joining and participating.

Yes, clever name!

If it were mine, I would check the spring length. Maybe the springs are not stock?

Hang in there on the COVID-19.
Thank you for participating on kdxrider.net. :bravo:
To post pictures from a device: viewtopic.php?f=88&t=24128
User avatar
KDXGarage
KDXRider.net
KDXRider.net
Posts: 14047
Joined: 06:45 am Nov 01 2004
Country: United States of America
Location: AL, USA
Contact:

Re: 1996 KDX200 and I in quarantine together

Post by KDXGarage »

I made a new thread on how to post a picture from a device.

viewtopic.php?f=88&t=24128
Thank you for participating on kdxrider.net. :bravo:
To post pictures from a device: viewtopic.php?f=88&t=24128
KatieX
Member
Posts: 4
Joined: 02:02 pm Mar 28 2020
Country: Canada

Re: 1996 KDX200 and I in quarantine together

Post by KatieX »

well, i can't seem to get the photo in the orientation I intended but your new thread helped out with at least getting a photo on the page. Thanks for that effort in getting me started.

This spring rests at 20.0625" (509.6mm) and has no paint or branding indication anywhere. In front of it is the MS tube I mentioned in the original posting. I will start hunting around in some of the fork specific threads and see what I find there for comparing this with a stock set up to see what a previous owner had done here. If anyone recognizes this, let me know or link me to a thread if you know one :)
kdxspring.jpg
kdxspring.jpg (1.87 MiB) Viewed 3109 times
As for the bike:
KDXbackyardmed.jpg
KDXbackyardmed.jpg (135.98 KiB) Viewed 3109 times
kdxbackyard2.jpg
kdxbackyard2.jpg (157.2 KiB) Viewed 3109 times
And where we play:
KDXtrail.JPG
KDXtrail.JPG (376.73 KiB) Viewed 3109 times

cheers
User avatar
doakley
Gold Member
Gold Member
Posts: 1241
Joined: 02:58 pm Mar 10 2016
Country:

Re: 1996 KDX200 and I in quarantine together

Post by doakley »

Nice bike. Welcome. If you liked the forks as received, I’d just freshen everything up with new parts and oil were it mine. Enjoy!
User avatar
KDXGarage
KDXRider.net
KDXRider.net
Posts: 14047
Joined: 06:45 am Nov 01 2004
Country: United States of America
Location: AL, USA
Contact:

Re: 1996 KDX200 and I in quarantine together

Post by KDXGarage »

You are welcome on the picture post.

Those are NOT stock springs. I assume Honda XR400R springs. If so, they are .38 or .40, so more likely to be about right for most folks weight.

The spacer is the OEM spacer that someone cut. There are threads on here about amount of preload, how to measure, etc. You might want to square it up, so that it is flat on the cut end.

OK, after one minute searching the internet:

1996 - 1997 Honda XR400R stock springs (0.38 Kg / mm rate) are supposed to be 510.4 mm.

1998 - 2004 are 536 mm.

I assume you have the 96 - 97 springs.

Chain is a touch loose.
Thank you for participating on kdxrider.net. :bravo:
To post pictures from a device: viewtopic.php?f=88&t=24128
KatieX
Member
Posts: 4
Joined: 02:02 pm Mar 28 2020
Country: Canada

Re: 1996 KDX200 and I in quarantine together

Post by KatieX »

Thank you! Square up, I will.

Happy Sunday.
User avatar
VTMTcowboy
Gold Member
Gold Member
Posts: 580
Joined: 07:50 pm May 26 2017
Country: USA

Re: 1996 KDX200 and I in quarantine together

Post by VTMTcowboy »

Welcome to the forum! The 96 was my favorite year of the 200. Your property looks amazing; thank you for sharing and enjoy the forum!
1997 KDX 220
2004 KDX 200
jjavaman
Supporting Member II
Supporting Member II
Posts: 342
Joined: 11:20 pm Jul 23 2013
Country:

Re: 1996 KDX200 and I in quarantine together

Post by jjavaman »

Nice bike and welcome to the forum! You should do the shim stack mod while you have the forks apart, I found it made a noticeable difference on small bumps. I’m with you on the logging roads and cow trails, finding single track harder as I get older. We ride Squamish mostly with a trip to Spences Bridge for 4 days of logging roads around there.
97-220 with a PC pipe. 2015- RB carb and head mod
KatieX
Member
Posts: 4
Joined: 02:02 pm Mar 28 2020
Country: Canada

Re: 1996 KDX200 and I in quarantine together

Post by KatieX »

do you have any particular post you like about the shim stacks i could take a look at?

im just on my way to go pick up some of the parts i ordered and made a seal driver last night at work to get it all put together this weekend. i havent been riding in squamish yet, on the KDX at least, but the terrain around spences is exactly where i like to find myself.
Post Reply