First ever bike. 89 kdx 200

[thejcode]

Glad to see the kdx has a pretty active forum. First time ive ever ridden, let alone own, a dirt bike. Bought and road it few days ago. Looks a little rough shape but it starts and runs perfect. That is most importsnt to me as I suspect im gonna dump it a time or two. Im 28 amd have owened a lot of different things over the years so not new to driving something different.

Im 6' 220lbs. Im bit overwhelmed by all the info for set up. But can anyone give me some just basic info to start with? What reae shock or front forks I can get to make it fit my size better. It felt it was a little overwhelemed by my size. Its rideable by all means but want to make it suite me better. Any start is good and I can start working off a good base line.

I normally rode an 06 predator 500 (cross country limited edition) and wife rides an 08 outlaw 525. I already got primary atvs so this was a fun toy to change it up.

[6 Riders]

Best thing you can do to make that ridable for you......New fork and shock springs, reseal and new bushings in the forks, new linkage and shock bearings.

[thejcode]

Forgot to mention I ride mostly woods. Theres still snow on the ground where im at, obvious by picture, but snowmobile trails double as atv trails in the dummer. Wide and lots of them but are a bit rough and uncared for.

Thanks for that info. Is there better website to find the parts. Is OEM better or there aftermarket site that sells better parts IE not knock of chinese ebay stuff.

[6 Riders]

I use RockymountainATVMC.com the most, but older KDX parts are becoming rarer and rarer, so some things must be bought through E-Bay and Amazon (where I bought my rear fender). As far as the springs go, ONLY aftermarket will help you out. The E series bikes came with .28 to .32 fork springs, I'm 160 and use .40 in mine. I did pay the money to have my forks rebuilt & set up for me w/new springs for $250, it was worth it.

[Gotanubike]

Definitely an 89, indicated by the green spring...

I am fairly certain those are not the stock forks, so before you go buy a seal kit you may want to double check and make sure you buy the right ones.

Instead of paying for new fork springs, you can also try swapping out the pre load spacer in the forks for a bit stiffer ride. The rear spring can be adjusted as well as a compression and rebound adjusters..

KIPS powervalves should definitely be checked out. That is a top end job but is really a piece of cake if you have a manual. There is one reverse thread on the right side to watch for.

Good luck

[thejcode]

Thanks a lot. Great info to start on.

The sticker on this reservoir seems to new. This mean anything to anyone?

[thejcode]

Definitely an 89, indicated by the green spring...

I am fairly certain those are not the stock forks, so before you go buy a seal kit you may want to double check and make sure you buy the right ones.

Instead of paying for new fork springs, you can also try swapping out the pre load spacer in the forks for a bit stiffer ride. The rear spring can be adjusted as well as a compression and rebound adjusters..

KIPS powervalves should definitely be checked out. That is a top end job but is really a piece of cake if you have a manual. There is one reverse thread on the right side to watch for.

Good luck

Ok ill check it put. Ive done full engine rebuild on one of my sleds (with some help) so not too intimidated by opening a 2 stroke!

[Gotanubike]

Yep, no guide chains, no shim stacks, valve seals, just undo a few bolts and before you know it you have the whole top end off.

Could you post a few more pics of the front end, specifically the forks. The E series conventional fork has a larger "cup" around the outer tube fork seal area and are much lighter colour brushed metal it seems to me.

Judging by the new bottom-out bumper and the sticker on your shock reservoir, I'd say it was recently rebuilt.

[KDXGarage]

congrats on the bike

bottom out bumper is old, not new

new is yellow brown

[thejcode]

Here's pics of the front forks and bike.

[Gotanubike]

Interdasting...The triple tree is the stock unit. front caliper and wheel hub also looks stock. Just the clamp-down style for the axle didn't come until 1995 and 1995 KDX forks don't look like that at all...Maybe someone else might recognize em but I'm certain those are not the stock forks

[Julien D]

Certainly not E series forks. At first I thought H series, but no. H series stock forks only have the axle clamp on the RH side, correct? Not on the caliper side. Maybe from a late 80's KX or something? Looks like they need seals, in any case.

[thejcode]

If it counts for anything, the kid selling it thought he was selling me a 98 KX250.

He used it to ride around on their farm for a few years. So I suspect no maintenance has been done. Looking to start addressing any wear item as I can get to it.

[6 Riders]

Maybe those forks are from an early model KX? The 89 KX used standard forks, not sure what size fork tubes they had, but they were standard forks......if they are a KX fork, that would be a good thing (as compared to the KDX forks).

[Julien D]

They do appear to have a rebound adjustment on top, is a good thing.

[Gotanubike]

Here ya go. Julien was right, late 80's kx125 forks

http://www.thumpertalk.com/topic/846223 ... aki-kx125/
http://kx125project.blogspot.ca/

[thejcode]

Well thats good to hear. Good eyes guys and thank you for the info and welcome. Be good to know for replacing or adjusting the forks. Glad I posted!

Think ill like it here. Funnest part of buying stuff like this is learning about them. Great to see kdx has a well informed community following.

[KDXGarage]

Those are 1985 or 1986 KX125 forks and wheel. (looks like triple clamp also, look underneath for the cone during disassembly)

The thing on top is a preload adjuster.

[newbbewb]

Fwiw, in 89 the whole kx series used 49mm kyb forks, considered to be the best conventional units available.