2021 VCHSS Series - KDX in the Orange Sea

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Re: 2021 VCHSS Series - KDX in the Orange Sea

Post by SS109 »

Ouch! Sorry to hear that. Do whatever the docs say and don't rush it!
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Re: 2021 VCHSS Series - KDX in the Orange Sea

Post by doakley »

Damn! I'd be checking out a quality ortho doc, hopefully one with some sports medicine experience. KDXG is right; don't push it to get back early. Sorry this happened but as "someone" said " rocks, roots and stoopid speed on two wheels. What could possibly go wrong??"
Heal up!
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Re: 2021 VCHSS Series - KDX in the Orange Sea

Post by MoonStomper »

Having heard that standard brush busters can cause a broken wrist and not knowing for sure if mine did, I found a design that is supposed to reduce the likelihood. Motosport had these Cycra Probends so I’ll give them a shot.
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Let the good times ROLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
‘99 KDX 220 / '03 KDX 200 - @%@ '18 Trek Slash 8 @%@ ‘22 Rieju MR300 Racing

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Re: 2021 VCHSS Series - KDX in the Orange Sea

Post by KDXGarage »

ProBend for the win!
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Re: 2021 VCHSS Series - KDX in the Orange Sea

Post by rungrandpa »

I have brush busters like your old set. My son is always warning me about them. He tells me all the GNCC racers use plastic brush busters with no bar because the are safer. I'll have to check out those ProBends.
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Re: 2021 VCHSS Series - KDX in the Orange Sea

Post by SS109 »

This has been discussed at length on many forums about the possible dangers of wrap around bark busters. Now, stop for a second and think of how many people use them. Now, think about how many actual injuries were caused by them. It's like seat belts. They can cause harm themselves but generally they are much better to have than not.

For the record, I use wrap arounds and have never had an injury due to them. I have crashed in so many crazy ways including going over the bars a few times (which is supposedly the greatest danger with them) and been fine. Also, I can't count how many times they have saved my hands from taking impacts from trees and rock. The benefits far out way the risk for me. As for the flag style hand guards used by GNCC and some MX'ers, yeah, they protect your hands from whippers and roost but that's it. Clip a small 1" sappling at speed with them and tell my how your fingers fair afterward!
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Re: 2021 VCHSS Series - KDX in the Orange Sea

Post by MoonStomper »

That’s exactly why I’m sticking with wraparounds. That and they protect the levers when you drop her in the rocks.
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Let the good times ROLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
‘99 KDX 220 / '03 KDX 200 - @%@ '18 Trek Slash 8 @%@ ‘22 Rieju MR300 Racing

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Re: 2021 VCHSS Series - KDX in the Orange Sea

Post by MoonStomper »

So I’m finally home from the road and working on a very Merry Christmas present for you guys… I spent an afternoon at Fredette Racing and got a tutorial from the man himself on the Fredette KDX Airbox Mod. This is will be complete with pictures from his ISDE bike that recently came home from the AMA Museum. I also still owe a write up from the Lake Sugar Tree Hare Scramble where we wrapped up a really fun season. Y’all stay tuned!
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~
Let the good times ROLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
‘99 KDX 220 / '03 KDX 200 - @%@ '18 Trek Slash 8 @%@ ‘22 Rieju MR300 Racing

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Re: 2021 VCHSS Series - KDX in the Orange Sea

Post by KDXGarage »

Great! Thanks. I am looking forward to it.
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Re: 2021 VCHSS Series - KDX in the Orange Sea

Post by MoonStomper »

Fredette’s Airbox Mods in two parts…

PART ONE…
Earlier this week while on my way back up north from Ponchatoula next to Lake Ponchetrain, Louisiana where I’d just made a camper delivery, I found myself delayed by high winds sweeping the upper Midwest. This caused our yards to be closed due to the very real blow over hazard.
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Not wanting to be that guy, I started looking for an interesting way to spend my extra time and I realized that FRP in Beecher, IL was right along my route.

So I called the shop number and left a message saying that I’d like to pay him a visit the next day in the late morning. Jeff Fredette soon called back and welcomed me to swing by and maybe join him for lunch. I’ve visited before several times for KDX parts and he is very laid back and fun. Well, I went and we had a hoot!

While there I mentioned that I hadn’t done his Airbox Mod yet and would like to see it up close. Fortunately, he had a bike hiding behind a large stack of freshly prepped ice racing tires that he could show me. This bike had just come home from the AMA Museum where it had been sitting since it’s last race - still muddy!

I told him I’d pulled the snorkel, but my lid remained in unmolested condition because I was worried about where I should move the CDI that’s attached. He frowned with concern and stated that this is a bad idea because water and mud will just pour in from the hole directly down onto the air filter and soak it. Simply removing the lid isn’t enough either though, you need to fabricate a special flap using quality duct tape (Gorilla Tape), that is positioned forward of the filter. This flap prevents detritus from being splashed up and over into the box from below and allows what does come up - to flow down around the filter base and out the bottom.
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The CDI placement is absurdly easy. Simply trim away about a quarter inch from the top, trailing edge of the airbox on the clutch clutch side. Then unbolt the CDI from the lid, and rebolt with the same bolt using the available threaded hole found beneath the cross brace behind the box on that same side. Voila!
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What the finished project should look like… (after winning another ISDE!)
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However, as some of you already know, we’re not done. As he has stated on his website the KDX airbox is famous for allowing water to bypass the filter at the boot.

Since I haven’t performed this mod yet, I’ll document and detail this project in my next installment, y’all stay tuned!
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~
Let the good times ROLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
‘99 KDX 220 / '03 KDX 200 - @%@ '18 Trek Slash 8 @%@ ‘22 Rieju MR300 Racing

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Re: 2021 VCHSS Series - KDX in the Orange Sea

Post by Slick_Nick »

Pretty cever! I re-sealed my airbox boot to the box using Permatex. I also run one of those filter "Pro Seal" rings as well.
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Re: 2021 VCHSS Series - KDX in the Orange Sea

Post by doakley »

Love seeing how the factory pros set up bikes. That’s a great tip I had not thought about at all. Thanks!
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Re: 2021 VCHSS Series - KDX in the Orange Sea

Post by bufftester »

That appears to be slightly more than a mild displacement. Typically displacement fractures require stabilization to regain alignment and heal properly, and that generally means surgery. I wouldn't take my time talking to the ortho doc. Luckily it appears you don't have any radial fracture that usually accompanies an ulnar one, so that is a plus. Take your time healing, sucks to happen, but at least it's not at the height of riding season (at least not in my neck of the country lol)
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Re: 2021 VCHSS Series - KDX in the Orange Sea

Post by MoonStomper »

Fredette’s Airbox Mod - Part Two… or Waking up the Beast

Here are some pix of the process of eliminating the lid, installing a muck shield, re-locating the CDI, and sealing up the carburetor boot / airbox interface with a silicone gasket maker type sealant.

When I started, I thought I’d just pull the shrouds and seat, however as I got in there, I realized it was worthwhile to pull the tank, the rear fender, and especially the rear brace that sweetly pivots out of the way after removing the upper bolt. Doing this allows you to easily pull the boot and box for cleaning. Some of these pix show how far I got before finally biting that bullet.

I pulled the boot off the carb first, then stuffed a clean towel into the carb.

After removing the CDI (one bolt), I pulled the lid.

There are four 8mm nuts holding a metal ring at the front of the airbox, they release the soft, pliable carb boot held by the air filter cage. With them removed then you can pull out the cage.

Here you can see how easy it is to peel the boot from inside the airbox and pull it out. My airbox was filthy and just needed to come on out and get scrubbed in the deep sink. After close examination of the box, I couldn’t find where any contamination had snuck through yet, so that was a relief.
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Wanting to scrub the filthy airbox I decided to get serious and removed the tank, the rear fender and the brace to ease access to everything else. After pulling the tank I found some other things that needed attention that I would have missed (dry-rotted radiator bushings).

The box and boot soaked in my deep sink with hot water, Simple Green and Dawn. Once every thing was scrubbed and dried I used some Versachem Super Blue 2 to liberally coat the interfaces between the boot and the box. I also applied some on the threads of bolts to act as blue threadlocker on reassembly.
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I threaded the nuts back onto the cage and tightened everything back together. After wiping off the excess sealant, I slipped the boot and box assembly back into the frame as one unit. Pulled the rag from the carb, slipped the box boot onto the carb, and began reattaching the box to the frame.
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Above you can see the crankcase breather hose with air breather filter (NAPA Part #3011) reinstalled.

Below is the CDI in it’s new home, flipped upside down and tucked beneath the cross brace with the same bolt holding it in the previously unused threaded hole. The upper left corner 1/4” of the airbox has been Dremeled out to accommodate the the CDI. There’s just enough wire harness slack to allow this relocation as if it was originally intended.

Once everything was reassembled I gave her a test run. I’m still healing up my throttle wrist, but can brraapp with very little discomfort. The power ol’ girl is making now from 1/3 open and up is pretty amazing. In 6th gear she continues to accelerate hard where before she just flattened out. She has woken up and feels more like a 250. It’s going to be interesting to see what this #7 slide does at the bottom end.
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~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~
Let the good times ROLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
‘99 KDX 220 / '03 KDX 200 - @%@ '18 Trek Slash 8 @%@ ‘22 Rieju MR300 Racing

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Re: 2021 VCHSS Series - KDX in the Orange Sea

Post by MoonStomper »

Virginia Championship Hare Scramble Series Banquet

Last night was our VCHSS Banquet at the very schwanky Hotel Roanoke in Downtown Roanoke, Virginia. It was funny that a notice was sent out beforehand to all attendees about EXPECTED BEHAVIOR!!! The Giles Gang followed protocols for the most part but I’ll admit we were heavy on the buffet line (the filet was INSANE). Here’s a few pix from the well run event. They gave out very nice prizes. It was a fun year and my son and I are both moving to the Main Event B Classes this coming season.

The Giles County Contingent with our sponsors, Terry Rafferty / Gearhead Junction on the left and Travis Jones / GoRace Suspension on the right… with (left to right) myself KDX 200 - 4th 50+B / Tracy Gray KTM 150 XC - 4th 50+A / Mason Gray KTM 200 XC - 5th 200B / Henry Brown KTM 200 XCW - 2nd 200C / Russell Phlegar KTM 250 XC - 3rd 250C. Note these are all 2 Stroke Racers! Bbrrrrraaaappppp!
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My daughter Ruthie holding my plaque…
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Travis and Tracy really helped Henry and I get up to speed quickly this year. We had no DNFs, lots of podiums and had a great time. The help I got here on KDXRider.net from all of you guys (and especially Doug for his help with the donated forks!) was and continues to be super appreciated. Jeff Fredette’s help and advice has made a huge difference over this year as my KDX transformed from a mild-mannered trail bike into a fire breathing race machine. This has been a great experience and I’m excited about 2022.

I still need to write up the last race of the season, will try to post it up soon. It was a little wild at the end.
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~
Let the good times ROLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
‘99 KDX 220 / '03 KDX 200 - @%@ '18 Trek Slash 8 @%@ ‘22 Rieju MR300 Racing

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Re: 2021 VCHSS Series - KDX in the Orange Sea

Post by SS109 »

Congrats!

Now, the big question, why are you moving to B? Did you point out? Just be aware that the step to B is much larger than most think!
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Re: 2021 VCHSS Series - KDX in the Orange Sea

Post by MoonStomper »

Reasons to move to B…

- B is afternoon in the Main Event, and my friends and son are racing
- I’m riding and practicing with A and B guys already
- more skilled racers on the track = fewer bottlenecks = less frustration
- longer course and more laps (I like the longer events)
- more technical sections that I like
- ready for more challenging events
- was usually within a couple minutes of my class winners when I had podium finishes and those guys have all opted out of racing B for various reasons, so effectively they were sandbagging - may as well move up.
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~
Let the good times ROLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
‘99 KDX 220 / '03 KDX 200 - @%@ '18 Trek Slash 8 @%@ ‘22 Rieju MR300 Racing

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Re: 2021 VCHSS Series - KDX in the Orange Sea

Post by KDXGarage »

Congratulations on all your success in racing! Thanks for taking us along with the stories and pictures.
Thank you for participating on kdxrider.net. :bravo:
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Re: 2021 VCHSS Series - KDX in the Orange Sea

Post by SS109 »

MoonStomper wrote: 02:25 pm Jan 09 2022 Reasons to move to B…

- B is afternoon in the Main Event, and my friends and son are racing
- I’m riding and practicing with A and B guys already
- more skilled racers on the track = fewer bottlenecks = less frustration
- longer course and more laps (I like the longer events)
- more technical sections that I like
- ready for more challenging events
- was usually within a couple minutes of my class winners when I had podium finishes and those guys have all opted out of racing B for various reasons, so effectively they were sandbagging - may as well move up.
Awesome! All great reasons for stepping up. Just wanted to make sure you knew what you were getting in to and it appears you do. I hope you keep on with your race reports as I'm interested in hearing your experiences of going to B and how you compare it to C.
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Re: 2021 VCHSS Series - KDX in the Orange Sea

Post by doakley »

Thanks for the mention, Moonstomper! Maybe this season I can make it up to watch you put those forks into action!
BTW, I agree with the move to B class also. You'll like the skill level better. Also, riding with people faster than you is a great way to get faster yourself. You won't learn from the C class competition. Good on ya' and GOOD LUCK!
Old guy racing' (ret)
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