My “$700” 2004 KDX , north central AZ rider

[AzKdx]

Hey everyone from Prescott AZ. I had posted about my shock bolt coming loose and got the help I needed! I mentioned I gave $700 for the bike so I figured I’d throw up some pics. I’ve since got another $700 or so into it- new radiators,fork seals,fork springs, fork oil, fork rubber boots, tires,tubes,grips are the main things. It’s not smoking pretty excessively I think so I have my suspicions that the crank seal gave out, which I found out requires a complete case split and at that point it would be getting a full engine refresh. It also weeps a little from around the reed block somewhere. I really love the old girl and it’s been the only bike I’ve ridden as an adult aside from small Yamaha 2 strokes as a kid. Given the age and condition of the bike I wonder if it’s really worth dumping 2k or whatever it’s gonna cost me at $150 an hour for an engine rebuild. At this point I’ve been looking at 2024+ KTM 250/300xc-w and the Reiju MR 300 for that sweet suspension set up. I’m still torn on what I should do with the KDX as I don’t really have room to store 3 bikes (my lady has a KLX 140RF) and I don’t know if I can justify paying out such a big chunk to keep the bike running well. That being said if you know a good 2 stroke rebuild guy in AZ feel free to drop their name if I do go that route.

I just wanted to post up some pics since somebody had asked what a $700 Kdx looks like. I couldn’t attach the photos because they were too big so I uploaded them to Imgur. Also, I was pretty stoked to see Kawasaki’s teaser about bringing back the 2 strokes, if they brought back an updated KDX I think we would be pretty stoked and of course I’d buy one.


https://imgur.com/a/Rol8Tr1

[JimmyB]

Good looking bike for the $1400 you have into it, you are missing the rubber coupler between the pipe and muffler part # 92093-1328. You can buy some self-fusing silicone tape for a temporary repair, just clean the area very well before wrapping it.

Are you using tranny oil, fouling plugs? I would try a couple things before thinking about pulling it apart, first thing I always do is a leak down test, simple and cheap to make up and will tell you if the motor is leaking especially at the seal, if this checks out ok and you are continuing to run rich with jetting changes maybe check into the jet block gasket if you are having jetting problems, if jetting make sure to only use genuine Keihin jets, what does the overall condition of the carb look like, possibly worn out?
I would be tempted to pull the pipe also and check if it has a lot of oil build up in it, clean it out with some solvent, the stock pipe is a double walled pipe but can't remember if it had any sound deadener in it also??





Just curious what mixture and oil you are running, if a high flashpoint oil and just slow trail riding this can sometimes create a lot of spooge/mess.
With a shop manual and a few tools it's not that hard to tear down the motor yourself, replace the seals, bearings etc: lots of helpful advice here and depending on the posters(Utube)

James..

[AzKdx]

Thanks for the reply. I looked up the rubber coupler , 40 bucks. Think I could just use some radiator hose or high temp silicone hose there with some hose clamps? As far as using tranny oil, I’m not sure yet it wasn’t showing in the window and seems a little more Smokey than usual so I added some more oil until it was at the top line of the window. I need to ride it some more to see if it goes down. For my premix ratio I am using maxima super m at 1:40 (what the mechanic who looked it over told me run). Jetting and carb conditioner is unknown as I haven’t taken it apart to see. It seems to run fine fueling wise. I took the pipe off to clean, didn’t seem too bad. Silencer has some spooge in it. I believe it may be aftermarket as it says pro circuit spark arrestor on it. I of course broke one of the o ring on the exhaust so I’ve got a new set on order. I’ll try to get a video of it running. I have been going pretty easy trial rides with it as I ride with my gf on her KLX 140 and we’re pretty new. I got a quote for about 1500-2k ballpark to have the engine completely rebuilt if needed. It hasn’t been fouling spark plugs and by the look of it not for a long time as the spark plug looks just as old as the head and everything else. Ive got new plugs, but I couldn’t get it off with a spark plug wrench from Amazon, so I probably need to remove the tank. It’s a bit tight with the cooling thing next to it.

[KDXGarage]

13/16" box end wrench should normally work, especially if it is a 12-point.

I would try a section of radiator hose before spending $40 on the rubber coupler. That's ridiculous.

[AzKdx]

13/16" box end wrench should normally work, especially if it is a 12-point.

I would try a section of radiator hose before spending $40 on the rubber coupler. That's ridiculous.

I ordered a tusk 13/16 spark plug wrench obviously worked like a charm thank you! Finally got that old plug out, gotta pretty old judging by how oxidized the outside is. Wouldn’t even surprise me if it was original?

[KDXGarage]

Wow. That is old. Cool that is was a BR8EG.

[AzKdx]

Wow. That is old. Cool that is was a BR8EG.

Yeah, I suppose it must be jetted pretty decent if hasn’t fouled a plug in all that time. I’d say it’s a little more responsive now that I got the new plug in. Hard to say though as it could be a mental thing, and I only got about 10 minutes of riding before my clutch cable snapped and it was the only time I didn’t have my bag with spare cables with me