KDX upgrades/mods - KX alloy shifter & brake pedals, kickers, larger shift shaft splines, & other tricks and tips

[Micko]

This is great, thanks!!

[brademan76]

Clutch cable upgrade:
Per Art Simmoneau, a 2007 CRF250 clutch cable OEM Honda is an upgrade over the stock KDX clutch cable, and has a metal elbow with a teflon liner sleeve in it on the engine case side.
I've picked up a Motion Pro T3 SlideLight version for 2007 CRF250X models, which is their high end premium cable offering with a smoother sliding action. An even better upgrade.

Chuck, do you know if the CRF250 cable is compatible with E-series bikes as well? I'm finding conflicting information on some clutch cables listed as compatible with all KDX200/220 and some that exclude the E-series bike years. Thanks.

[Chuck78]

If a Honda CRF250X cable is compatible with a KDX200H, I would imagine it could be made to work on the E-Series as well, but I don't know for a fact. If you can find a lot of listings that show 89-06 KDX200 as compatibility, then it probably will.
The stock Honda cable is a decent upgrade from the kdx, but the premium more expensive Motion Pro T3 Slidelight version is definitely very very much nicer than any of them.

[brademan76]

If a Honda CRF250X cable is compatible with a KDX200H, I would imagine it could be made to work on the E-Series as well, but I don't know for a fact. If you can find a lot of listings that show 89-06 KDX200 as compatibility, then it probably will.
The stock Honda cable is a decent upgrade from the kdx, but the premium more expensive Motion Pro T3 Slidelight version is definitely very very much nicer than any of them.

I did opt to splurge the ~$50 for the MPT3. Looking forward to getting it on the bike. Thanks for the tip!

[brademan76]

Clutch Friction Disc upgrade:
Jeff Fredette and others have found that using Honda XR400R/CBR900RR/late XR250R clutch friction discs fit the KDX clutch basket exactly the same as OEM, but have 30%-40% more friction material surface area. Jeff Fredette uses the Made In Japan Vesrah brand VC-173 kits (contains 6 discs, he sells as a set of 7 to re-use the KDX clutch judder spring assembly, or he will sell a set of 8 if you are doing away with the clutch judder spring and running an extra clutch plate. The VC-175 Vesrah kit comes with 7 friction discs. The discs are the same when bought through Vesrah (Honda part numbers are slightly different for the two applications early XR250 / XR350R vs late XR250R/all XR400R), but the Vesrah individual friction disc part numbers are identical and have more surface area.

Chuck what am I not understanding about 7 vs 8 friction discs? My 220 has 7 friction discs in the long groove and one in the top, short groove for a total of 8. As far as I know the judder spring assembly is still in place.

I got the vc-175 kit with 7 discs but now am one short.

[Chuck78]

Maybe my numbers are off, my memory is foggy on that right now, ,& I don't have time to go dig through my parts and stack up a spare clutch basket to look, but if you remove the judder spring, you have to substitute in an extra clutch disc. Most people will say just leave it in, but to get rid of that parasitic drag and neutral especially when the clutches and engine are hot, I believe removing it and swapping in an extra disc will get rid of that. Maybe the last disc has to be an oem KDX disc however? Like I said, the details are not at the top of my cluttered brain right now! I'll be revisiting this here in the next month or two when I split the cases on a '99 220.

[brademan76]

Maybe my numbers are off, my memory is foggy on that right now, ,& I don't have time to go dig through my parts and stack up a spare clutch basket to look, but if you remove the judder spring, you have to substitute in an extra clutch disc. Most people will say just leave it in, but to get rid of that parasitic drag and neutral especially when the clutches and engine are hot, I believe removing it and swapping in an extra disc will get rid of that. Maybe the last disc has to be an oem KDX disc however? Like I said, the details are not at the top of my cluttered brain right now! I'll be revisiting this here in the next month or two when I split the cases on a '99 220.

Looking at the 220 clutch again today vs my 200E series clutch, the judder spring fits inside the ID of the first friction disc. So you can only use 7 new, wider (smaller ID) friction discs plus 1 original, thinner (larger ID) disc. The judder spring sits inside of that original style disc, whereas if you use the new disc in that first position, the judder spring sits on top of it and screws up operation (I assume).

Sorry I misunderstood your correctly posted information.

[Chuck78]

Apparently a 2003 Husqvarna 450 aluminum shifter pedal fits the KDX shifter splines as well, for another potential weight saving shifter swap. It's slightly longer as well, which will help those with larger boots.

I believe another guy found that an older aluminum YZ shifter also fits with the same spline size

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