air-cooled era KDX question

[firffighter]

Just wondering if the seat height on the older air-cooled KDX's was lower than more modern KDX's. I am thinking about getting one for my son next year when he turns 13, but he is a very small kid.

[MX500]

How tall is he? The seat height on my 86 KDX200 is 36" at the lowest point and about 38" at the rear end of the seat. If he's over 5'3" he'll grow into it, or make due. You could raise the forks in the triple clamps and reduce the rear spring preload for another .5-1" off the seat height. Shaving the seat would work well also, the stock seat has plenty of extra cushion.



For reference:
I have a 5'4" friend that rode my 1999 WR400 (39.something inch seat height stock, then I added a Teraflex which raised the bike another inch), he also rode my 1997 CR500 without issues. He couldn't start either bike because he was too light, but a KDX200 is a whole lot easier to kick over.



Is this your son with the XR100? Try him out with a CR80 (or 85) expert. I bet he'll love it. My third bike was a CR80 Expert and I loved it. The 80/85 is decades ahead of the XR100 performance wise and with a skilled enough rider it can keep up with anybody on the trails.

[urnuts]

It's gotta be.
Had an '83 KDX (in '83!) and had no height issues; Got a leftover '06 KDX last fall and could not believe how tall it is... and all the bikes are.
No, I haven't shrunk!
I'm ok on it- but it can be uncomfortable in difficult terrain.
I'm 5-8 ish.
I bought the Suzuki DR650 because when I sat on the Honda XR650.... my damn feet were hanging.... both! Left the dealer pretty depressed.

[Jeb]

I remember running across this a year or so ago looking for lowering links for my sons bike (turns out he didn't need them). I did a search and came up with this off another site:



I was interested in lowering links for my 94 KDX 200 and of course got in touch with Mr. Kouba.

Unfortunately the very nice Mr. Kouba had bad news for me. They do not make a Koubalink for the 1994 and earlier models. My buddy had just purchased a 2001 220 and had a spare set he was willing to part with, and I turned back to the man to get his opinion. He confirmed that the lowering links for the more contemporary bike would be the same length (128mm) as mine had stock, and since that was the longest link he manufactured for a KDX it would do nothing for me.

I was dissapointed but thought, I've been riding it this tall for two seasons, may as well stick with it, until I got a second email from him with an idea! He suggested that I order a set of stock links from a 2003 Suzuki V-STROM-1000 (DL1000)
and bore the holes out to 15mm. A Street bike? A Crotch rocket?? "A SUZUKI???!" "Yes!" he said "They are exactly 140mm and have smaller holes, but easily bored from 12mm to 15 on any standard drill press! Not only that, they are the same thickness as a stock KDX dogbone, so I should be golden!

I called up Bike bandit and had a set ( I think about $40 bucks) shipped right away.

Took the links to my local bike shop since I dont have a press, and for $5 he had them bored out for me.

Got them back from him and 30 minutes later..voila! I can now sit on the seat (I am 5'9 with a 29" inseam) with my feet nearly FLAT on the floor. They lowered the back of my bike about 1". Very nice.

I have a couple of minor complaints... The tailpipe has been "brushed" since the change (I'm also 200lbs), and I audibly heard the tire hit my fender twice on my last visit to the Paragon (I mainly do woods, rocks, and single track up there)

I think a heavier rear spring and maybe some minor tweaking (Including sliding the tubes up the triple clamp in front) will be perfect.

All in all, I strongly recommend this for our vertically, or at least inseam challanged friends out there in the ether!

So, like MX500 suggested you could raise the forks in the tubes but you could add the lowering links so your son wouldn't have to potentially ride with an incorrect sag.

[firffighter]

Thanks for the ideas.

[MX500]

I just googled it and the seat height for an '02 KDX200 is 36.2 inches. So my bike is .2" lower. The '86 seat is also VERY thick and could easily have an inch shaved off without sacrificing comfort.

Good luck.

[urnuts]

Thanks!

[Green Hornet]

My 1985 is Shorter in Height...