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Well the manual said I had to remove it to get the exhaust valves out. Was that wrong? I knew about supporting it and it being left hand threads but I don't think I screwed anything up. How would I know and how the heck would the parts end up in the right side of the engine case?

Well I spent about 5-6 more hours on the bike today and I got a good bit more done. I'm about 99% done with the tearing down and I'm starting to clean things up and will begin reassembly once the rest of my parts get here. Hopefully that will be next weekend. I already a good bit of the stuff so I'll be doing some more cleaning tomorrow before I begin putting the top end back together.

I pulled the shock today and came to realize that it had no nitrogen left in it and I'm pretty sure that it didn't have any oil left in it. Since I scored one in decent shape off ebay I'll rebuild the ebay one and sell this one for someone else to rebuild. Speaking of that, does anyone know where to get a nitrogen refill?

I also stripped one of the damn front master cylinder cap screws so I guess I'll have to drill it out.

The crap shock. It's shot.



I also knew that the fork seals were shot so I pulled them apart to drain until I can get back to replace them. The fork oil smelled horrible and it was a terrible color so I'm pretty sure it was the original oil. I did NOT find any "clips" on the bottom of either spring nor did they fall out when I dumped the oil. What did I miss there? I also need some clarification on how to get the inner tube apart from the outer tube. Do I have to have the special tool? I figure an impact with a 14mm hex would pop it but how would I get it back tight again?








As I said, LOTS of cleaning still to be done. Yes, I know I should have sprayed it down BEFORE I started tearing it apart... Hindsight or something like that... I'll know next time.



Here is a shot of my work area.



And here she sits waiting for tomorrow ;)

Got 'er torn down pretty far!

You can get a nitro refill at your local MC shop... that is if they trust your rebuild! They don't want to get injured....

So any advice on the fork tool? and what type of clips should I have found? I'd like to finish pulling the forks apart today and begin rebuilding the top end as soon as those exhaust valves get here.

for the forks you can read this. I think a lot of info you need to know is there.

http://kdxrider.net/forums/viewtopic.ph ... highlight=


A previous owner painted the frame black.

jeopardy98,

Where in VA are you? I am in Ashburn (northern VA, near Dulles Airport).

I'm south of you. I'm about 30-40 minutes south of Richmond.

So I did some more cleaning today. Opened up the silencer and threw the spooge filled packing away. I cleaned the pipe with kerosene and the silencer body. Seemed to make a world of difference. I also washed up the plastics but the rear fender is faded horribly so I'll replace that one day.

I also removed the swing arm so that I could wash it off and I realized that the chain guard is only half there and that my needle bearings in both sides of the swing arm are toast. Yea, they fell out all over the floor. Also the rubber on the collars that hold in the needle bearings is gone. It's going to cost me over $100 just for the needle bearings, collars, and chain guard.

So I've come to the realization that I'm very worried about getting crap in my bottom end while I'm trying to clean it or put it back together so I'm going to pull the bottom end out of the frame. Does anyone know a good degreaser that won't eat any rubber parts? I really need to get the bottom end clean WITHOUT getting anything in there. I'm pretty afraid that I've screwed myself at this point so any advice on how to get this engine closed back up without completely fubarring it would be appreciated.

Well, you know now not to open the engine when the bike is as filthy as that. With a clean rag stuffed in the crank case, I would carefully clean around where the cylinder goes and tape a plastic bag over the hole. I like Simple Green as a degreaser.

The bearings on a bike are not cheap as you know. If you have some badly seized ones, be very careful removing them. It's not too tough to ruin the part they're in if you start beating on it without supporting it properly. I started using a hydraulic press for this. Hopefully you have access to one.

jeopardy98,

At this point what I would do is to remove the engine from the frame; that way cleaning should be easier. Once having the engine off, I would use solvent or kerosene to remove the huge amount of gunk you have on that engine. You can find a plastic pan and sit the engine there; once the big gunk is removed you might try with contact cleaner to finish off.

The frame and whatever else. Use any motorcyle degreaser and use a power washer. That simple, let the degreaser solve the gunk for 5 min and then power wash frame, plastics, tires, wheels, etc.

I use Motul motorcycle cleaner and it works fine.

Good advice. I'm pulling the engine out of the frame for sure. Hopefully I can get it cleaned up enough to get it back together without a problem.

I'm thinking since I'm already so close and I'm already over budget I might just go ahead and get the frame and swingarm powder coated and a few other things. Just do it righ.

If that rear fender isn't cracked, try taking a heat gun to it. If you're careful it should brighten it up a lot.

I called a guy about powder coating my frame. He said he wouldn't do it because the heat might weaken the welds on the frame. Any validity to this?

Don't do it anyway... unless you like the added weight of like 15lbs. And it won't hold up for diddle.

They are not powdercoated from the factory.... it is Epoxy Paint which is much better.

Okay so the powder coat was a horrible idea. Too much money for no good reason. A good rattle can job should produce the same results. I think I might go white and black on this thing. Any opinions. White frame, black swingarm, or vice versa. All kinds of ideas running through my head.

Unfortunately my order from Rocky Mountain won't get here until Monday even though I ordered it last Sunday. I was really hoping to have all my stuff this weekend but I guess I'll still have enough to do.

jeopardy98 wrote: Any opinions. .

Stick with the factory look.

Green frame (or keep it simple and just refresh the old black already on the frame) and silver swingarm...

heres a pic of my swingarm after I painted it. Still looks good after 3 seasons. http://www.bikepics.com/pictures/468201/

But factory is so very boring and I just love a glossy white on a motorycle

wouldn't stay glossy white in the dirt 'round here

So I put about 6 more hours into the bike today. I pressed the bearings out of the swingarm and got it cleaned up but I'm thinking I'm going to need a new one because this one has been welded back together. I think it is out of alignment enough to destroy the bearing on one side at an accelerated rate. I'll be keeping my eyes out for a swingarm so if anyone has one let me know.



I also snagged a $15 cylinder head off of ebay that was in terrible shape but I just needed to snag the valves from the KIPS out of it. It worked well and after cleaning the parts look excellent. The reeds appear to be in good shape as well so I think it was $15 well spent





I also pulled the bottom end of the engine out of the frame in an attempt to keep the grit out of it. I'm going to attempt to get it back together and then try and clean it up with some simple green.



I got the KIPS cleaned out as well as I think I could without completely submersing the head in some cleaner.



I also spent some time cleaning up the shop so that I would be a little more organized and arranged things so I'm not stepping over things all the time.



Overall it was a good day but as usual I found more thngs that will cost me money in the long run. Oh well, that is why they call it a project. Next week I will start degreasing the frame and replacing the throttle/clutch cables, put the top end back together, and clean up the engine some more. I'm not really sure about the next steps though because of my swingarm situation and the lack of funds. I still need disassemble the forks and change the oil/springs/seals and send my shock out for a rebuild. I was hoping to have this thing done by the time the warm weather gets here but I'm not sure at this point...

WOW!

I can wait to see the final product

also snagged a $15 cylinder head off of ebay that was in terrible shape

Can we have some pics of that?