Tyl3r's 05/04 KX/DX Hybrid Build - DONE!

[Tyl3r]

Finished up my wheels last night, I am pleased with the results! I think I may get some decals for the rims to help protect them from scratches to keep em looking nice. Powder coating is tough, but not tougher than rocks!


A buddy snagged me a piece of 1/2" aluminum so that I can make a "coolant nipple clocking plate" to clear the larger tank. Gotta work all day Saturday, then spend all day Sunday with the old lady for Valentines day... Looks like another weekend is going to pass by while my bike sits there with no motor mounts it is killing me!

[Ffryno13]

Your on your way man it looks good. Im jealous of those shiny black wheels.

[Tyl3r]

Thanks man.

You know, I could make yours the same way if your interested ...juss sayin lol all I do every weekend is powder coat and not work on this thing!

I got a piece of aluminum yesterday to make the offset plate. I asked my buddy to get me piece of 1/2", and he got me 3/8" (he is my boy, and very talented welder, but not the sharpest stick in the stack haha)...it's free and I can't complain, I think it will still work out. I figure the thickness of a 6mm nut is about 5mm, 3/8"= 9.525mm, should have plently of enough thread engagement for the coolant nipple bolts. That is the next thing I plan to tackle. Should be the only thing holding me up from slapping in the motor mounts.

[Ffryno13]

I'm actually in the process of building a bigger oven so I can do atv frames. And shipping to the east coast for wheels would kill me lol.

So are you using the kdx hub? Is that why your building a spacer.

[Tyl3r]

Right on man, we're rocking a home built oven ourselves. Its nice being able to hang frames vertically. We should have a side convo on that stuff haha. Doyou blast all your stuff? Have you discovered B17 yet?

And nah, the spacer is to rotate the coolant nipple in the head around so it will clear the IMS tank. I talked about it on the last page, TedH posted a link to the one he made, was going to do the same thing.

[Ffryno13]

I'm excited to get this thing off the ground. I have a cheap sand blaster from harbor freight but it does what I need, and the sand so far isn't bad. But I need a blast cabinet to contain some of the mess. I'll upgrade as I make money but for now I'll make do.

I just looked at the b17 stuff when you mentioned it. I'll have to do more research on for sure.

[Ffryno13]

Sorry to get off topic but are you running electric elements or LPG elements?

I've been looking into running lpg instead of electric to goofily cut some costs on energy.

[Tyl3r]

Yea, we were outdoor blasting at first too with a HF blaster haha. Sounds like you are where we were about a year or so ago. That B-17 is incredible. Before it would take us about 3 days to completely strip a set of aluminum car wheels. Now, we are down to about 2-3 hours for a whole set. It is nothing to mess with tho, it is dangerous to use, but definitely worth it. Also, we are running electric coils. Running off of a gas would def be preferred and we wish could. Our oven is pretty much what we could get for the money we had. Its not ideal, but we insulated it extra good and it does what we need without issue. The next one will definitely be a lot bigger, have a circulating fan, the opening will be level with the floor, run off natural gas... all that good stuff.

Going back on topic now lol...

Monday is my birthday and the only thing I asked for was to be left alone on Saturday to get these motor mounts in! lol My old man is coming over also to give me a hand, so with him coming, I have no doubts that all the welding/fab can get done tomorrow. Then I can finally powder coat it and put the dang thing together. I will update tomorrow!

[Tedh98]

Monday is my birthday and the only thing I asked for was to be left alone on Saturday to get these motor mounts in! lol My old man is coming over also to give me a hand, so with him coming, I have no doubts that all the welding/fab can get done tomorrow. Then I can finally powder coat it and put the dang thing together. I will update tomorrow!

It is Monday - Happy Birthday.

How far did you get on Saturday?

[Tyl3r]

Thank you Ted! I turned 27....awfully close to 30...feeling old

We got the motor mounts finished up, adjusted the CDI mount location, moved a pipe mount, and made a new pipe mount. My dad re-created the KDX frame hoops at work yesterday, plan to get those on one day this week. After that I can tear down and start powder coating it. The plate we used for the mounts was a bit heavier than I wanted to use, but it was free so I can't complain. As long as the welder knows where to focus the heat, shouldn't be an issue (I had a pretty good welder on my side lol 30+ years experience).

I also was a bit unsure about my wheels, being the first time that I ever actually laced and trued a set. So I broke down and got one of those spoke torque wrenches. I can now confidently say that all of the spokes are at least 40 in-lbs, the wheels have .020" or less runout in all directions, and they should be ready for tires

Here are some photos... I have some questions about some things I ran into, please see the bottom:













1. The coolant line that exits just above the motor on the right side. Any good ideas how to address this? I ended up using the KX hose right off of the radiator, then spliced into the KDX hose about halfway down. I don't have any photos, but it seems to fit nicely when the pipe is on and everything. I didn't know if I could use a complete hose off of something else here?

2. With everything together, the silencer doesn't fit completely into the pipe. Is there a way to create a reliable seal between the silence and pipe without having full engagement? Or should I be looking at modifying the mounts for the silencer? I am using an 05 KX250 silencer. I was thinking about making a plate out of aluminum to offset the mounting pipe mounting holes further back, allowing for full engagement between the two pieces.

3. For the lower pipe mount, we welded a tab onto the frame. The plan was to run a bolt thru the pipe tab and into the tab on the frame, meaning the bolt would go straight across, horizontally. I planned to put a piece of rubber hose over the bolt between the two tabs to allow it to absorb some vibration. Am I asking for trouble having a pipe mount like this? I know that all of the factory mounts have those rubber hangers that allow the pipe to "hang" rather than be bolted straight to something. I don't know if I am explaining it well enough, hopefully the photos will help to explain better. I wanted to re-use the factory style pipe hanger there but couldn't get a spot for the tab on the frame where that wouldn't interfere with the pipe.

4. I wanted to run the KX125 kicker. It looks like that is going to interfere with the pipe too much, so I ditched that idea. I hate the KDX kicker, so that is my last resort. I got a KX250 kicker and it almost works, just wants to hit the frame a little when its turned in. Anyone else deal with that? It doesn't seem like that big of a deal, I was thinking about putting a piece of rubber hose on the corner of the lever where it contacts the frame. Then wrap it up real good with some self fusing tape, should isolate the vibration?

I think those are my biggest concerns at this point that I would like to try to figure out this week before starting to prep for powder. Any input you could provide would be much appreciated!

[Tedh98]

Looks great. Those are some beefy mounts. But I like the circular cut-outs and the welds look very nice.

I spliced my coolant line on the RHS. It would be nice to find a hose that would work without splicing, but I don't even know where to begin on doing that without buying hoses and doing a trial and error.

What does the joint between the pipe and silencer look like? I did this and this on mine. That spacer just kept the rubber coupler from sliding back and not sealing.

My son has a KDX with a PC2 pipe and stock silencer. I think his pipe and silencer sit further apart than mine does. Maybe it is a PC2 pipe thing.

What don't you like about the KDX kicker? I ask because that 250 kicker doesn't look any shorter than the KDX one. It seems like most people that switch kickers do it to go with a shorter version.

My KDX kick starter just touched the frame. It I rotated it just one spline, it was too far off. My solution was just to bend it so it didn't hit the frame anymore : Bending KDX kickstarter to clear frame. Maybe you can do the same with the 250 kicker?

[Tedh98]

Thank you Ted! I turned 27....awfully close to 30...feeling old

You get no sympathy from me. I was 27 twenty years ago!

[Tyl3r]

Thanks, I am really happy with the progress...slowly but surely!

For your coolant line that you spliced, did you have any concerns with it coming too close to the pipe? I am wondering if I need to put some type of heat resistant wrap over the line to keep it protected from the pipe.

My pipe to silencer gap is the same that you saw on yours. What did you make your silencer spacer from? Start with a piece of aluminum tube or something? Or was that a custom turned piece? I do like that idea a lot. I guess you don't need to have full engagement of the pipe and silencer as long as the joint is sealed up good. When I get a chance to look at it again, I'll either try the same, or make a bracket to relocate the silencer mounts closer to the engine to allow for full engagement (have to see how much room I have to play with first). I was kind of even thinking about using those stainless steel banded clamps over the joint between the pipes (one of these: http://www.jegs.com/images/photos/500/555/555-30853.jpg).

For the kicker, I hate how far out it sticks when you open it up. The KX250 kicker stays tighter to the bike. While I haven't tried the 250 kicker yet, I feel like my foot will want to stay onto it better, rather than slip off like it usually does.

[Tedh98]

For your coolant line that you spliced, did you have any concerns with it coming too close to the pipe?

No. I haven't had any problems with it over the years. Still using the same hoses.

What did you make your silencer spacer from? Start with a piece of aluminum tube or something? Or was that a custom turned piece?

Both pieces started as flat stock. The first was stainless and the second one was aluminum. I just cut them to the right width and then bent them. The aluminum was a lot easier and I just used a socket to bend it around:


Since I have those spacers on both my silencers, I can't test this. But I'm thinking that my pipe and silencer are slipped together as far as they will go. So while there is that gap, it doesn't mean that the two aren't together all the way. Next time I have the KDX out I'll see if I'm remembering that correctly.

And in my case, that spacer just keeps the rubber coupler from sliding back and leaking. It doesn't do anything for the joint itself.

[B737driver]

Here is what I came up with the pipe/silencer issue. Mine doesn't meet up fully either. I took the easy route and just used the stock boot and zip tied it tightly. So far so good...no spooge at all.

Here is my right side radiator hose. Used the KDX hose (may have been the KX hose can't remember, but didn't splice) and installed a clamp which rests on the kips actuator cover. Hose does not contact the pipe. Again, so far so good.....no wear on the kips cover.

And here is my lower pipe hanger. It works.


Looking forward to seeing the end result. It's looking great.

[Ffryno13]

Looking good! What size or gauge did you use for your motor mounts.

[Tyl3r]

Ted - I see what you did there. I may have to try and make me an aluminum spacer like that this weekend. Thanks for sharing. Also, I don't know about the Procircut pipe, but I do know for sure that the KX250 silencer will slide all the way into the KDX pipe when I have both pieces sitting on the bench. I keep going back and forth trying to decide if I should just buy a Pro Circuit pipe to see if it will help with some of these clearance issues... I just really wanted to keep the Gnarly on there.

B737- What pipe are you running on yours? I like your lower pipe mount better than mine. It didn't look like I had room to do what you did...maybe it needs a second look. Is that just a solid mount? Or is there an isolator somewhere? Also, I'm going to guess that you just used the KDX hose on the RH side if you didn't splice anything. The 125 hose doesn't have the 90 degree bend at the bottom where it goes into the water pump.

I have some very high temperature, braided sheath for wiring harnesses that I happened to acquire through the years. I think it may be just big enough to fit over that RH coolant line. If it does, I think I will put that on for some extra peace of mind.

I don't recall what thickness that plate was, may have been 3/16" or so. I'll check when I get home from work and let you know.

Thanks for the great input and photos guys, it is much appreciated and helping me out a lot. I will be sure to pay it forward!

[kenpowell]

I mounted my pipe to the skid plate ('03 kx125 chassis). Here are some pictures: http://s34.photobucket.com/user/ken-pow ... ort=1&o=36

[Tyl3r]

I mounted my pipe to the skid plate ('03 kx125 chassis). Here are some pictures: http://s34.photobucket.com/user/ken-pow ... ort=1&o=36

nice. mine is basically mounted the same way, but a tab off of the frame, rather than the skid plate. I'm guessing you aren't having issues with that kind of mount?

[Tyl3r]

got my frame hoops welded on today, guess its time for powdercoat! Just have to finish up some stuff at the shop so I can squeeze my stuff in.



They look pretty even


I think the sliced rad hose should be alright. Top part is from the KX, bottom part from the KDX


And here's the lower pipe mount tab I was talking about


sure glad I had the old man burn it all in instead of me! lol