KDXRIDER.NET

Hello again,

Some of you may remember my introduction a month or so ago. I was on the verge of purchasing a '97 KDX220 and had questions about bodywork... well, the update is that I ended up NOT getting that bike even though it would have been perfect. I decided to keep my "blue brand" 250 motocross bike and will add a heavy flywheel to make it more suitable for trail ridding.

Now fast forward to this past weekend... I found a '82 KDX450 on craigslist for $200! https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... =1&theater This one I didn't pass up. The price was very low because the seller hadn't ridden the bike in six years so it wasn't running. After about half-hour to clean the carb (it was actually clean inside) and drain the old gas (which was mostly oil residue) and put in fresh gas then it started on the second kick. It sounds good and healthy.

Okay, now here is where I'm probably going to confuse most people (and maybe piss off a few)... I bought the 450 with a very special purpose in mind which has "dirt" in the title, but doesn't involve the kind of dirt most people here would first think of. I'm talking about the Dirtbag Challenge https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=445717822038
The Dirtbag is a low budget "chopper" build off held every year in San Francisco. Last year I won "coolest bike" with my Yamaha RD400 based bike. I was planning to sit out this year while I'm planning a very complex build for 2014... then I saw the KDX on craigslist. Yes, I'm planning to chop the KDX. I know this will probably offend some folks, but I'm okay with that... deal with it!

So anyway, that is why I'm back. I have a few technical questions (I'll post in the air'cooled section of the forum) about the lighting system and possibly adding a battery. Since the bike will soon be used on the street, I think it will be nice to have battery in the system, if possible, such that the lights stay on if the engine stalls.

For those who would like to follow the transformation of the KDX into bad-ass 2-stroke chopper, I'll be posting a build thread on Customfighters.com http://www.customfighters.com/forums/ once the Dirtbag "go" date has been announced.

Julian

Sounds super cool to me! Any pics of, or links to your RD400?

It should wire very similar to the RD (banshee). Lighting coil to regulator/rectifier to batttery to rest of electricals(lights), or something like that

bcdonyo wrote:Sounds super cool to me! Any pics of, or links to your RD400?

lots of pics and links...

article on pipeburn...
http://www.pipeburn.com/home/2013/5/20/ ... opprd.html

motorcyclist magazine...
http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/featu ... r_dirtbag/

same photo, but different article, on The Kneeslider...
http://thekneeslider.com/what-does-it-c ... otorcycle/

thanks,
Julian

fuzzy wrote:It should wire very similar to the RD (banshee). Lighting coil to regulator/rectifier to batttery to rest of electricals(lights), or something like that

thats kinda what I thought... but question is what regulator/rectifier should be used? And will I need to rewind the output coils to up the wattage?

thanks,
Julian

No expert on this, but probably best to use one from a bike with a battery setup already. The stator/coils all work the same way, dirt or street....Upping wattage won't hurt, but unneeded if you think it can keep up with draw.

Yesturday I had some communication with Mike from RickeyStator. He has recommended one of their rectifier/regs and we are now deciding if a re-wind is needed or not. Stay tuned....

Well like I said in your other thread http://kdxrider.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=119&t=14471 You'll want to look up the lighting coil upgrade how-to then rewind your lighting coil with 18ga magnet wire, float the ground, and add a regulator/ rectifier. Then you can add a 12v battery and swap over to 12v lights, and add blinkers, horn and what ever else you might need.

I don't mind you cutting up the bike so much just as long as you take the engine out after the contest and put it in a modern MX frame for dirt or a street legal supermoto...

Happy New Year everyone! Its been a while since I've posted anything, so thought I'd start with some updates on my KDX450 street chopper project...

The bike was finished for the Dirtbag Challenge ($1000 budget/30 day build/100 mile ride) build-off and won a trophy for the "2013 craftiest bike". The 100 mile ride was... well lets just say "interesting". As obvious in the pictures, the bike has no rear suspension, not rear brake (ran out of time), very low bar height compared to seat height, then if that wasn't enough 30 miles into the 105 mile (actual distance) ride the clutch stopped working. Luckily most of the ride was on back roads in the mountains above Half Moon Bay, but getting back into Hunters Point (San Francisco) I counted at least a dozen stop signs that I blew through without making complete stops. Anyway, it was a very fun day and happy to win a Trophy.

In other news, yesterday I became the new owner of 2001 KDX220. Bike it bone stock with very low hours. I'm hoping it will be a little more suitable for my riding style (technical trails) than my "blue brand" 250 MXer. I'll post more on this bike on my original intro page.

Here are some pics of the KDX (powered) chopper...







Here is the complete build thread for anyone interested in reading all the details...

http://www.customfighters.com/forums/sh ... hp?t=66706

cheers,
Julian

That's different alright! But very cool at the same time. How did your back like that 100 mile ride?

Roadhazardguy wrote:...How did your back like that 100 mile ride?

back was okay... neck and shoulders however were killing me! I've never been so happy to finish a ride.

Haha yeah I bet. Possible aluminum frame motard swap next?

THAT is SUPERB. I love it.

What was your power band like with that pipe? Did it move the power around at all?

dfeckel wrote:What was your power band like with that pipe? Did it move the power around at all?

Great question. I put a great deal of effort into NOT changing the geometry of the pipe. The pipe you see in the photos is the original factory pipe that has been sliced, rotated, and re-routed... but I made sure that the cone lengths didn't change very much. The only portion of the pipe geometry that changed is the elongated stinger length. Of course the silencer is custom made.

Back to your question, the power band was kept nice and low (good low-mid range torque) which was great for street use. I could lug it around at low RPM and it would still pull really strong.

Roadhazardguy wrote:Possible aluminum frame motard swap next?

Ya, it would be a great engine for a motard project... if I didn't already have a CR500 engine for that project

Sweet! Well you have to post a link when you get around to building that one too!

me likey! haha that looks freakin awesome man. Definitely different! I bet that you back liked the fact that its a hardtail too haha keep up the good work man

Tyl3r wrote:me likey! haha that looks freakin awesome man.

thanks! back didn't hurt too bad... neck and shoulders were VERY sore.

That chopper is GORGEOUS!!! Do you plan to sell it? What would you normally get for something like that?

thepauly wrote:That chopper is GORGEOUS!!! Do you plan to sell it? What would you normally get for something like that?

Thanks, I appreciate the props!

Right now I have no plans to sell it. The first Dirtbag chopper I built (based on a VF700 Interceptor) I sold for $1900. I had a potential buyer interested in the second Dirtbag Chopper (based on an RD400). I offered to build him a duplicate, but when I added up all the effort that went into it the dollar amount came out to $7000-8000 not counting him fining an RD400 to chop up. That isn't much compared to new bikes, but does seam high for essentially a rat-bike. Anyway, that should give you an idea of what something like this bike would sell for... but not a lot of buyers out there.