KDXRIDER.NET

I have forgotten how much work it is to put a bike back together. I took it all apart a couple of months ago, and i seem to be dragging it out on the reassemble. I've got it rolling again finally. I really need to get it back going and out on the trail.
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Sweet looking bike. I really like the white frame and accents.

That's gonna be a slick scooter. Love the white But can you ride it after labor day?

rparrish08 wrote:That's gonna be a slick scooter. Love the white But can you ride it after labor day?

haha thats pretty funny

Bike looks good man! Mine is dragging out much longer than anticipated also. At least yours has a motor in it! Did you paint those hubs, or have them powder coated?

Painted them. I do body work for a living, and always have plenty of extra around. I wish I had the stuff to powder coat.

O nice, well that is cool. I was just curious, I've been powder coating for a little while now.

Did you paint the motor/cylinder with anything? It looked a little darker in the photo. I was thinking about hitting my cylinder with some engine enamel, but keep going back and forth about it. I don't know how hot the cylinder gets when the bike is hot, so I don't think I want to powder coat it.

Any other updates?

Yea I painted it with some engine paint. Last time I did it silver I figured I would change it up. It makes cleaning it up a good bit easer.

Nice, I was thinking about the cleaning thing also. It looks good, I may just go ahead and do the same.

Since I was thinking about it when I originally commented, I figured I would share my research. From everything that I was reading, it seems the common opinion on powder coating heads and cylinders is its a bad idea. The powder coat works as an insulator, preventing heat from dissipating as quickly as it should.

I have read threads on that topic. Inevitably someone chimes in that these arent the days of air cooled bikes and PCing a water cooled engine is fine. Logically it makes sense that the coolant should be able to handle the coolong responsibility. And much more insulating can PCing be vs paint? But not that many people seem to do it. So either there is a valid reason not to do it or no one is wanting to step up to the plate.

I know what you mean. Every thread I came across seemed to be like that. I was extremely close to saying f it and shooting powder on the head and cylinder... then I couldn't stop thinking about how many heat cycles the PC would see. Being that the PC is a polymer coating...I don't know how long it would last, definitely not as long as a non-motor part. I'd hate to have to re-do it. Then again, the frame, swingarm and rims will undoubtedly see some trail damage and eventually need re-done. I guess as long as it lasts 2-3 years until the next set of rings go in... that would be ok. Still up in the air... sorry for the thread hijack.

Tyl3r wrote:I know what you mean. Every thread I came across seemed to be like that. I was extremely close to saying f it and shooting powder on the head and cylinder... then I couldn't stop thinking about how many heat cycles the PC would see. Being that the PC is a polymer coating...I don't know how long it would last, definitely not as long as a non-motor part. I'd hate to have to re-do it. Then again, the frame, swingarm and rims will undoubtedly see some trail damage and eventually need re-done. I guess as long as it lasts 2-3 years until the next set of rings go in... that would be ok. Still up in the air... sorry for the thread hijack.

I say try it so we know for sure. From what I know PC cures from 300-350 your engine temps shouldn't be getting any where near that 220 should be about as hot as it gets before it boils the coolant out of the rads. I think I saw a handful of pics from service Honda with PC engines. I guess they could have been a ceramic coating too, which would take much higher temps.

Yea, the majority of the powders that we use cure at 400 for 10-15 mins. I don't think 400 for that short period of time will be enough to warp any of the gasket surfaces or throw the bore out of round. The cylinder is completely cleaned out and bare....I just may do it...

They do make hi-temp powders that cure for 20-30 mins at 400 deg, but I have only seen them in grey, silver, and black (booorrrriiiinnnggg)

You are also pretty limited with color choices with ceramic coating. IIRC, the only color options are flat colors. I also think that bakes in 500 deg range. That may be pushing it the limits.... I know at my work, we do not allow the use of cast aluminum fan blades if they will in an operating environment over 300 degrees as the mechanical properties of the aluminum will begin to decline.

So when I had cylinder sleeved the guy that did it said he bakes the cylinder in the oven for an hour at 500* it seems to be fine. And I bake my cases for bearing install at 250* for about 30 min. Someone else on here said they bake them at 300 and that's way thinner cast.

I've finally got back at the kdx today. Hope to have it ready for the race this weekend. I better get at it.
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Looks sweet man! You never see white ones, I'm diggin it. Our bikes looks wicked similar, just at opposite ends of the color spectrum lol

Thanks!. Your bike looks sweet as well. Yea i went black on my first rm hybrid. It was real tough to keep it looking good. Especially when mine had black plastic. Dont believe I'll be going with black plastic again. Looks great when new but shows every scratch in it. Looking forward to dropong it on the ground a time or two this weekend.lol. the bad part is i'm considering selling it. Its getting tough for me to find people to ride with. The only thing keeping it around is id be lucky to get 1/2 of what ive got in it.

I got to spend a little time today on the bike, i Put some led lights in my bark busters, fabbed some new engine mounts, and got the radiators on. I Signed up for a hare scramble this weekend so i really need to get this done so i can take it on a test ride sat. The last place i want trouble is 9 miles back in the woods.