Another Conversion Finished

Questions and comments about converting to beefier forks..
maicocpa
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Another Conversion Finished

Post by maicocpa »

2006 KDX 200. 2002 KX 125 Forks, 2004 KX500 lower clamp and stem, Emig Racing 2002 KX 125 top clamp. Boyesen Reeds, drilled air box lid, PC Platinum II pipe, proper jetting, $20 eBay foot pegs Devol skid plate and radiator braces.

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Labor total was about 3 hours (stretched over a couple weeks). I didn’t want to hassle with pressing in and out stems and I knew the KX 500 stem was the same size as the KDX so I picked up a set of 2004 KX 500 clamps on ebay. I also got a complete 2002 KX 125 front end, minus brake hose and master cylinder.

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Forks and clamps - My original plan was to mate the 125 forks to the 500 clamps but that’s where the first glitch came up: The 125 forks fit in the bottom 500 clamp fine but the top of the forks were about 2mm each too large for the 500 top clamp. I ended up using the top clamp from the 125, which was fine as it was a nice, after-market Emig Racing clamp. I did need to use shim stock (Coke can, nudge, nudge, wink, wink) around the stem to get a snug fit up top.

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Handle bar clamps - The Emig Clamps came with a nice, solid-top bar clamp for 7/8” bars but since I’m running 1 1/8” Magura X bars I had to get some other clamps. Since I like my bar height taller, I am using Tag Metals 10mm+ clamps and it feels perfect to me. (Note: The stock KDX bar camps will not work with aftermarket triple clamp tops, nor with the stock KX 500 top clamp – bolts are way too long).

Front brake – Since the KX 125 front end had the caliper I decided to use that instead of the KDX caliper, especially because the KDX brake line routing would have been problematic with the fork slider and guide setup on the 2002 KX forks. I noticed on later KXs they revert to the KDX similar routing but 2002 was still the old style routing, down the front and under the fork leg. The KX 125 front end had no hose or master cylinder so I used the KDX master cylinder and bought a stainless steel braided hose from Pyramid Parts on eBay that was supposedly for a 2002 KX 125 but at 147 centimeters it was way too short. I exchanged it for one that was 158 cm long, which was long enough to emulate the KDX positioning behind the headlight, as opposed to the stock KX positioning in front of the number plate.

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Headlight mounting – The stock top clamps would have worked with the stock KX 500 top clamp but since I was running the Emig top clamp I had to fabricate the top mounts out of 16 guage steel. Since I don’t have a welder, I brazed on the nuts. For the bottom headlight mount, I fabricated a bracket out of 1/8” x 5/8” aluminum flat stock that the headlight bracket bolts to. Turns out this aluminum bracket works well as a tug point, too.

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Riding impression: I took her out to Wildomar, a local OHV area that has a mixture of steep hills, sand sections, whoops, rocky sections, tight trails, and fire road type trails and it was vastly better that the stock forks, even without adjusting anything on the KX forks yet. The spring rate seems perfect and I may only end up playing with the clickers. Next test: Vet MX Track action. Will report.
2006 KDX 200, Bunch o' Maicos, Bunch o' kids' bikes
plb
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Post by plb »

Thank you for the pictures and tips!
maicocpa
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Post by maicocpa »

More on the KX 500 bottom clamp: It hits the steering stops before the top clamp hits the tank unlike with what I have read here about many KX 125-250 triple clamp setups. Maybe that's due to the Emig top clamp or maybe the KX 500 stop lugs are in a different position that is more favorable to the KDX stop tab.

If I were to do it all over now knowing what I learned, I think I would have tried for a complete KX 500 front end, which would truly have been a bolt on and go modification.
2006 KDX 200, Bunch o' Maicos, Bunch o' kids' bikes
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Post by jc7622 »

Nice light brackets. The whole bike looks good.
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Post by SVandal »

Good job, looks very good!
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fuzzy
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Post by fuzzy »

Except your 02 KX forks are vastly superior to the 89-era KX 500 ones. No need to bother with the USD converstion with anything older than the KDX gen itself...

Nice!!!!
'91 KDX 200 Project $300 KDX
'95 KDX 200 Project $600 KDX
'94 WR 250 Always a project
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Post by maicocpa »

>|<>QBB<
fuzzy wrote:Except your 02 KX forks are vastly superior to the 89-era KX 500 ones. No need to bother with the USD converstion with anything older than the KDX gen itself...
I was thinking of only 2000 and later KX 500 forks which are the same as 1998 era KX 125-250 forks according to part numbers.
2006 KDX 200, Bunch o' Maicos, Bunch o' kids' bikes
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fuzzy
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Post by fuzzy »

Good to know...Stand corrected. 98's wouldn't be too bad especially for a straight bolt-on.

I thought the only changes made to the 5 hundo since 89 was graphics...
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Post by canyncarvr »

Where's the nut on top of the frame tube? Up inside the top clamp?

How do you like those pegs?

Looks good! Doesn't even look like it's going uphill!! :wink:

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Post by rick albert »

i like your MAICOs in the back ground,what year and size are they? do you ride AHRMA events ?
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Post by maicocpa »

>|<>QBB<
canyncarvr wrote:Where's the nut on top of the frame tube? Up inside the top clamp?

How do you like those pegs?
Yes, nut is obscured by the clamps. I like the pegs, especially for the price. No issues yet, even with dropping the bike on rocks.
2006 KDX 200, Bunch o' Maicos, Bunch o' kids' bikes
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Post by maicocpa »

>|<>QBB<
rick albert wrote:i like your MAICOs in the back ground,what year and size are they? do you ride AHRMA events ?
1971 400 Square Barrel, 1974.5 400 radial, 1981 250 (not in picture), all three get raced. I have raced AHRMA National Events up through 2007 but not this year, only doing local (CalVMX) racing. I couldn't justify the $120 price for just one race a year.
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Post by THill »

Good looking KDX setup..... :supz:

I like the old Maico's .. Had a 77 400 that i raced for awhile back in the 70's, great bike when i could keep it together.....
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canyncarvr
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Post by canyncarvr »

Curiousity is bugging me.....

Do you have any pics of the underside of that top clamp? Or maybe the stem in the tube without the top clamp on?

Seems kind'a silly to prevent access to the stem nut. If you need to adjust it a bit it's enough of a hassle with it visible. You still have to loosen the forks and retorque the top nut. With the stem nut completely obscured, you would have to take the top clamp off.

Is there a point to that? You've done this before with the KX stem, right? Same top clamp setup, or did it look 'normal'?

:hmm:

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maicocpa
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Post by maicocpa »

>|<>QBB<
canyncarvr wrote:Curiousity is bugging me.....

Do you have any pics of the underside of that top clamp? Or maybe the stem in the tube without the top clamp on?

Seems kind'a silly to prevent access to the stem nut. If you need to adjust it a bit it's enough of a hassle with it visible. You still have to loosen the forks and retorque the top nut. With the stem nut completely obscured, you would have to take the top clamp off.

Is there a point to that? You've done this before with the KX stem, right? Same top clamp setup, or did it look 'normal'?

:hmm:
I'll have to take a look at the whole thing again. I used the KDX hardware (nuts, dust seal, etc) on the KX 500 stem. It was exactly the same as what was on the 500. When I first put the clamps together I was using the KX500 top clamp, too, and it went on just lik ethe KDX top clamp. When I found out the 500 top clamp wouldn't work I just switched the top clamp for the 125 aftermarket clamp. I didn't change nuts, only added some shim material to the stem.
2006 KDX 200, Bunch o' Maicos, Bunch o' kids' bikes
maicocpa
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Post by maicocpa »

I looked at it last night. Stem nut is completely obscured by top triple clamp. Top clamp would need to be removed to access the nut.
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Post by Jeekinz »

>|<>QBB<
canyncarvr wrote:Curiousity is bugging me.....

Do you have any pics of the underside of that top clamp? Or maybe the stem in the tube without the top clamp on?

Seems kind'a silly to prevent access to the stem nut. If you need to adjust it a bit it's enough of a hassle with it visible. You still have to loosen the forks and retorque the top nut. With the stem nut completely obscured, you would have to take the top clamp off.

Is there a point to that? You've done this before with the KX stem, right? Same top clamp setup, or did it look 'normal'?

:hmm:
You have to loosen the top clamp anyway because it acts like a stop nut against the spanner nut on the stem. If you adjust it without bottoming the top clamp to it, the nut will just loosen back up.
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Post by allergic2death »

great write up! Does anyone know if this would work on a 2000 kdx200?
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Post by canyncarvr »

The 2000 200 is an 'H' model..same model as the one converted in this thread.

Yes. It will work. You can adapt most any front end to any bike depending on the fuss you want to have over it.

KX front-ends fit fairly easily in most cases.

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Post by muddertrucker »

absolutely! :supz:
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