Too Stupid to Stop: 1983 KDX 250 Resurrection

[dfeckel]

Ha! Too true.

[elusive]

I just spent a half hour reading this whole thread, since it was started before I was a member here. Awesome job! Thanks for taking the time to post pics and doing the write up.

[dfeckel]

Thanks for the kind words. I had it out for a little test and tune session a few weeks ago, and I have to say it's a really fun bike. The power won't set any records, but it's very manageable for the woods, with minimal clutch work required. The soft front end really tracks well with zero deflection. The brakes are TERRIBLE as-is, so I kind of have to ride it accordingly. As I was getting a feel for the bike in some tight single track, I would occasionaly get a little carried away and come in too hot for turns. After blowing through a few turns, I tried just actually turning at a speed higher than I was comfortable with, and damned if the front end didn't just stick and rail the corner! It turns really well! Then I let my buddy switch from his '13 250 XCW to the KDX, and he proceeded to blow a corner and dump it, breaking my clutch lever. I told him it effectively had no brakes, and I guess he didn't believe me. ;)

I have to pull the shock off and lube up the linkage, because it's developed a wicked squeak. Also, I picked up a set of brake shoes to see if I can at least make the brakes work a little better. There is another hare scramble coming up in a few weeks, and I just might enter the vintage class again. I swear I'll take some pics this time!

[zz3gmc]

Sahara Sands?

[dfeckel]

Yes. I will be working with the SJER trail crew on Saturday for the youth events, but actually racing on Sunday. If they have a vintage event, I'll race that in the AM and then do the main on my Husky. Makes for a long day, but super fun.

I was out trimming trail yesterday, and it is going to be a great event. There is lots sweet FRESH single track.

[zz3gmc]

The wife and I might be there, she wants to race the sportsman class on my 500! Going to swap the lowered suspension from her KX over to my 500 and have her ride it this weekend for some practice. Ill keep an eye out for you.

[dfeckel]

The '83 is back up to snuff.

I spent the better part of an afternoon disassembling, cleaning and lubing the linkage. Happily, nothing was in need of replacement. Just my kittly litter bucket of Pine Sol solution, scrub brushes and steel wool, and a bunch of Maxima water proof grease. Now she's nice, smooth, and quiet.

I also bought replacement brake shoes for the front and rear from the cheapest eBay vendor I could find. $20 shipped for front and back shoes. What a deal! Except the rears are too small. You get what you pay for, I guess. The fronts fit, but they resulted in about a 5% improvment in braking power. 5% of nothing is still nothing, so not much gained there.

The rears I was able to rehab by lubing the actuator shaft and giving everything a good cleaning. There was more than 50% pad left back there, so I'm happy with that. They actually work really well.

I wish I knew what the deal with those fronts is. The drum on my son's KLX 110 works 1000% better. Anybody have any advice?

[adam728]

You say the fronts don't work - what are the syptoms? The lever goes to the bar with no resistance or braking? Or is the lever plenty firm, but there's just no stopping power developed by the shoes?

For just over $800 I'd say you pulled off a cheap dirt bike. Anything in decent, ready-to-ride condition is pretty much a grand plus anymore.

[dfeckel]

Front brake symptoms

Minimal stopping power with full lever pull.

I'm getting the lever to the bar, and the shoes are moving out to the drum lining, but there just isn't much friction happening. I can pull the lever to the bar (adjusted so initial shoe contact happens in the first few mm of lever movement), and a good shove forward will move the bike. It will hold the front wheel for a fork squish in the garage, but if I give it a real shove, the brake can't hold it.

This is with a new, well lubed cheapie cable and new shoes.

When changing the shoes, I greased the actuator shaft and cleaned up the drum lining with some steel wool.

I'm thinking of putting a little sand paper between the shoes and drum lining to deglaze the lining. I may scuff up the shoes, too.

Another possible issue is my lever. It has a vintage aftermarket "Pro Lever." This thing is a 2-finger lever made entirely of plastic. It doesn't seem to flex visibly, but maybe it is.

[adam728]

Front brake symptoms

Minimal stopping power with full lever pull.

I'm getting the lever to the bar, and the shoes are moving out to the drum lining, but there just isn't much friction happening. I can pull the lever to the bar (adjusted so initial shoe contact happens in the first few mm of lever movement), and a good shove forward will move the bike. It will hold the front wheel for a fork squish in the garage, but if I give it a real shove, the brake can't hold it.

This is with a new, well lubed cheapie cable and new shoes.

When changing the shoes, I greased the actuator shaft and cleaned up the drum lining with some steel wool.

I'm thinking of putting a little sand paper between the shoes and drum lining to deglaze the lining. I may scuff up the shoes, too.

Another possible issue is my lever. It has a vintage aftermarket "Pro Lever." This thing is a 2-finger lever made entirely of plastic. It doesn't seem to flex visibly, but maybe it is.

Could just be the lever ratio. Depending on the pivot and cable location the amount of cable pull changes. Sounds like yours gives more power and leverage at the expense of travel. On a clutch you'd see this as easier pull, but maybe not enough travel to fully disengage.

Sent via morse code

[zz3gmc]

The brakes on my old 84 KDX250 (it was new at the time) worked well. I use emory cloth or sand paper to de glaze my drum equipped bikes. I used to swap the wheels onto my 84 200 to get a little stronger braking since the 250 drums were bigger. I cant stand those plastic levers. Try a aluminum one. I think the steering head bearings are the same on your 86 so the disc front end may be an easy swap as long as the stem is the same length. I swapped a 84 RM250 43mm triple clamp onto my 81 PE400 using the stem from the PE and slipped a set of 98 43mm cartridge forks and disc brake assy from a DR350 on to it. Bike handles much better and stops now.

[mtbill]

Great Read. I picked up a red '84 200. Somebody at church told me about a couple of old 2 strokes at a ranch for $5 bucks a piece. I went to look at them, & told the folks that I fix up old bikes.I donate the profits to the youth group. The ranchers wife donated the bikes to me, titles & all. The other bike is an '80 suzuki ds 185. The nicest part of either bike was the blue seat on the DX. On the way home, I got caught in a hail storm. 20+ little rips in the seat greeted me at home. Almost as rough as yours but no water in crank case/tranny. No oil either. Ceaned the tank, petcock (yeah, those little screws ) & carb & it fired up on the 3rd kick. Started tearing it down to the frame last night. $500 is my budget too. we'll see. I'll post some pics too.

[jgas]

I'm fixing up an 81 model, but my starting point is much better than yours, the bike is in decent original condition. It's been garage kept and seems to not have been ridden much. I'll be referring to this thread quite a bit for info. Nice work.

[dfeckel]

As threatened, I rode the '83 in the Sahara Sands Hare Scramble in Manahawkin, NJ, hosted by the Pine Barons Enduro Riders, course layout by the South Jersey Enduro Riders.

Full disclosure, here: I am a member of the South Jersey Enduro Riders, and I helped with getting the course ready for the hare scramble. I took Old Rusty out on Saturday to do some arrowing and sweep the course during the youth events. It had been running pretty well, but I noticed that after fifteen or twenty minutes of hard running, it would get hot enough to start running lean. I have never actually messed with the jetting on this thing. I was still running what was in the carb when I pulled it off my shelf during the rebuild. AFter all, the thing started easily, idled and revved out. Why mess with a good thing? Well, the hot running was not good. So I opened up the carb to raise the needle, only to find the clip already in the lowest position. I took the advice of a fellow club member and shimmed the needle up with a tightly curled loop of safety wire in the shape of a donut/washer. The motor now had a pretty bad burble up to half throttle, where it came to life like never before! It was making great power, with a pronounced mid range hit . NIce!

AFter SAturday's festivities, I drove the hour home to get ready for my races on Sunday. I planned to run the KDX in the Sportsman class in the morning, which is a non-points paying class in the C event, open to whomever. And then I wanted to run my Husky in B Vet in the afternoon event. But first, I had to clean the KDX's air filter (it was dusty!), wash all my gear, and maybe play with the jetting a bit. I cleaned and oiled the filter, washed and dried my gear, and found a JD red needle to try out. I put it in with the clip two up from the bottom.

My buddy picked me up Sunday morning, we had a leisurely breakfast at a diner and pulled in to gear up for the races. It was at this point that I realized my gear was still in the dryer, and hour away at home!! Ack!!! I had all my pads, helmet, boots, gloves, etc., I just didn't have my jersey or pants. I managed to borrow my buddy's KTM orange pants (yuck) for the morning race, and another buddy's for the afternoon. No jersey, though, so I had to ride in my t-shirt. SPODE!

I lined up with 36 other riders in the Sportsman class. 36! There were too many of us to fit all on one line, so I pulled up behind two guys on KTM 4-strokes. I had no desire to fight for the holeshot. Well, the green flag flew, Rusty started in one kick, and both KTMs in front of me wouldn't start! I waited a good five seconds before just riding around them.

The first several turns were just chaos. 36 guys headed onto a narrow MX section made for three or four downed riders in each corner. I just motored around the outside of each corner, and I probably passed a dozen guys. I joined the freight train headed into the woods, and was holding my own pretty well. The front brake was mostly working, thanks to the mew lever I put on it. The trail was a little beat up, but the oil-less shock was doing okay. At least until I hit the first whoops section! With no effective damping back there, I was using all the travel over every whoop. I HAD to back way off. There was just no way to power through any large bumps. Smooth single track? I was ripping pretty well. Whoops? Yeah, not so much!

So I motored around for two laps, having a great time. I was having to work really hard through the increasingly whooped out course, so I called it quits after lap 2. I wanted to save some strength for the afternoon race. As it turns out, I'd used pretty much all my energy riding the course Saturday and then in the AM race. My speed really suffered in the afternoon. I still had a great time, but lost all semblance of speed after the first half lap. I'm thinking I'm not in good enough shape to ride all day Saturday, then race four hours Sunday!

The KDX is proving to be a fun bike. I would still like to get the front brake working better, and of course I have to rebuild the shock. My JD needle ended up way too rich, so I blubbered around most of the morning. At least it didn't get hot. ANd I think I may spring for new bars to replace the tweaked stockers. NOt bad, considering what it looked like at the beginning of this thread!

ONe of my fellow club members commented that the '83 was a "survivor." I agreed at the time, but upon reflection, I think it's a survivor insofar as a zombie is a survivor! Back from the dead, ugly, and slow moving!

[zz3gmc]

Cool!!

[factoryX]

Sounds like newer suspension and carb in the future.

[dfeckel]

Sounds like newer suspension and carb in the future.

I still can hardly believe this bike HAS a future.

[factoryX]

Well its what ever. Modern parts are getting cheap.

[alex]

i noticed your 1983 kdx front drum brake set up is damn near the same as my 85 kdx 200. any idea if the 83 84 85 front brakes are all the same?? thanks, alex

[dfeckel]

I think the 200 drum is actually smaller than the 250 drum.