New Maine-iac

Welcome to KDXRider.net! Please take a moment to introduce yourself, and meet the group.
Post Reply
User avatar
Mayor Brap Brap
Supporting Member
Posts: 266
Joined: 07:33 am Nov 02 2013
Country:
Location: Maine

New Maine-iac

Post by Mayor Brap Brap »

Hey everyone, my name is Mike and I'm very new to KDXes. I'm 30 years old and live up near Bar Harbor, ME. I'm coming from a Honda CRF230F. My friend made the mistake of letting me ride his KDX one day and the Honda that I spent over a year building up was sold the next month.

In its place sits this:

Image

It's a 2002 with a 2005 200 engine. I bought the bike from an older enduro rider who also had a '91 KDX and seemed like he has been around the block for a long time. There were a lot of great things about this bike:

-All new plastics, cylinder chromed and with brand new piston and rings, new fork seals, new wheel bearings, new sprockets and chain

But, there were a lot of ridiculously bad things that never surfaced until I got it home:

-No countershaft seal (had to replace), rear caliper was stuck, pads worn to the metal and rotor shot because of it (had to rebuild and have to find a rotor), carb is leaking from somewhere, spark plug is not tightened enough and leaking, there's no kickstand, no toolkit, bar cones shot (replaced with Scott's), painted green frame does not match Kawi green, and I had to buy fork boots

But the biggest one of all was the leak coming from where the two case halves meet at the front of the crank. With the help of my friend at GRC Racing in town, we completely took the engine apart and split the cases. I found a Hot Rod piston rod, leading me to suspect that the cases had already been split. I guess they did a poor job rebonding.

In any CASE, It's Yamabonded back together and everything spins and is able to shift into all gears. I will say, if it wasn't for this site, I couldn't have gotten the job done.

Thank you for being here, and nice to meet you all!
User avatar
Julien D
KDXRider.net
KDXRider.net
Posts: 5858
Joined: 07:53 pm Nov 07 2008
Country: USA
Contact:

Re: New Maine-iac

Post by Julien D »

Welcome to KDXRIDER! Problems aside, that is a sharp looking KDX! Congrats! Glad the site could be of help to you. :partyman:
Image
DRoCksks
Member
Posts: 102
Joined: 06:27 pm Sep 10 2013
Country:

New Maine-iac

Post by DRoCksks »

I think its a nice looking bike, I don't think the frame looks bad at all. I have to say that its scary how people put things together to sell. I can't imagine being less than honest when selling something. I know I've lost money on sales from telling the truth just because I don't want to hear about it after the sale. Plus, hobbies generally are not money makers in my world so I expect to take a loss.

Anyway, ramble mode is off for now...Welcome to the site!
User avatar
Mayor Brap Brap
Supporting Member
Posts: 266
Joined: 07:33 am Nov 02 2013
Country:
Location: Maine

New Maine-iac

Post by Mayor Brap Brap »

DRoCksks wrote:I don't think the frame looks bad at all.
Oops! :supz:

Image
DRoCksks
Member
Posts: 102
Joined: 06:27 pm Sep 10 2013
Country:

New Maine-iac

Post by DRoCksks »

Well thats jumping right in...nice!
User avatar
bufftester
Platinum Member
Platinum Member
Posts: 3455
Joined: 06:03 pm Oct 31 2012
Country: USA
Location: University Place, WA

Re: New Maine-iac

Post by bufftester »

New plastics and fresh paint are always a red flag when bike shopping. Usually the seller is trying desperately to hide his poor maintenance habits with some bling. But at least you got her back together. Since you have it all apart, swingarm/linkage bearings are notoriously overlooked areas on these bikes. Welcome to the site!
User avatar
Mayor Brap Brap
Supporting Member
Posts: 266
Joined: 07:33 am Nov 02 2013
Country:
Location: Maine

Re: New Maine-iac

Post by Mayor Brap Brap »

Black frame roasting on an open fire.

Image

And some progress. Now I'm going very slowly through the manual to see all of the little clamps and bumpers that were omitted when the crazy old guy put this thing together. :doh: Looks like a pretty sizable Ron Ayers order is in order. Where do you guys get the cheapest OEM parts?

Image
User avatar
6 Riders
Gold Member
Gold Member
Posts: 2124
Joined: 12:58 pm May 01 2013
Country: USA
Location: Washington
Contact:

Re: New Maine-iac

Post by 6 Riders »

Hey, it looks like you are missing the rear brakes :lol:
I buy most my OEM stuff from RockyMountainatv.com, they are prices well and fast at shipping.
newbbewb wrote:^what he said.
masterblaster wrote:Man 6 riders you rock.
*side note...I'm drunk, so try to read what I'm trying to say, instead of what I actually type
User avatar
Mayor Brap Brap
Supporting Member
Posts: 266
Joined: 07:33 am Nov 02 2013
Country:
Location: Maine

Re: New Maine-iac

Post by Mayor Brap Brap »

It's slowly coming back to life. It's amazing the amount of neglect this bike was subjected to by the seller who rebuilt it. Here's a list:
  • Leaked oil at the case seams–had to be split and rebonded. I guess whoever installed the Hot Rods conrod didn't know how to bond cases back together.
    Leaked oil from behind countershaft sprocket because it had NO OIL SEAL installed.
    Carb leaked like a faucet. Had to replace the float bowl drain plug because its threads were stripped and the float height was off.
    Air filter was saturated with oil and leaking into the box. Had to be recleaned and oiled properly.
    Rear pads were worn down to the metal and grooved the rotor. The brake stuck and had to be completely cleaned and rebuilt.
    Handlebar cones were shot and bars might be bent–I still have to figure out why the bars are crooked.
    Tires were overinflated to beach ball bounciness and front valve stem is crooked.
    Missing parts: cable guides, clamps, kickstand, fork boots, fender bag, airbox cover gasket, headlight wiring, headlight switch.
    Littered with poorly placed stickers and six different shades of green going on, including the frame, which I repainted black.
I understand that there are general wear and tear items that come with any used bike, but this was ridiculous.

Image

Image
Post Reply