In search of a 20 year old fling...

KDXSPODE · Post by **KDXSPODE** » 05:05 am Sep 02 2016

I confess that I have not been on this forum until this past week. However, like every other hobby I have had, I knew there had to be a "home" on the internet for KDX's enthusiasts. I am glad to have found it. I have spent a few hours a day reading these since. Great site. A ton of information and some really nice folks here.

I am 49 years old. My first experience with dirt bikes was when I was a teen age kid. My brother took me to Saddleback Park during the 1981 Massacre between Howerton and Hannah. I was hanging on the fence for every race that day. Unaware that I would witness an iconic event in MX history. Ever since that day I have been addicted to dirt bikes. That year my dad bought me my first dirt bike. A brand new 1981 Honda XR100 for $771.00 out the door from the Honda Dealer in Anaheim off Chapman Ave.

Since then I have ridden, raced, video gamed, spectated, and dreamt about riding like an addiction. I sold my last bike about 2 years ago and that was the last time I have ridden. I thought I was done. But my nephew rides with a group of guys a couple times a month and has been pressing me to come out. After some recent major changes in our lives (my wife and 4 kids) that meant selling a business, moving, taking on a new job etc. things just didn't look good for me to get out with him any time soon?.. But my nephew kept posting pictures of his rides. And my fever began to come back.

The rides that they do are often long. 50, 80 up to 100 miles. So the bike search begins. I have come off of a modern 450 and I just did not want to spend the entire day on one with rides that long. I also did not want a tank like a DR or and XR.. And my budget is slim slim slim with all of the recent changes.

But then I remembered! Back in 1996 my aunt and uncle bought two brand new KDX200's. I was with out a bike for a few months back then so I borrowed my aunts to go ride with my uncle for the weekend in Ocotillo Wells. I had an absolute blast on that thing. I was a bit faster back then and still wanted my 94 KX250 power. But after that weekend was over and I handed that KDX back to my aunt a little part of me went with it. And I have always remembered that bike.

Fast forward to last week. I have decided to go on a hunt for a KDX200 or KDX220. At my age now I think it will be the near perfect machine for me considering the rides I will be doing in the future. Off I go!!

Thanks for letting me ramble.
-=SPODE

Post by **Julien D** » 06:18 am Sep 02 2016

Welcome to KDXRIDER! Good luck in your search!

Post by **KDXGarage** » 11:00 am Sep 02 2016

This site JUST got better. Thank you for your great post. If you live in CA still, look for a 2002 as the newest one for a green sticker.

Welcome to the forums!

Try not to get in a rush when shopping, and don't be afraid to walk away from a bad one.

JL4049 · Post by **JL4049** » 04:35 pm Sep 02 2016

Welcome aboard! I recently picked up a kdx after not having raced on dirt in about 15 years, a group of my friends regularly ride 100km plus single trail and fire break rides so I tag along with them. They are all on 450s and I have no trouble staying with the pack, on some terrain I leave them for dead but they catch me pretty quick when it flattens out.
Like others have said, don't be scared to walk away from a shitter, there are plenty of kdxs out there with 'new top ends' that have just had new bars and a sticker kit put on. There are a heap of good ones for not much money though, it just takes some searching.
Great bike for the returning rider I reckon.

ohgood · Post by **ohgood** » 07:33 pm Sep 02 2016

Man what a great story and introduction! Thanks for taking the time to type that, and telling us your "why". Again that's a really nice intro, I'm looking forward to reading more from you.

Post by **Julien D** » 10:01 pm Sep 02 2016

I have to admit, when I saw the title of the thread I was fully prepared to delete another spam post, lol. I was pleasantly surprised.

KDXSPODE · Post by **KDXSPODE** » 10:18 pm Sep 02 2016

Julien D wrote:I have to admit, when I saw the title of the thread I was fully prepared to delete another spam post, lol. I was pleasantly surprised.

Spam and garbage is all to common these days. So I completely understand the instinctive thought for sure. And... Ok, I admit to casting a little bit of a hook out there ;)

Thanks for the kind welcome guys. I looked at a couple beaters today. One guy kept trying to keep me on the right side of the bike. When I noticed this effort by him red flags started flying. As soon as I looked on the left side I noticed what kinda looked like a foot peg? It was actually part of a foot peg that had been welded on crooked. LoL. He only wanted $1000 for it. But to me it was worth about $700 in it's current state. No thanks.

Waiting for call backs on what looks to be a pretty clean KDX250 and a clean 96 KDX200.
We'll see?

Post by **KDXGarage** » 10:41 pm Sep 02 2016

In this case, I suggest the 1995+ KDX200 or KDX220R.

Post by **Julien D** » 07:57 am Sep 03 2016

Yeah, stick with 95+ for parts availability. The KDX250 is awesome, but it's got a lot of age on it, and some parts have gotten pretty scarce.

KDXSPODE · Post by **KDXSPODE** » 05:51 pm Sep 03 2016

Thanks for the advice guys!

Both bikes I was waiting to hear back on were long gone. :(
An 03 200 popped up in Washington for about 8 seconds. Already gone when I called. :( I live in SoCal but I will drive if I have to in order to get exactly what I am looking for. I will keep looking.

C George · Post by **C George** » 03:29 am Sep 04 2016

Welcome aboard :) Keep an eye out for a clean 220 . Their usually owned by an older rider and in better condition.

If you havn't ridden one , just imagine great 4 stroke torque with the pep and agility of a two stroke.

Post by **KDXGarage** » 09:07 am Sep 04 2016

KDXSPODE wrote:Thanks for the advice guys!

Both bikes I was waiting to hear back on were long gone. :(
An 03 200 popped up in Washington for about 8 seconds. Already gone whe I called. :( I live in SoCal but I will drive if I have to in order to get exactly what I am looking for. I will keep looking.

I strongly suggest you read up on red sticker and green sticker, as you live in CA.

2002 is the newest you should ship for, if things ate still the same out there as many have posted about for years

KDXSPODE · Post by **KDXSPODE** » 05:52 pm Sep 04 2016

- C George Welcome aboard :). Keep an eye out for a clean 220 . Their usually owned by an older rider and in better condition. If you haven't ridden one, just imagine great 4 stroke torque with the pep and agility of a two stroke.

Thanks for the welcome! Yes, I would prefer the 220 as I also have more "bottom end"

than I used to LoL... If I find a 200 and a 220 in similar condition I will opt for the 220 for sure. But if I find a super clean 200 over a beat 220 I will go with the 200 .

-Jason I strongly suggest you read up on red sticker and green sticker, as you live in CA.
2002 is the newest you should ship for, if things ate still the same out there as many have posted about for years]

Thanks Jason. Yes I am all too familiar with the rules out here. In my experience when it comes to skillfully skirting rules you have to have an intimate understanding of them.

I going to plate it so that will take care of pretty much all of my concerns.

Post by **KDXGarage** » 06:06 pm Sep 04 2016

Oh wow. Good!

KDXSPODE · Post by **KDXSPODE** » 06:27 pm Sep 04 2016

I don't have a trailer. And where I now live (Canyon Lake Ca - 92587) we are renting a smaller home with no space to park a trailer of nearly any size. So I decided to order a dirt bike rack. After all I may spot a bike and have to go get it immediately as I now see how quickly clean ones go.

My sweetie accepted the package while I was at work. As much as I love her, and as tolerant as she has been over the last 27 years of our marriage when it comes to my obsession, she had overlooked that one end of the box was gone. Looks like a one armed sloth tried to tape it back together!

So my first thought was, "alright let's see what's missing". Sure enough after unpacking the box I discovered that all of the hardware needed to assemble the carrier was gone. Gone like the wind. After laying it all out I also noticed that the two bars that hold the ramp portion of the carrier to the carrier itself during travel was also....gone.

Oh well I was so pumped to be one step closer to reuniting with my 20 year old fling that I just had to put it together. Off I ran to the local hardware store to buy a bucket of bolts. After I got home I notified the seller of the rack my situation with a copy of the receipt for the missing bolts. We'll see how that goes?!

I assembled it and stuck it in the back of my receiver. Like a glove!

I feel a tad better. I am ready to bail and buy on a moments notice!

-=SPODE

Bitteeinit · Post by **Bitteeinit** » 06:54 pm Sep 04 2016

Great first post! Welcome.

KDXSPODE · Post by **KDXSPODE** » 10:37 pm Sep 07 2016

UPDATE:
After a very tedious search I think I may have found my Jewel! An 06 KDX200 with 76 original miles. I am going to converse with the owner to confirm initially the legitimacy of this deal, as well as other detail as that may be deal breakers.
I will keep Ya'll posted !!!

-=SPODE

KDXSPODE · Post by **KDXSPODE** » 08:38 pm Sep 09 2016

I am absolutely stoked!

The short version of the story is that I have confirmed the details in regards the the bike. Only 76 original miles....? Hmm,... I will never know. But take a look at these pictures. The rest of the bike is flawless. But I asked for close ups of the engine side covers so I could somewhat accurately gauge the real time on the bike.

Not a scratch on either side of the engine. And minimal wear on the frame sides. I put more wear on a frame in 2 hours than this bike has on it now. I would have to guess that there is very little time on the bike. The seller claims that the original tires are also still on the bike. I will confirm that when I see it by checking the date codes on the sidewalls..

I am driving 14 hours tomorrow to go pick it up after sending the seller a small deposit to hold it and remove the add off the internet.

Post by **KDXGarage** » 10:56 pm Sep 09 2016

Any chance you might have more pics than those shown? 14 hours is a long way to go get a bike. I drove 13.5 one way for one of mine, but if there is anything we can do to help you make sure it is worth it, let us know.

Be aware that it has a tripmeter, not a real odometer. The 76 miles shown could be 1,000,076, as it is just a tripmeter.

GOOD LUCK!

KDXSPODE · Post by **KDXSPODE** » 01:19 am Sep 10 2016

Jason wrote:Any chance you might have more pics than those shown? 14 hours is a long way to go get a bike. I drove 13.5 one way for one of mine, but if there is anything we can do to help you make sure it is worth it, let us know.

Be aware that it has a tripmeter, not a real odometer. The 76 miles shown could be 1,000,076, as it is just a tripmeter.

GOOD LUCK!

Thanks a bunch Jason!

Yes, totally aware that the trip meter is re-settable. And yes he sent me very good pictures of the entire bike. Then I asked for these close ups of the engine. He also answered a lengthy and detailed questionnaire over email in order to collect my deposit. I am committing myself to a lot of travel and expense. I definitely had to satisfy my very critical mind when it comes to doing business with total strangers.

Then and after all of that I finally ask him, "Is there anything [or things] I may find either cosmetic or mechanical when I get there that might have me saying, Hey, you didn't mention this?"

Do I think this deal is 100% going to happen" Nah, I would never assume that with so much that could still go wrong. However, I feel I have qualified the person as a genuine seller (with a little help of the internet) . And I have qualified the bike as it being genuinely clean with the best of my ability from where I sit.

Plus I am a gambler by nature! LoL.. I will keep you guys posted.

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