KDXRIDER.NET

I couldn't agree more! If I'm going for a 10 mile ride my bike is full to the top. Three gallons of gas does not weigh any where near what a bike with no gas weighs.

No matter what way you go there will be compromises.Factor in budget concerns and personally I feel a lowered KDX is well worth trying first.

Say what you want but we all know no matter what you do to a mx bike the powerband will never be quite as nice as a kdx.What good is lighter bike if you're picking it up more often ;) Then with the cost of taming a mx bike down...well it costs a bit and I really dont think there would be a wealth of parts on ebay etc for a kx-100,maybe a 125 but still it will cost a bit.Another thing to factor in cost wise is getting into a unkonwn second hand bike?I mean if it wasnt maintained what is it going to cost to get up to par?

Now a lower KDX will have a lower center of gravity and might be a just as easy to handle,especially if the bike was put on a diet.

If I'm not mistaken butterfly dont you have a e series?

If so I have yet to ride a bike as comfortable as my old e series,I know as my body gets older that comfortable saddle becomes a LOT more important.

As for lightening the bike,I wonder if a KX 500 tank or something similar could be swapped on easily.Less weight and more importantly less weight so high up on the bike.


Well the cheapest solution imo would be to drop the bike less

The next cheapest and imo the most comfortable for a aging body would be to lower the kdx and if possible swap the tankl for something smaller.

her e serie is already lowered.

its not just the fact that the kdx is to tall for her, or to heavy for her. she already has it lowered, and you have to remember, she is a chick......not a 200+lbs man. the kdx wears her down to quick{weight wise}she is wanting something smaller and lighter with about the same torqe range as the kdx. think about it this way..........if you have no problem handling the weight of your bike, add 30-50 lbs of weight to your bike and ride it. thats the comparison from a male to female. get it?
not saying AT ALL, that a female cant ride, im just saying that theres a big weight diff when you compare. kinda like putting a 125 lbs ufc fighter in with a 225 lbs guy.

No I understand what you are saying and I didnt know the bike was already lowered.

My main point was the e series is a comfortable bike,I have a 2002 kx 125 I ride from time to time(friends bike I store for him)and after a day riding it I feel beat to hell.Where as on my 93 kdx I tend to feel less beat up come monday.

I know that the 93 carries a lot of weight up high,and even for me @ 225 6'1 it makes the bike feel a lot more heavy then really it is in my opinion.This makes it a chore for even me to lift after I dump it,especially with full fuel Thats what makes me think if you took 10-15lbs from up high on the bike it would go a long ways towards making it less top heavy and easier to manage.

kdxmaniac wrote:its not just the fact that the kdx is to tall for her, or to heavy for her. she already has it lowered, and you have to remember, she is a chick......not a 200+lbs man. the kdx wears her down to quick{weight wise}she is wanting something smaller and lighter with about the same torqe range as the kdx. think about it this way..........if you have no problem handling the weight of your bike, add 30-50 lbs of weight to your bike and ride it. thats the comparison from a male to female. get it?
not saying AT ALL, that a female cant ride, im just saying that theres a big weight diff when you compare. kinda like putting a 125 lbs ufc fighter in with a 225 lbs guy.

KUDOs! Finally. Someone to express my opinion in the male state of mind.

I have bursitis in both of my elbows, carpal tunnel in both wrists, bursitis in both hips, a herniated L5, and degenerative disc disease in my neck. I still ride and will try (basically) whatever you tell me to ... (Prof Kirk). I will progress. No COMPLETE FEAR! Partial, yes; total, no!!!! OOOO, HELL EFFING NO!!!!)

Let me go ...

KDX Butterfly wrote:

kdxmaniac wrote:its not just the fact that the kdx is to tall for her, or to heavy for her. she already has it lowered, and you have to remember, she is a chick......not a 200+lbs man. the kdx wears her down to quick{weight wise}she is wanting something smaller and lighter with about the same torqe range as the kdx. think about it this way..........if you have no problem handling the weight of your bike, add 30-50 lbs of weight to your bike and ride it. thats the comparison from a male to female. get it?
not saying AT ALL, that a female cant ride, im just saying that theres a big weight diff when you compare. kinda like putting a 125 lbs ufc fighter in with a 225 lbs guy.

KUDOs! Finally. Someone to express my opinion in the male state of mind.

I have bursitis in both of my elbows, carpal tunnel in both wrists, bursitis in both hips, a herniated L5, and degenerative disc disease in my neck. I still ride and will try (basically) whatever you tell me to ... (Prof Kirk). I will progress. No COMPLETE FEAR! Partial, yes; total, no!!!! OOOO, HELL EFFING NO!!!!)

Whaaaaa whaaaa whaaaaa!!! Want a little cheees to go with that whine?

Mr. Wibbens wrote:

KDX Butterfly wrote:

kdxmaniac wrote:its not just the fact that the kdx is to tall for her, or to heavy for her. she already has it lowered, and you have to remember, she is a chick......not a 200+lbs man. the kdx wears her down to quick{weight wise}she is wanting something smaller and lighter with about the same torqe range as the kdx. think about it this way..........if you have no problem handling the weight of your bike, add 30-50 lbs of weight to your bike and ride it. thats the comparison from a male to female. get it?
not saying AT ALL, that a female cant ride, im just saying that theres a big weight diff when you compare. kinda like putting a 125 lbs ufc fighter in with a 225 lbs guy.

KUDOs! Finally. Someone to express my opinion in the male state of mind.

I have bursitis in both of my elbows, carpal tunnel in both wrists, bursitis in both hips, a herniated L5, and degenerative disc disease in my neck. I still ride and will try (basically) whatever you tell me to ... (Prof Kirk). I will progress. No COMPLETE FEAR! Partial, yes; total, no!!!! OOOO, HELL EFFING NO!!!!)

Whaaaaa whaaaa whaaaaa!!! Want a little cheees to go with that whine?

Nah. What you have to offer in the line of cheese, isn't QUITE what I was looking for. I wanted something fresh and classy.

Kirsten, is your TTR the big wheel L model? If so, do the mods mentioned earlier, lighten the flywheel, get a real chain guide, add a frame cradle if you don't already have one, and spring for a Works Performance rear shock. If you haven't had the forks re-valved then do it along with the shock. That would make for a pretty sweet, and fairly light weight, trail bike that can still get up and move a bit.

SS109 wrote:Kirsten, is your TTR the big wheel L model? If so, do the mods mentioned earlier, lighten the flywheel, get a real chain guide, add a frame cradle if you don't already have one, and spring for a Works Performance rear shock. If you haven't had the forks re-valved then do it along with the shock. That would make for a pretty sweet, and fairly light weight, trail bike that can still get up and move a bit.

The only thing about the 150 that I don't like is the turning radius. (VERY BAD!!) Of course, that can be changed, and I will DEFINITELY look into the mods you suggest.

I am in love with my KDX. I honestly cannot see myself NOT riding her. Hell. I even gave her a pink tail!! (Pics later.)

KDX Butterfly wrote:The only thing about the 150 that I don't like is the turning radius. (VERY BAD!!) Of course, that can be changed, and I will DEFINITELY look into the mods you suggest.

If you are running YZ forks with the stock TTR rear suspension you tend to end up with a dirtbike "chopper", high in front, low in rear. You can do a couple of things to fix that and it will help the turning problem.

KDX Butterfly wrote: I even gave her a pink tail!! (Pics later.)

We had a TTR125 here I bought for my nephew when he first moved in. I am surprised to hear some many people bragging that bike up. I was less than impressed. It had good low end, but that was it. I did some of things mentioned here and only succeeded in making it louder, not faster. So we traded it for a CR80 big wheel and he was happy then and rode that all last year. He now has an RM125.

I still say go with a hybrid it is a fun project pretty simple with all the info on this site and you would learn alot about your bike the only hard part for me was the carb to airbox adaption other then that no harder then doing fork conversion. I did this conversion because of the same things she is talking about I am getting older and am only 5'7'. I wanted a bike with better suspension so it doesnt beat me up so much and lighter but with the same power delivery, Ther is not a lot of options unless you go to ktm the 150 two stroke is nice but I can not afford a new bike and good luck finding a cheap used ktm. I had an xr the kdx is way easier to ride and start. A good used kx can be picked up pretty cheap the ergo suspension turning radius is all better on kx. when your done you will have a bike that lighter easier to ride, plus the heart of the whole project is the kdx motor where it should be in a frame it deserves. sorry about the long post but after doing this upgrade I think it is the best upgrade possible, you can not ride fast or comfortably if yor suspension and ergos are stone age. and you can still keep your kdx. hate to see you have to change your handle to ttr butterfly doesnt sound quite the same.

island220 wrote:I still say go with a hybrid it is a fun project pretty simple with all the info on this site and you would learn alot about your bike the only hard part for me was the carb to airbox adaption other then that no harder then doing fork conversion. I did this conversion because of the same things she is talking about I am getting older and am only 5'7'. I wanted a bike with better suspension so it doesnt beat me up so much and lighter but with the same power delivery, Ther is not a lot of options unless you go to ktm the 150 two stroke is nice but I can not afford a new bike and good luck finding a cheap used ktm. I had an xr the kdx is way easier to ride and start. A good used kx can be picked up pretty cheap the ergo suspension turning radius is all better on kx. when your done you will have a bike that lighter easier to ride, plus the heart of the whole project is the kdx motor where it should be in a frame it deserves. sorry about the long post but after doing this upgrade I think it is the best upgrade possible, you can not ride fast or comfortably if yor suspension and ergos are stone age. and you can still keep your kdx. hate to see you have to change your handle to ttr butterfly doesnt sound quite the same.

+1
Best mod I have done. my friends say my bike feels as light as a bicycle. By the time I was done I was out of pocket 100.00. I did all work myself and found deals on parts and paid for those with parts sold from the KX and KDX. I did not replace some bearings and seals till later. I do not count wear parts into the equation as they needed to be replaced on the KDX chassis too.

Not everyone can do this but with a little fab skill its not too hard. The only other bike I have liked nearly as much is the KTM300. It has sooth power delivery but the well is much deeper.

By the time you have done all the mods to get any other bike to behave anything like the KDX you may as well dive in and build a hybrid.

Otherwise get a KX100 and add a flywheel weight and a kickstand and exercise throttle control

Since I currently own a lowered (1.5") 97 KDX (I'm 5'5") and my 13 year old son own a KX100 with a flywheel weight, I'll throw in my advice for what it's worth.

The KX100 with a flywheel weight is certainly a good option. I could ride my son's bike at my weight (165 lbs) and it pulls me fine. It's a little undersprung for me, but it's certainly powerful enough as long as you use the clutch often in the knarly stuff. The clutch on his bike is a one-finger pull deal, so it's super easy to use it often. Again, the key is to slip the clutch in the slow, nasty stuff and it will work fine.

A couple of negatives however. Since it runs a 19"-16" wheel size, your choice of rubber will be limited. Also, the smaller wheels will decrease your traction when it gets nasty; it's not a deal-breaker, but it's noticable. Secondly, the bike is pretty cramped feeling. Coming off a full size bike to the KX you really notice it. Bar extenders and tall seat foam would benefit a taller rider, but you may be able to get used to it.

IMO, there is not a new bike out there that fits the criteria your looking for: A lightweight, torquey, low seat height woods machine with decent suspension. The best bike that fits that description would be a 87-90 XR200R. It's lighter, smaller, and has perfect woods power. The weight is pretty close to a KDX, however the weight is carried lower on the XR (no water cooling) and it feels noticably lighter than the KDX. The 87-90 XR has an adjustable shock and has more suspension travel than the later models.

When I lived in Idaho, I rode and eventually sold a 90 KDX and bought an 87' XR200 to get something that would hook up better on Rockies single track. I slapped a set of conventional cartridge forks and disk brake off a CR and it was hands down the best bike I ever owned for mastering really nasty single track. If it hadn't gotten stolen, I'd still have it.

If I were you, I'd buy a clean 87'-90' XR200R and wouldn't look back. Dead stock, they're great woods bikes. If you want to upgrade the suspension, swap the front end with a disk brake and 43mm cartridge forks from an late 87-90 CR front end. Its a bolt-in mod with exception of adding a spacer. Heck, even the stock valving is fine. If you need 2 stroke bark in a super lightweight package, you can't go wrong with the KX100. Put a flywheel weight on it and call it a day. For my money however, when you go on survival mode the XR is the better bike.

KDXIdaho

kdxmaniac wrote:if your wanting something smaller, but still pull really good, look at a honda xr200. thats what my wife rides, and she likes it.

thats what i said.........seems like everyone is overlooking the good ol xr200 the xr sure beats the heak out of that minibike called......whats it called?..........oh yeah, a ttr-125

This is what you want:
http://www.servicehonda.com/2010-models/honda/junior-x

kdxmaniac wrote:

kdxmaniac wrote:if your wanting something smaller, but still pull really good, look at a honda xr200. thats what my wife rides, and she likes it.

thats what i said.........seems like everyone is overlooking the good ol xr200 the xr sure beats the heak out of that minibike called......whats it called?..........oh yeah, a ttr-125

I am far from a fan of honda's(great bikes just preference)the xr 200 really does fit what you are looking for and the maintenance on them is as close to gas and go as you'll get in a off road bike.

Guys, the one thing againsy hybrids and XR's is that she doesn't already have one. She actually already owns a TTR.