1989 KDX 200 Basket Case Project

[Thrahl]

Well like I said before, since the engine is going to be completely torn down for a while, I might as well do a total overhaul in the meantime.
Today I took everything off. Brought it down to just frame and forks. (don't have a large enough socket to remove the triple tree yet)
Slick Nick has inspired me to try and be more organized and efficient. Unfortunately I don't have a whole lot of space, basically just my back porch lol.


Everything is taken off, inspected, bagged, and labeled, then I am just putting it in semi-organized boxes. I will be cleaning all of them also, eventually.

I have decided that I am going to paint the frame. I think I am going to go with black as it will match the seat cover, and I think black frames just look cool.




It is pretty nasty right now. Lots of caked on dirt/oil. I don't have a pressure washer otherwise this would be super easy.
I'm just going to go to work with some engine degreaser, soap and water, and a toothbrush.

I inspected the swingarm bearings and one of them is completely seized and the other is broken. So they will be to be replaced.
Quick question though, are they just pressed in? I have looked for a c-clip or something and don't see anything but they are not budging at all.
I can't find anything in the manual about it and I don't want to go hulk on it and break something.

I will also be buying a cheapo media blaster from Harbor Freight Monday so I will be walnut shell and soda blasting a ton of stuff too.
I want to make this thing look really good. I have all the time in the world but a very, very limited budget so that will be easier said than done.

[turtle]

You could blast the crud off the frame, at least, at a self serve car wash.

[Slick_Nick]

Glad I inspired someone with my builds! Haha

Take it to a car wash with some simple green and a good scrub brush. If you're painting it, sandblast the frame. Most places will do a complete frame for about $40.

The bearings are just pressed in. Use a socket, heat the Swingarm with a torch and press the old ones out, clean it up, then press the new ones in.

[Frysk]

Well like I said before, since the engine is going to be completely torn down for a while, I might as well do a total overhaul in the meantime.
Today I took everything off. Brought it down to just frame and forks. (don't have a large enough socket to remove the triple tree yet)
Slick Nick has inspired me to try and be more organized and efficient. Unfortunately I don't have a whole lot of space, basically just my back porch lol.


Everything is taken off, inspected, bagged, and labeled, then I am just putting it in semi-organized boxes. I will be cleaning all of them also, eventually.

I have decided that I am going to paint the frame. I think I am going to go with black as it will match the seat cover, and I think black frames just look cool.




It is pretty nasty right now. Lots of caked on dirt/oil. I don't have a pressure washer otherwise this would be super easy.
I'm just going to go to work with some engine degreaser, soap and water, and a toothbrush.

I inspected the swingarm bearings and one of them is completely seized and the other is broken. So they will be to be replaced.
Quick question though, are they just pressed in? I have looked for a c-clip or something and don't see anything but they are not budging at all.
I can't find anything in the manual about it and I don't want to go hulk on it and break something.

I will also be buying a cheapo media blaster from Harbor Freight Monday so I will be walnut shell and soda blasting a ton of stuff too.
I want to make this thing look really good. I have all the time in the world but a very, very limited budget so that will be easier said than done.

For the look of a black frame, I did mine a couple of weeks ago

[Thrahl]

Glad I inspired someone with my builds! Haha

Take it to a car wash with some simple green and a good scrub brush. If you're painting it, sandblast the frame. Most places will do a complete frame for about $40.

The bearings are just pressed in. Use a socket, heat the Swingarm with a torch and press the old ones out, clean it up, then press the new ones in.

The car wash is a good idea. I was already most of the way through washing it when I came back to check the thread though.
I scrubbed every nook and cranny and got it pretty much spotless, then I roughed the whole thing up with some 220 grit.
I may still take it to a car wash and give it a final blast before I wipe it down with wax and grease remover and then a tack cloth.

The paint I am using is VHT rollbar and chassis paint


I have read good things about using this paint on dirt bike frames.
People say as long as you prep good, follow the directions very closely, and most importantly let it sit for about a week after painting, it will last a very long time.

For the look of a black frame, I did mine a couple of weeks ago

I like it. A black frame just kind of blends in. It doesn't pop like the blistering greens, yellows, blues, orange, etc. you see on just about every dirt bike.
I have enough green on this bike as is.

I will probably paint the pipe as well, but I want to do Canadian Dave's mod to it first, and I'm not going to do that until the bike is back together and I have ridden it for a little while.

Also, I forgot to mention, I picked up a front master cylinder for it. It was pulled off an R1 that someone was parting out on Craigslist.
The lever is absolutely massive which gives me a ton of leverage. Got it all bled and gripping super hard in about 10 minutes.
Unfortunately I forgot to get the reservoir since it is a separate piece. I may rig something up or I may just cap it and fill/bleed it occasionally.

[Thrahl]

Alright it has been a little while since my last update. I have been pretty busy with other stuff and have just done lots of little stuff to the bike.
Sunday my dad and I finally decided it was time to clean up the back porch and garage so we hauled two truckloads of crap out and now I can actually work in my garage which is really nice.

Biggest thing that got done was painting. Went with that rollbar paint and it seemed to turn out pretty good. We will see how it holds up over time though.
Being prepped:

3 coats later:

Ignore that large green spot at the front. It is a reflection of something in my garage, not a missed spot.

By the way I didn't paint it there I hung it up. Still needs some touch up to areas I missed or went light on. The bad thing about this paint is that after one hour from the first coat, you can't repaint again until it is fully cured in about 7 days.

I also mentioned that I was going to buy a media blaster and did Monday. Right now the only stuff I have to blast with is baking soda and sand. I don't have a proper respirator though so I don't really want to mess with sand.
Before soda blasting:

After:

Before:

After:


I also did some other stuff like the forks but I'm not going to take pictures of everything.

While I was at Harbor Freight getting that blaster I also decided to buy a super cheap pneumatic impact wrench. $20 for the wrench and $10 for sockets.
It is really cheapo and can't do anywhere near its claimed 250 ft lbs (wouldn't even break the lugs on my car) but it can still do probably about 90-100 ft lbs which is fine for me.
What took my dad and I a strap wrench, breaker bar, and a lot of cursing to get the flywheel and clutch nut off last time took me about 3 seconds with this gun. Very handy to have.

I'm now working on the swingarm and rear shock. The paint on the swingarm is coming off and looks bad so I am going to just strip it all off and maybe polish it a little.

After a little work with a wire wheel.

I was doing this without paint stripper because I didn't want to buy it but I think it is going to be much easier and faster if I just spray it on, let it sit, then do the wire wheel or steel wool.

Shipped my cylinder off to Langcourt a couple days ago and just got a call yesterday saying they received it and that it was only going to need a replate, no welding. Also, their piston prices are cheaper than even eBay so I am buying one from them as well. $175 for the replate and $88 for the piston isn't too bad.

[Slick_Nick]

Looking great!

[KDXGarage]

That triple clamp turned out great. Keep up the good work!

[Thrahl]

Did a little more work yesterday and today. Chipping at things little by little. No real rush since my cylinder won't be here until sometime next week hopefully. Then I still will have to wait for my paycheck to come in before I can get the remaining parts.
Anyways, I went and bought some paint stripper for the swingarm. Much easier than attempting to do everything by hand.
Here is the final product.

I didn't attempt to get every single nook and cranny. You won't be able to see them when its all together and it's going to get messed up first ride anyways so who cares.

Drained the oil from the forks and replaced it with ATF. I don't think it had fork oil in it. Definitely didn't smell like fork oil. It was solid black though so it was time to be changed anyways.
I have a feeling the rear shock is probably the same way or worse but I honestly don't feel like messing with that. Seems like a ton more work than the forks and it seemed fine to me when everything was together.

Did some sodablasting also. Blasted the rims/hubs. Didn't take pics though and it's dark now.
Figured I would start on the brakes today as well.
Here is the rear once I finally got it all apart.

The shafts it is supposed to slide on were totally rusted and nasty so it was seized.

Cleaned, blasted, cleaned again, and greased and here is the finished product.

Much nicer than before and everything is sliding smoothly.

The front is in almost as bad shape. I will be doing it tomorrow hopefully.
Pads front and back still have a lot of meat on them so they are staying. They were working great too when I took them apart so I'm not taking out the piston or anything.

That's about it for today. Spent most of the day working on my buddy's 1977 KZ400 which is having carb issues. Turns out he needs a new throttle slide due to a torn diaphragm. Not cheap.

Anyways, once I get the frame paint touched up I can start reassembly and this thing will start looking like a dirt bike again.

EDIT: Also, I want to start blasting the steel parts pretty soon, bars, shift and brake levers, etc. The soda does almost nothing to them and the rust. What media should I use instead? Cheaper is always better.

[KDXrider1989]

lookin' good!

[SS109]

Anyways, I went and bought some paint stripper for the swingarm. Much easier than attempting to do everything by hand.
Here is the final product.

I didn't attempt to get every single nook and cranny. You won't be able to see them when its all together and it's going to get messed up first ride anyways so who cares.

So, you are leaving it raw aluminum?

[Thrahl]

So, you are leaving it raw aluminum?

Yes, atleast for now. From what I have read, raw aluminum will scratch and stain easily. If it looks like it isn't holding up well after riding a bit, I will figure out what I want to do with it then.

[Frysk]

So, you are leaving it raw aluminum?

Yes, atleast for now. From what I have read, raw aluminum will scratch and stain easily. If it looks like it isn't holding up well after riding a bit, I will figure out what I want to do with it then.

I know that Honda and Suzuki both have bare aluminium swingarms.. so I don't see the problem?

corrosion on aluminium is mostly on cast aluminium.

[KDXrider1989]

I know that Honda and Suzuki both have bare aluminium swingarms.. so I don't see the problem?

corrosion on aluminium is mostly on cast aluminium.

Agreed, you should be fine. I've seen several builds on here where the swingarm was polished aluminum, no paint

[Frysk]

I know that Honda and Suzuki both have bare aluminium swingarms.. so I don't see the problem?

corrosion on aluminium is mostly on cast aluminium.

Agreed, you should be fine. I've seen several builds on here where the swingarm was polished aluminum, no paint

Indeed, as a mather of fact I'm planning to do this also on my KDX.. but I don't have time

[SS109]

...so I don't see the problem?

Who said or implied there was a problem with doing so? I was asking as I like the looks better than the paint and I'm getting ready to refinish my swing arm this week.

[Frysk]

...so I don't see the problem?

Who said or implied there was a problem with doing so? I was asking as I like the looks better than the paint and I'm getting ready to refinish my swing arm this week.

Didn't mean in that way, my bad :)

something with a bit of language and culture barier

[SS109]

Didn't mean in that way, my bad :)

something with a bit of language and culture barier

I hear ya. Definitely a communication issue. All is good!

[Thrahl]

There has been a tropical storm rolling through Florida for the past few days so the humidity has been basically 80-90% all day every day. So no painting for me until that drops significantly.

I went to my local bearing house because I figured I would be able to pick up my wheel and swingarm bearings as well as maybe my chain and the KIPS valve bushing in bronze.
Unfortunately they could help me with none of it except the wheel bearings which they wanted $10 a pop for. No thanks.
So I ordered up my front bearings for $8 a set, my swingarm bearings for $12 a set, and a chain for $20. They should get here shortly.

I saw this rear fender a while back and figured I may buy it when I get my air filter but wanted to see what you all thought.
http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/2/ ... ender.aspx
It is for a very different bike, '06-'08 KX450F, but it costs $4 so I figure even if I have to do some very serious modding it will still be worth it.
Will the fit be even relatively close? They also sell it for the '04-'08 KX250F.

[pumpguy]

A chain for $20? Can you post details?