Project KX: "Old School"

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Slick_Nick
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Project KX: "Old School"

Post by Slick_Nick »

See here for the backstory in case you missed it:

http://www.thumpertalk.com/topic/966791-the-next-slick-nick-rebuild-project-pics-inside/

I'll jump right into the rebuild here. The bike is a used and abused 1993 KX 125. One of two I bought in a package deal. The other bike I will keep permanently, this bike I will rebuild, and then ride until the '98 is completed. Gives me something to take to the track while still having another project. Like all my builds, everything will be torn down, inspected, cleaned, replaced as needed, and upgraded. Because I don't plan on keeping the bike forever, this will not be a "works build" I'll save that for the '98. Instead, the objective is to have a "brand new" 1993 KX 125, that rips shiz, and that I can tear up the track with. For this reason, most things will get refreshed instead of upgraded. I won't be dumping thousands into the suspension or the engine, but when I'm done it should be a "better than stock" KX.

Well then, onto the rebuild!

I have to say, I was surprised what a good wash could do. This bike looks 10x better already after 60 minutes with a 3200psi gas washer!

Before:

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After:

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'00 KDX 220R
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Slick_Nick
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Project KX: "Old School"

Post by Slick_Nick »

I got onto a HUGE roll here. Jesus 125's are light! I could lift it onto the stand with ease! Probably close to 40lbs lighter than the KDX!

The plastics were taken off outside and I washed under them. We can see the left rad has seen better days:

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I kid you not, within 45 MINUTES I had the engine out and all the stuff outta the way! 2 strokes are easy to work on, but even compared to the KDX there is about half as much stuff in the way, and MUCH more room to work in!

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The engine looked great. The reeds were Boysen Carbon reeds, the tips are chipped so they will be replaced, but even under the stator cover looked brand new

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Pulled the head. Cylinder looks great, and will de-glaze with a scotchbrite. The plating is in excellent shape. I apolagize for the dark pic

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That's about all I had time for, but for once I might not need to do a bottom end! I will do a top end for sure, and inspect the clutch and kickstart mechanisim and stuff too. When I rode the bike, it shifted superbly, so if there is no play in the crank, I see no need to split the cases. Who knows, I may uncover things as I go along.

That's all I have time for tonight!
'00 KDX 220R
Thrahl
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Project KX: "Old School"

Post by Thrahl »

I never understood how people sell dirty things. Just a simple wash, or better yet a pressure wash, makes whatever you are selling so much better looking and in my opinion greatly increases its resale value (at least to the average person).
When I see dirty I immediately think old, worn, damaged, and not taken care of. Whether any of those things are true or not doesn't even matter, it's just the first thing that pops in to my head.

Anyways, after the wash it is looking a million times better. Good luck with the rebuild.
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Project KX: "Old School"

Post by rbates9 »

:pop:
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Project KX: "Old School"

Post by Slick_Nick »

Got most of the stuff pulled off the bike today. Brakes, cables, wires, hoses, everything. Now it's just a basic "frame with wheels on it." The goal is to have everything off tomorrow, the frame sandblasted and painted, and the swingarm rebuilt. I have a quick flight to do around lunchtime, but after that I should have some time.

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Sandblasted the engine. Got off all the grease and oil, as well as most of the crappy paint that was randomly sprayed on it seemed. The side covers will be repainted Kawasaki silver.

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Pulled the jug off. The piston could have probably been run for the rest of the year, but why chance it. The crank checked out great, so a bottom end will not be required!

I get to pay the stupid tax for not looking at the manual when pulling the jug off. I assumed the KIPS shaft threads were left handed like my KDX, and snapped the shaft. I will pull the clutch cover (which I wanted to do anyways) and install a new one. While I'm in there I'll be sure to clean the transmission sump and clutch well.

Here is the crank, and you can see the broken shaft on the left:

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Quick wipe and the head came pretty clean. No need to sandblast.

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Post by Slick_Nick »

Got the frame stripped down and laid all parts out to be organized.

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I find the best way to do a rebuild is to break everything down like I have done, and treat everything as a "sub assembly" and work on one sub assembly at a time. For example, today I will work on getting the frame and subframe sand blasted and painted, that way I have a nice, clean "backbone" to build off of. Then, I will move onto each sub assembly (swingarm/linkage, front wheel, rear wheel, triple clamps, forks...) etc until the bike starts coming back together. I have a lot of parts cleaning to do (the rest of the bike is in that green tub) and I'll be stripping the anodized blue finish off the front forks.

Keeping all your nuts and bolts organized as you remove them makes re-assembly a LOT easier. Working with sub assemblies helps keep track of all parts, and keeps the project moving along very well provided you complete one before moving onto the next. I've got a flight that I've got to do really quick, but I should have the frame sandblasted and painted today when I get home. Stay tuned!
'00 KDX 220R
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marrk_us
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Project KX: "Old School"

Post by marrk_us »

Jesus 125's are light! I could lift it onto the stand with ease! Probably close to 40lbs lighter than the KDX!

I used a early 90's 125 for my first hybrid build and loved it, it was a ton lighter and handled much better then my kdx220 with USD's.

:pop: :pop:
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Project KX: "Old School"

Post by KDXGarage »

Why are you stripping the anodizing off the lovely forks??
Thank you for participating on kdxrider.net. :bravo:
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Post by Slick_Nick »

Got lots done after my flight today. Sandblasted the frame and painted it Kawasaki Green:

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A couple parts didn't turn out as well as I wanted, but then I remembered that this is not a showroom piece like the '98 will be, and I should stop being so picky. All in all, it came out fairly well I guess. Some closeups:

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Next up was to strip the anodizing from the forks. The blue is cool, but this isn't '93 anymore and without the blue seat cover either, they may look a little out of place. Before:

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After stripping the anodizing and giving them a quick hand buff with aluminum polish:

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The swingarm looked a little worse for wear, so using the "dry spray" technique I used back on my KDX build, I cleaned and sprayed the swingarm factory match silver:

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The swingarm bearings and linkage bearings were all pretty much brand new. They all got a thurough cleaning and fresh grease:

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Reinstalled the rebuilt swingarm so the frame would sit level on the stand. It's starting to look like a bike again!

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Project KX: "Old School"

Post by Cha Ching »

LOVE the green!!

:pop: :supz:
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Project KX: "Old School"

Post by Slick_Nick »

Kawasaki went full retard on the 92-93 KX suspension linkage... The '98 and even my KDX has the L bone mount directly to the frame itself. The '92-'93 had those stupid extra brackets that prove to be a royal pain in the asshole when trying to install the linkage!

Anyways, the freshly greased linkage was reinstalled and torqued to spec:

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Tore apart the rear shock. The old shock fluid looked like mud:

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All parts cleaned, and ready for reassembly:

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The spring is getting painted Kawasaki green
'00 KDX 220R
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Project KX: "Old School"

Post by Slick_Nick »

This is what $400 in parts from RMATV looks like:

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Sorry for the shatty pic. Filled the shock with fresh Motorex 5W:

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Bladder back in, snap ring installed and seated:

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Installed the shock shaft, retaining rings, spring, and bled all the air from the shock. Just need to get it charged tomorrow:

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Got the steering head soda blasted. With baking soda in an actual professional sand blaster, look out! That shiz will take off most anything!

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Soda blasted forks. After on the left, before on the right:

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Got the triple clamps greased up and installed. They move with no resistance and are REAAAAALL smooth!

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'00 KDX 220R
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Post by Slick_Nick »

Sorry guys, didn't get much done tonight. It was all spent on the forks. I apolagize for the lack of pictures, you know how it is when you just get "on a roll!"

Broke each fork down. Removed the cartridge, base valve, mid valve, everything. I did not modify the shim stacks, as this is not my "permanent" bike. Needless to say, the old oil looked about as good as what come out of the shock. The left fork, the midvalve C clip was broken, one half was missing. This let the entire midvalve and spring guide float up and down on the piston rod. NOT GOOD!

Here is what the 43mm Kayaba's look like broken down, with new oil seals shown:

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So, that broken half C clip I mentioned. It looked familiar. REAL familiar. Where had I seen that before? A little inginuity, and yup, a 2 stroke piston Circlip was the IDENTICAL type of wire!

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A trim, and a little heat, got it bent into shape to perfectly match the stock one. Probably saved myself $4 and a week's wait from Kawasaki

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The reassembly went without a hitch, here is the completed piston rod and spring guide with the (now non-floating) midvalve securely in place.

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The fork was filled with fresh Motorex 5W oil. Stock is 118mm, I went with 102mm for extra bottoming resistance. All the air bled, and the final oil level set:

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Forks all done, back on the bike.

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The lower clamps were tightened, the fork caps torqued, then the clamp bolts were loosened so the forks could be rotated to face "straight ahead". The clamp bolts were then torqued to spec, and finally the steering stem nut:

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All done for tonight:

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'00 KDX 220R
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Post by KDXGarage »

That is pretty creative to use the piston circlip. Those things are actually called split ring keepers. Two per side. By the way, there is no midvalve on the 1993 forks. 1995 was the first year for those. It's just rebound.
Thank you for participating on kdxrider.net. :bravo:
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Post by Slick_Nick »

Got the shock charged with Nitrogen to 160psi. Mounted it to the bike and torqued the bolts:

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Got to work on the rear wheel. Popped the wheel bearings, but the aluminum was still ugly and stained. Before:

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After soda blast:

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New bearings in:

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Rear tire back on the bike:

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The front wheel had no play, I was optimistic about the bearings. Turns out, they were brand new:

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Still rolled smooth, no need to change them. The wheel was cleaned up, and I put a new (takeoff) tire on the front. MT16, with 2 rides on it.

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Subframe dry fit so the wifey "sees progress" and a spare set of Azonic bars were fitted

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Coming along nicely so far!
'00 KDX 220R
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Post by dfeckel »

It's looking really good so far, and you're making super fast progress. At this rate, we'll be seeing the finished product by the end of the weekend!
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Got some stuff cleaned and mounted up to the frame. The previous owner stripped out the mounting hole for the rear brake lever, so he drilled it through and used a long bolt and a nut on the backside. Total bush league. So, I drilled it out and tapped it for an M10x1.25 bolt:

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There, doesn't that look better?

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Soda blasted the rear brake assembly, and got everything mounted up. Just need to make a pin for the lever.

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Started work on the controls last night. The clutch perch was stripped out, so it too got a drill and tap for some M5 bolts:

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I like the golf club grip tape method for my grips, but I don't have that much grip tape left right now. People buy "grip glue" for $6 for a tiny little tube. Ever wonder what that stuff is? Here you go, and a giant tube is only $3!

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While they're probably the exact same thing, I find that the Permatex stuff holds much better than the Renthal brand.
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Got the front brake mounted back up with new pads:

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The footpegs were worn WAY out. The springs were broken too, they will be replaced. Here you can see how the pegs would "sag" because they were worn:

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Built up the "heel" of the peg with the welder, and ground it back down flat:

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Much better!

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Put the new style KX fender on. The frame color is not a perfect match. I'm not concerned about this, I had the paint mixed for a case of beer. For this bike, it's fine.

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Rebuilt and installed the throttle assembly with a new Motion Pro cable

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New MSR levers and Renthal dual layer grips:

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'00 KDX 220R
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Got a whopping ONE thing done on the bike today! I just had no time. Leaving for a week on Wednesday, so had to get the house tidied up and the lawn cut.

I lookd for a pin to hold the back brake lever to the master cylinder. The PO used a bolt that was bush league. I decided to use a bolt too, but I installed a bushing in the middle so that the bolt could "float" and there would be no friction when pressing the pedal. Here are the parts:

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Mounting holes enlarged so they just clear the bushing:

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Bolted up. The bolt and nut both have "flanges" built in, so no washers are required. It is a snug fit, but the bushing floats nicely without too much "slack."

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'00 KDX 220R
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Re: Project KX: "Old School"

Post by Koko »

What a great build. This would take me months to do what you've done in this amount of time.

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