KDXRIDER.NET

So this weekend we have this town wide garage sale going on. The usual junk is everywhere, I don't bother with them too much. I happened to swing by an old customer of mine house and saw this old red Kawasaki sitting in the front lawn. I stopped to BS for a minute and asked how much he wanted, he said I can have it for whatever I had in my pocket. I pulled out $48 and he accepted it for the bike!!

Its a 1984 KDX 80 oem red. It definitely needs a little work, but after throwing a fuel line on, I got it to run (however now the carb is dumping fuel out of the breather.. need to give it a clean)

I have a print out of the old service manual too, I noticed it reccomends 20:1 fuel ratio (I run 32:1 in my KDX200). It shouldnt matter that I run 32:1 in the KDX, right?

Ill get some pictures in a little bit!

I believe the term "ride it like you stole it" applies here

I stole it alright!! Hah! The guy was in over his head with toys, projects, he was happy to see me take it. I bet his wife was telling him if they dont sell there going in the trash! LOL at least he knows I will take some time to rebuild it.

So I took the carb apart and theres nasty grey gunk everywhere! Gonna run out to get some carb cleaner in a bit.

QUESTIONS ALREADY. I have a missing bolt in on the clutch cover it looks like. Anyone know if its anything specific? (See pic #1)

Pictures! (I have all the plastics, seat, gas tank behind the bike, everything seems to be there except for a few bolts)

The missing bolt is the clutch activation arm retaining bolt..without this you will be able to pull the arm right out of the caseing..should be a 6 or 8mm threaded bolt in there..if the thread has stripped then just drill it out & tap to accept the next size bolt bike looks like a nice little project, reminds me of a 1980s kx 80 ?? 25.1 is about right you could go down to 32.1 if used as a play bike.

Okay cool. So any bolt that size will work, no special kind of bolt?

Another problem. I took the carb apart and I will admit, I am fairly a novice, but I have done basic carb cleanings before. So, I took it apart, sprayed it out and I went to put it back on when that top aluminum nut that connects the throttle cable to the clutch seems to be stripped out as I cant screw it back on for the life of me. (Mixing chamber cap?)

The spring is so tight under that cap that it holds the throttle valve at a 90 degree angle. Not sure if that means anything but it seems excessively tight.

Also it seemed

Im going to order a new chain, front sprocket and front brake line.

ENGINE OIL??? I believe I ran 10w-40 4stroke motorcycle oil in my 94 KDX200, is that fine to use on the 80? I know everyone and their mother has there opinion on what kind of oil to use, 10w-40 motorcycle oil will do its job, correct?

Thanks!

Also, I heard red is rare?

If you are talking about the carb cap I think you would have a hard time stripping that out, the threads are massive.
You would have had to really go hulk on it to seriously damage the threads.

Those springs are supposed to be tight like that. That helps to make it really fun to change needle position

10-40 will work fine as long as it is designed for a wet clutch. ATF Type-F also works fine.

The threads are very small and fine aluminum..

Im going to take another look tomorrow morning

It's been a while since I took my carb cap off so maybe I am overestimating the thread size.
Or maybe that little 80 just has a tiny carb on it.

Either way a thread file should straighten you out in no time.

Well my problem is lying in the needle.

I got the cap with the throttle cable through it. I have the spring, a metal washer looking thing, the slide, the needle and a tiny clip. From what I was told, I drop the needle into the slide it should hold itself then you place the clip around it and seat it in. Well, my needle falls right through the slide.

Ill get a picture, maybe someone could help me out.

Clip goes on needle first, then drop it into the slide.

Spring base plate (the metal washer looking thing) holds it down, clip holds it up.

Okay cool that makes much more sense. Er.. Okay so when I disassembled this thing, the must of worked its way lose because it fell right through the slide when I disassembled it.

Any clue which notch I should put the clip in on the needle? If it helps I am at 1100' above sea level

Thank you!