piston 01 kdx 200

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deepwoods
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piston 01 kdx 200

Post by deepwoods »

hello there, i have bought a 2001 kdx 200, looks good, runs very good, it still has the stock koyo front and rear brake pads, stock 47 rear steel sprocket looks almost new, oem o ring chain, ,so it shouldn't have very much milage on it, how often should i change the piston, in hours and miles, and is the stock piston maybe the best to put in?i have good resistance on the kicker so it feels good but wanted to hear from guys who knows more about the ldx 200 than me. thanks
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Re: piston 01 kdx 200

Post by KDXGarage »

Welcome to the forums.

The KDX200 did not come with an o-ring chain.

Without knowing how many running hours the piston has been run and under what circumstances, it would be hard for someone to guess about the current piston.

You can look in the OEM service manual for a maintenance schedule or people will say they change t often up to I never have changed it, and it has not blown up yet so I keep riding it.

How aggressive it is ridden has abit to do with the engine parts life.
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piston 01 kdx 200

Post by ohgood »

deepwoods wrote:hello there, i have bought a 2001 kdx 200, looks good, runs very good, it still has the stock koyo front and rear brake pads, stock 47 rear steel sprocket looks almost new, oem o ring chain, ,so it shouldn't have very much milage on it, how often should i change the piston, in hours and miles, and is the stock piston maybe the best to put in?i have good resistance on the kicker so it feels good but wanted to hear from guys who knows more about the ldx 200 than me. thanks
i would pull the pipe off and look at the piston and cylinder. more than likely you will never need to change the piston, and only service (clean) the power valves every couple of years. this depends on how well your bike is jetted, and the premix oil that is used.

clean and oil your air filter every ride. it's the life of the bike.
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piston 01 kdx 200

Post by deepwoods »

thanks for the reply, i do not have the service manual yet, but looking tru eBay to find one, i have seen that i should be inspected every 1000km,but do any off you that are years into this game know what kawasaki has written about replacing it, and at what miles, hours? a copy of the page in the service manual where this is addressed maybe? thanks again.glad to be here
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Re: piston 01 kdx 200

Post by KDXGarage »

Are you racing, riding in sand dunes, hill climbking or papa following grandkids or somewhere in between?

If you rev the snot out of it, it will have to be changed more often. If you just putt around, it will last a lot longer.
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piston 01 kdx 200

Post by thirdgenlxi »

As mentioned above, not really any set limit as there are a lot of factors. I too would recommend pulling off the exhaust and having look inside. If nothing is scored or scuffed up, and it's running good, good compression and no piston slap, hell I'd leave it alone

As for my personal experience..... I bought my 2000 200 back in March 2015 with unknown hours or history. But it was very clean and looked to be a fairly low hour bike, and ran mint.... so I just left it alone and rode it. I've since logged right around 10,500 miles and almost 600 hours. I ride it dirt, dual sport, and supermoto.... even done a track weekend on it. And I haven't done a damn thing to the motor (other than a carb float needle). It still has 160 psi compression, starts on the first kick hot or cold, and still runs flawlessly (although my exhaust port is getting worn out.... grooves from the o-rings, so it leaks a little). I've looked in the exhaust at the piston and cylinder and they still look great from what I can see. The guy I bought it from rode it for 2 years before me and he didn't do anything to it either, and he doesn't know if the guy before him did anything either. KDX is a seriously reliable bike!! If it has been taken care of (good oil, clean and oiled air filter) and hasn't been beat on.... or sat there and revved to the moon right after starting it cold like I see so many people do with 2 strokes (hooorrriiible for the top end!), a KDX will run just about forever, lol
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piston 01 kdx 200

Post by Jim B »

thirdgenlxi wrote:As for my personal experience..... I bought my 2000 200 back in March 2015 with unknown hours or history. But it was very clean and looked to be a fairly low hour bike, and ran mint.... so I just left it alone and rode it. I've since logged right around 10,500 miles and almost 600 hours. I ride it dirt, dual sport, and supermoto.... even done a track weekend on it. And I haven't done a damn thing to the motor (other than a carb float needle). It still has 160 psi compression, starts on the first kick hot or cold, and still runs flawlessly (although my exhaust port is getting worn out.... grooves from the o-rings, so it leaks a little). I've looked in the exhaust at the piston and cylinder and they still look great from what I can see. The guy I bought it from rode it for 2 years before me and he didn't do anything to it either, and he doesn't know if the guy before him did anything either.
What two stroke oil do you use?
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piston 01 kdx 200

Post by Jim B »

deepwoods wrote:...is the stock piston maybe the best to put in?
I've been very happy (knock on wood) with the Wiseco pistons I've used in my KX250, CR250 and KDX220.
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piston 01 kdx 200

Post by deepwoods »

thanks for the reply guys, to answer, i ride single track, flat almost no hills, and do some accocasional wheelies in my fields, maybe ride total 1- 2 hours a week from may to november, 32:1, always clean air filter. no cold starts, always start up in warm work shop.
I have heard something about reverse tread kips nut an :grin: d stuff, just want to learn all i can about this machine, i really think its a damn good woods machine. a lot easier to ride than my cr 500s, it theres any heads up i should know about ,i appreciate you guys letting me know. thanks
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piston 01 kdx 200

Post by deepwoods »

also , when ordering a new kawasaki oem piston, do i have to find a letter b,c or something on the engine/cyl and order piston based on that? and does the electro fusion cylinder on the H KDX 200 FLAKE? or doesn't that happen? thanks
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Re: piston 01 kdx 200

Post by Tyl3r »

I'd just got with a Wiseco to be honest.

The electrofusion does wear over time, your going to need to inspect yours once you have the cylinder off. If its worn, your going to want to send it out to a Nika-seal plating shop (Millenium, Powerseal, etc) and have them replate and hone. Send them your new piston at the same time and they will size the cylinder to match it.
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Re: piston 01 kdx 200

Post by KDXGarage »

You sound like you could go with a yearly disassembly and check. One year, replace piston and rings, next year, just rings. Repeat.

You can check on cylinder when you have it apart.

I would just get a Wiseco. Look at oemcycle.com for cheap Wiseco kits. I have got a couple there for my bikes.
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piston 01 kdx 200

Post by thirdgenlxi »

Jim B wrote: What two stroke oil do you use?
Right now and for a little while now I've been running Motul 710. Prior to that (and still occasionally) I run the Spectro Platinum SX-2. When I first got the bike I ran the old Mobil 1 MX-2, but all I could get my hands on was 5 pints and then couldn't find anymore. The Spectro and Motul have treated me very well..... Only main reason I switched to the Motul was because I coukd get it in the bigger gallon jugs. With as much as I ride I go through a ton of oil, and a pint at a time at $13 each was getting pretty expensive, lol. Motul I feel is still a good oil, and a little more cost effecient for the amount I go through

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piston 01 kdx 200

Post by Jim B »

thirdgenlxi wrote:Right now and for a little while now I've been running Motul 710. Prior to that (and still occasionally) I run the Spectro Platinum SX-2. When I first got the bike I ran the old Mobil 1 MX-2, but all I could get my hands on was 5 pints and then couldn't find anymore. The Spectro and Motul have treated me very well..... Only main reason I switched to the Motul was because I coukd get it in the bigger gallon jugs. With as much as I ride I go through a ton of oil, and a pint at a time at $13 each was getting pretty expensive, lol. Motul I feel is still a good oil, and a little more cost effecient for the amount I go through
Thanks for the info! I've used 710 and it worked great - really clean-burning. The Motul 800 is great, too. Lately, I've been using Motorex and I'm very happy with it. 710, 800, Motorex and Maxima K2 are all fantastic oils as far as I'm concerned.
Last edited by Jim B on 01:12 pm Feb 10 2017, edited 1 time in total.
deepwoods
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piston 01 kdx 200

Post by deepwoods »

theres no letter on the cyl i should follow?, when ordering the oem piston? the oem piston is only one size right? i wont run wiseco,pro x. bad experience with both. is there possible to PM people on this site?
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piston 01 kdx 200

Post by pumpguy »

deepwoods wrote:theres no letter on the cyl i should follow?, when ordering the oem piston? the oem piston is only one size right? i wont run wiseco,pro x. bad experience with both. is there possible to PM people on this site?
Yes, but you need to be a supporting member to send PMs. Make a donation. I consider it the same as a magazine subscription. This site does not have advertising, so donations are needed to keep it going.

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