KDX Restoration X 2

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VTMTcowboy
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Re: KDX Restoration X 2

Post by VTMTcowboy »

Awesome builds! Can't wait to them come fully back together. Keep up the good work.
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KDX Restoration X 2

Post by ericr »

DONE !

With one at least. Sorry Moms, we're going riding tomorrow! For full-size image, right click, Open Image in New Tab, and then click again on the image.

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Just a couple thoughts on the final assembly;

I added a Moose aluminum pipe guard. To form it to the pipe, you just need to take your time and use a vise, rubber mallet, big crescent wrench, and I used a 12" 3/8 socket extension to fit in those round holes. I started with the big end and worked on the long length before the "fingers." Put it in a padded vise and put the extension in one of the holes. Bend until it fits - move on to the next one. When the whole things fits, then start on the fingers. Use the mallet or crescent to get the fingers close to the pipe.

Brake bleeding - I found that bikes are pretty difficult to bleed when the whole system is dry. I bought a couple large syringes with the idea that I would reverse bleed. That is, pump fluid in from the bleeder, pushing air up to the reservoir. It didn't work - all is did was bleed out a huge puddle from the bleeder threads. So, we reverted to the method in the manual. Pump, hold, crack the bleeder, repeat. After about an hour, the fluid level had gone down about halfway in the reservoir. That wasn't working. I thought I should drive to Harbor Freight to buy a vacuum bleeder and then thought, wait a minute, I can pull a vacuum with the syringe! I filled the reservoir, pulled the plunger outward on the syringe, and told my Son to crack the bleeder. 3 times and it was done. I think the syringe was about $2.

Preload - When I went to LT Racing to pick up my forks, Les, the owner, nitrogen charged my shocks and set the pre-load on the springs. I don't know how he did it, but when I checked the race sag, it was at exactly 100mm. I just locked the rings down and it was done. Static sag was at 40mm which tells me that I could have gone a little lighter on the spring compared to Race Tech's configuration app. Les does great work BTW and ships anywhere - highly recommended along with RB Designs.

Plastic - Sorry Jason, I didn't use the OEM rear fender. Even stored in a box for 16 years, the plastic color-shifted and looked like the tank. It looks like split-pea soup. Maybe someday, I'll splurge on a natural Clarke tank. I did the Maier MX style fender with the DRC Phantom tail light. Tank shroud graphics are FX Evo 13. A bit spendy, but I really like it. I was a bit concerned about the blue accents, but I'm happy with it now. What do you think?

The 200 will be done next week. Getting the 220 done has re-invigorated teenage enthusiasm. I'll post some more updates as we progress. Thanks for following along with us!
Last edited by ericr on 01:35 am Feb 05 2019, edited 7 times in total.
'02 KDX 200, '02 KDX 220 - My restoration thread
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Re: KDX Restoration X 2

Post by KDXGarage »

Congratulations on how it turned out. It looks great! Go get it dirty! :supz:
Thank you for participating on kdxrider.net. :bravo:
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Re: KDX Restoration X 2

Post by antonyp »

It's just stunning ! Looking forward to seeing the other one too [emoji4]

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Re: KDX Restoration X 2

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Jason wrote:Congratulations on how it turned out. It looks great! Go get it dirty! :supz:
Thanks! I'm very happy with how it turned out. It's Old-School, but updated. I think it's competitive with current bikes, and for a lot less money than a new bike. These bikes are so reliable, that with this rebuild, and with my son's knowledge now of how to maintain it, I think this bike could go for another 20 years. It will possibly outlive me.
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Re: KDX Restoration X 2

Post by Skoalman »

That looks fantastic. Great build! Thanks for sharing!
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Re: KDX Restoration X 2

Post by VTMTcowboy »

Absolutely beautiful! Having a brand new and updated KDX is like a dream. Thanks for taking the time to document the process as well! Now the fun part, riding.
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KDX Restoration X 2

Post by pumpguy »

Thanks for the post, especially on how you fitted the pipe guard.

I notice you have frame guards. I have a set too, but they don't seem to fit very good. Did you have any trouble with installing yours? If yes, how did you deal with fit problems?
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KDX Restoration X 2

Post by lucy »

Use a heat gun/ hair dryer to mold them to fit
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KDX Restoration X 2

Post by ericr »

pumpguy wrote:Thanks for the post, especially on how you fitted the pipe guard.

I notice you have frame guards. I have a set too, but they don't seem to fit very good. Did you have any trouble with installing yours? If yes, how did you deal with fit problems?
Mine went on OK. I'll second the idea of using a heat gun if you need to reshape it. The only problem I had with fit is that my KX125 kick lever will hang up on the plastic at the bottom of the stroke. I'll need to sand a little plastic off to fix that.
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KDX Restoration X 2

Post by pumpguy »

lucy wrote:Use a heat gun/ hair dryer to mold them to fit

Thanks! I'll give that a try.
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Re: KDX Restoration X 2

Post by John_S »

That bike looks amazing! Congratulations on all the hard work coming together. I really like the blue accents. Have you fired it up yet?

A word of caution...I have those same black (UFO I believe) RM fork guards and I've never seen such a delicate finish on a dirtbike part. I sprayed non chlorinated brake cleaner on my rotor and got some on the fork guard. A quick swipe with a new shop towel a couple seconds later and it went from gloss black to dull, streaked and chalky looking. I hit it with some compound and even tried the ol heat gun to bring it back and it just got worse.
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Re: KDX Restoration X 2

Post by ericr »

John_S wrote:That bike looks amazing! Congratulations on all the hard work coming together. I really like the blue accents. Have you fired it up yet?

A word of caution...I have those same black (UFO I believe) RM fork guards and I've never seen such a delicate finish on a dirtbike part. I sprayed non chlorinated brake cleaner on my rotor and got some on the fork guard. A quick swipe with a new shop towel a couple seconds later and it went from gloss black to dull, streaked and chalky looking. I hit it with some compound and even tried the ol heat gun to bring it back and it just got worse.
Thanks, John. We did about 3 hours of single track on Sunday. The bike runs great. No teething problems, nothing fell off or broke. I let it warm up thoroughly and then did a fairly hard break-in to seat in the rings. I've done this for years for cars and bikes and have always had good results - good compression and low oil consumption.

We rode at about 2,000 ft and 85 degrees. The bike ran crisp - no bog or blubbering, maybe a bit of smoke. After 3 hours, I only had a tiny dribble of oil out the end of the silencer. But, that was with very little high RPM or prolonged full throttle. After getting home, I raised the DEK clip from 4 to 3 just to see how it performs next time, and in consideration of warmer temps and higher altitudes that we'll be riding. I started the day with the air screw at 2 1/2 out. I unscrewed 1/16 at a time until I was at 3 out looking for that SSS. I couldn't tell any difference. I just thought that the thing ran fine with plenty of low end grunt. Does the 220 even have that SSS?

The bike is no longer a living room queen BTW. I made the mistake of going through what I thought was a 30' long puddle that turned out to be a 2 1/2' deep mud-hole full of roots and rocks. I came so close to laying it completely on its side when I hit that first hidden root. My son and I were knee-deep in sticky mud pulling it out. I just added a DIY tugger strap to the front after that experience.

I hear you on using brake cleaner and can just image what it did to that shiny black plastic. I made the mistake of spraying it to clean bead blasting media out of the steering heads. As soon as it touched the powder coat, it started dulling the finish, which is basically melted plastic. I make it a point now to only use that stuff on metal. I much prefer contact cleaner for being safer with materials. We ended up using hot, soapy water and a bottle brush to clean out the inside of the steering heads.

Now that we're assembling the 200, I found a screw-up that I did with the forks. The upper triple clamp just would not fit on the 200. Upon measuring, the top of the fork tubes on the 200, which are 2001 KX250's, are 1 mm larger in diameter than the 1998 KX250 tubes on the 220. Both upper and lower clamps have different P/N's from 1998 and 2001. I must of lost track of which was which during restoration and put the wrong ones on the 220. I'll have to do a little disassembly to swap them out.

I've had a little slow down on the 200's assembly too. It turned out that the shifter wasn't working. I tracked it down to the little spring-loaded cam follower on the shifter cog wheel. The bushing on which the follower is supposed to rotate freely had compressed and locked up the cam lever so it wouldn't move. I don't know how that happened since the torque value is only 87 in lbs. It's just something to watch out for.

I also want to play with the suspension clickers. I need to keep in mind that this was the first day on the bike and it was all single track, mostly in second gear, and only a little in third with a 13:50 sprocket ratio. The ride was full of rocks and tree roots. At that speed, it felt that the forks were a little harsh in compression. I'll probably go down a couple clicks in compression before the next ride to see what affect that may have.

But, other than that, what a great bike!
Last edited by ericr on 01:14 am Apr 10 2019, edited 3 times in total.
'02 KDX 200, '02 KDX 220 - My restoration thread
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Re: KDX Restoration X 2

Post by KDXGarage »

Cool. Thanks for the ride report. Good job on not totally sinking it on the first ride out. :grin:
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Re: KDX Restoration X 2

Post by antonyp »

I think a pic of the "Mud Queen" would be in order :mrgreen:
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Re: KDX Restoration X 2

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antonyp wrote:I think a pic of the "Mud Queen" would be in order :mrgreen:
I should have done it at the time. Definitely will do the next time as a before and after comparison. :grin:
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Re: KDX Restoration X 2

Post by B737driver »

Can’t wait to see what you think of the 200. :grin: A different animal. Depends on your riding style I guess.
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Re: KDX Restoration X 2

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B737driver wrote:Can’t wait to see what you think of the 200. :grin: A different animal. Depends on your riding style I guess.
I'm sure it will be quite different. The suspension though is set up for my 150 lb son - it'll be way too soft for me :neutral:
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Re: KDX Restoration X 2

Post by VTMTcowboy »

Can't wait to see the 200! I had a 200, but now have a 220. Can't go wrong either way!
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KDX Restoration X 2

Post by ericr »

We finished the 200 and have been riding. I realized I hadn't posted photos, so here's a couple along with some final thoughts...

It looks a bit different than the 220. We didn't have a good original headlight, so this has a Polisport MMX. The graphic scheme is different too. I think it's like more of an updated factory look with all the black, white and green - even green radiator hoses. Tank graphics are FX Evo 14. I really liked the 220, but I think I like this more now. Which do you prefer?

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This bike took more time than the 220 since it came with more aftermarket parts that we refurbished rather than buying new as for the 220. Refurbishing the spark arrestor, pipe, and pipe guard took a lot of time. The kickstart return spring gave us problems too. We had to take the inner clutch cover off twice to keep it from binding. My son now is very happy with how easy this bike is to start - one jab is all it takes.

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I've only had a little time on both bikes. My impression is that the 220 has a bit more on the very bottom end, but the 200, for some reason, seems more powerful. It just has a hit that the 220 doesn't. The 200 feels lighter and livelier. For me, the 220 fits my needs better. I like to grunt along in maybe a gear higher than I should.

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Here's one difference with the 200 that I don't like; The 220 has a set of '98 KX250 forks. I found that the RB Design axle mod would not work for that year. I had to buy a hub, axle, rotor, and caliper off ebay. Those items were still less than the cost of the RBD axle mod. The additional cost came from having to buy a spoke set too. For the 200, I bought the axle mod thinking that I could save on the cost of the spokes. Big mistake. The RBD axle mod is great if you have an existing front wheel ready to use and you want to retain the stock odometer. It's plug-and-play. If you're rebuilding the wheel with a new rim, then it's a wash except for the price of the spokes. So, what's the difference? The KX front hub is centered between the forks. The RBD axle mod assures that the KDX caliper and rotor remain in alignment. It's done by shifting the hub to the left by about 3/4 inch. This doesn't affect anything in a straight line but when the bike is leaned over, in a left or right turn, the front wheel is describing either a smaller or larger radius than the rear wheel. This could mean that the front tire will dive-in on left turns and wash-out or push on right turns. You can't tune this out with damping adjustments. Maybe 3/4" isn't enough to make a difference. Those of you with this axle mod - have you noticed any difference in turning from left to right?

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Overall, it was a fun, but long project. It certainly is not cost effective. But, my Son and I had a great time doing this together and look forward to building a lot of great memories.

Here's a photo of my son from a couple weekends ago. This is Eastern Washington State at Taneum. We did a 35 mile loop following a stream and then climbing tight switchbacks. It went from 2800' to 6900'. A couple thousand vertical feet were in just a few miles. It was challenging, and a bit terrifying too. I fell on this 120 degree corner on a 600 vertical foot, 50 degree avalanche chute. My son was behind me and thought I was going over. This is the stuff that makes memories for a lifetime! Thanks for following along with us!

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Last edited by ericr on 02:50 am Mar 17 2019, edited 1 time in total.
'02 KDX 200, '02 KDX 220 - My restoration thread
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